Police in front of Imperial Typewriter in Leicester England August 1974

The Imperial Typewriter Company was a British manufacturer of

typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...

s based in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, England. The company was founded by Hidalgo Moya, an

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engineer who lived in England. After first building the Moya typewriter, he set up the Imperial Typewriter Company in Leicester in 1911 with local businessmen John Gordon Chattaway, William Arthur Evans and Joseph Wallis Goddard. It stopped manufacturing typewriters when electric models and then

word processor A word processor (WP) is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features. Early word processors were stand-alone devices dedicated to the function, but current ...

s and

personal computers A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...

became popular, causing typewriter sales to fall. The company was acquired by

Litton Industries Litton Industries was a large defense contractor in the United States named after inventor Charles Litton Sr. During the 1960s, the company began acquiring many unrelated firms and became one of the largest conglomerates in the United States. A ...

in 1966, and gradually introduced

Royal Typewriter Company The Royal Typewriter Company is a manufacturer of typewriters founded in January 1904. It was headquartered in New York City with its factory in Hartford, Connecticut. History The Royal Typewriter Company was founded by Edward B. Hess and Lew ...

models largely assembled from parts shipped from

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

, United States. In May 1974, Asian workers at the Imperial Typewriter Company in Leicester went on strike over unequal bonus payments and discrimination in promotion. The

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

s committee and

Transport & General Workers Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general union, general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to di ...

branch refused their support, but the strikers stayed on strike for almost 14 weeks. The manufacture of typewriters ceased at Leicester and Hull in 1975.

Models

*Imperial A *Imperial B *Imperial C *Imperial D *Imperial Doppelganger (see external link) *Imperial model 50 *Imperial model 55 *Imperial model 60 *Imperial model 65 *Imperial model 66 *Imperial model 70 *Imperial model 80 (Royal) *Imperial model 90 *Imperial Electric *Imperial model 200 *Imperial War Finish model *The Good Companion model 1 *The Good Companion model 2 *The Good Companion model 3 *The Good Companion model 4 *The Good Companion model 5 *The Good Companion model 6/6T *Imperial Safari model *Imperial Messenger Portable Typewriter *Imperial Signet Portable Typewriter *Imperial Pavey Musigraph

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20091028060244/http://www.geocities.com/wbd641/EuropeImperial.html * https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/lily-paveys-musikriter/ Typewriters Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies based in Leicester {{UK-manufacturing-company-stub