The Underwood Typewriter Company was an American 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 headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, with manufacturing facilities in

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 the ...

. Underwood produced what is considered the first widely successful, modern typewriter. By 1939, Underwood had produced five million machines.

History

From 1874, the Underwood family made

typewriter ribbon A typewriter ribbon or ink ribbon is an expendable module serving the function of transferring pigment to paper in various devices for impact printing. Such ribbons are part of standard designs for hand- or motor-driven typewriters, teleprinters, ...

and

carbon paper Carbon paper (originally carbonic paper) consists of sheets of paper which create one or more copies simultaneously with the creation of an original document when inscribed by a typewriter or ballpoint pen. History In 1801, Pellegrino Turri, ...

, and were among a number of firms who produced these goods for

Remington Remington may refer to: Organizations * Remington Arms, American firearms manufacturer * Remington Rand, American computer manufacturer * Remington Products, American manufacturer of shavers and haircare products * Remington College, American c ...

. When Remington decided to start producing ribbons themselves, the Underwoods opted to manufacture typewriters. The original Underwood typewriter was invented by German-American Franz Xaver Wagner, who showed it to entrepreneur John Thomas Underwood. Underwood supported Wagner and bought the company, recognizing the importance of the machine. The Underwood Number 5 launched in 1900 has been described as "the first truly modern typewriter." Two million of these typewriters had been sold by the early 1920s, and its sales “were equal in quantity to all of the other firms in the typewriter industry combined.” When the company was in its heyday as the world's largest typewriter manufacturer, its factory in

was turning out typewriters at the rate of one each minute and, along with

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 Lewis ...

, made Hartford the “Typewriter Capitol of the World”.

Philip Dakin Wagoner Philip Dakin Wagoner (July 24, 1876 – November 25, 1962) was an American businessman who became chairman of the Underwood Typewriter Company. Early career Philip Dakin Wagoner was born on 24 July 1876 in Somerville, New Jersey, son of Henry G. ...

was appointed president of the Elliott-Fisher Company after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(1914-1918). Elliott-Fisher became the parent of the Underwood Typewriter Company and the Sundstrand Adding Machine Co. In 1927 Wagoner reorganized the company into Underwood-Elliott-Fisher, which later became the Underwood Corporation. The reorganization was completed in December 1927. John Thomas Underwood was elected chairman and Wagoner president of Underwood Elliott-Fisher. In the years before World War II, Underwood built the worlds' largest typewriter in an attempt to promote itself. The typewriter was on display at

Garden Pier The Garden Pier was a historic pier located in uptown Atlantic City, New Jersey at the northern end of the boardwalk and South New Jersey Ave. The pier was opened on July 19, 1913, and was home to the B.F. Keith's Theatre, Atlantic City Historical ...

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

, for several years and attracted large crowds. Often, Underwood would have a young woman sitting on each of the large keys. The enormous typewriter was scrapped for metal when the war started. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Underwood produced

M1 carbine The M1 carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine that was a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The M1 carbine was produced ...

s. Approximately 540,000 M1 carbines were produced from late 1942 to May 1944. Underwood also produced M1 carbine barrels for the U.S. government. Under the Free Issue Barrel Program, barrels were sent to other prime manufacturers who did not possess the machines to make barrels. In 1945 Wagoner was elected chairman of the board of Underwood, and Leon C. Stowell was elected president. Wagoner remained chief executive.

Olivetti Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines. Headquartered in Ivrea, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, the company has been part of ...

bought a controlling interest in Underwood in 1959, and completed the merger in October 1963, becoming known in the U.S. as Olivetti-Underwood with headquarters in

, and entering the electromechanical

calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-sized ...

business. The Underwood brand appears in 2021 on some cash registers produced by

Notable users

Some writers who had endorsed with Underwood typewriters such as

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

and Robert E. Howard.

Gallery

Image:TheFaulknerPortable.jpg,

's Underwood Universal Portable in his office at

Rowan Oak Rowan Oak is William Faulkner's former home in Oxford, Mississippi. It is a primitive Greek Revival house built in the 1840s by Colonel Robert Sheegog, an Irish immigrant planter from Tennessee. Faulkner purchased the house when it was in disrepai ...

, which is now maintained by the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

as a museum. Image:Underwood_255.jpg, A student's portable underwood 255 manufactured circa 1977 in Japan Image:Underwoodfive.jpg, The Underwood Touch-Master 5 was among the last desktop models produced at the Underwood factory in the early 60s Image:The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis - Typewriter.jpg, Underwood No. 5, in the collection of

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is the world's largest children's museum. It is located at 3000 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, Indiana in the United Northwest Area neighborhood of the city. The museum is accredited by the American Al ...

Image:M1_Carbine.jpg, During

Underwood produced

M1 Carbine The M1 carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine that was a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The M1 carbine was produced ...

s for the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * D ...

Image:Հայերեն գրամեքենա.JPG, An Underwood typewriter with Armenian letters. Image:Underwood standard pub jorf.jpg, "Underwood standard n° 6" advertisement in France File:Underwood typewriter advertisement. Russia 1900.jpg, Underwood typewriter advertisement in Russia (1900) MEK II-371.jpg, typewriter Underwood Portable at the

Museum Europäischer Kulturen The Museum of European Cultures (german: Museum Europäischer Kulturen) – National Museums in Berlin – Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation came from the unification of the Europe-Department in the Berlin Museum of Ethnography and the Berl ...

File:Ernest Hemingway typewriter.jpg,

's portable Underwood typewriter File:Underwood 450.jpg, Underwood 450, Italian version, detail

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1895 establishments in New York City American companies established in 1895 Manufacturing companies established in 1895 1959 mergers and acquisitions 1963 disestablishments in New York (state) American companies disestablished in 1963 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1963 Typewriters Olivetti S.p.A. Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York City