Keyboard typewriters

Keyboard typewriters are typewriters that are operated by pushing a key, or combination of keys in order to print a letter or character onto the paper.

Between the 1880s and 1910s many people favored the so-called full keyboard that had individual keys for each individual letter, capital, figure and symbol (for samples, see Upstrike typewriters). The best knowns full keyboard machines were the Caligraph and the Smith Premier.

The division we use here between different sorts of keyboard typewriters is not based on the keyboard itself, but on the way the characters are actually typed onto the paper. The difference is explained on each of the linked index pages, that can be found when you click the links on the left.