---Williams Typewriter,
1892---
.
The Williams Typewriter is one of the wonderful oddities of Typewriterdom,
featuring its intriguing "grasshopper" typebar movement. As you
can see, the typebars are arrayed in two fans, both in front of and behind
the platen. Each type rests in an inkpad. When a key is pressed, the typebar
hops forward, hits the paper, and hops back. Naturally, the paper is a problem,
because it seems like there is no place to put it! Not quite. First, the
blank sheet it fed into the basket of metal hoops just behind the keyboard.
In use, the paper is fed across the platen, and down into the basket of
hoops at the back of the maine. Only a few lines are actually "visible"
at any one time.
Here's a diagram of the Williams movement:
The Williams machine seen above is the very first, Model No. 1 with
3-rows of keys and a curved keyboard. This is the rarest and most-desirable
of all Williams Typewriters. The No. 1 was quickly revised to have a straight
keyboard. The No. 2 is very similar and Nos. 4 & 6 have 4-row straight
keyboards. All but the No.1/curved are fairly frequently found.
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