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Subject: Dead Media Working Note 02.3
Dead medium: the Stenograph
From Darryl_Rehr_AT_lamg.com (Darryl Rehr)
Source: Early Typewriter Collectors' Association
Bruce,
I submit the following for the Dead Media Database:
THE STENOGRAPH
The first shorthand typewriter on the American
market was a device patented in 1879 called the
"Stenograph." It was invented by Miles M. Bartholomew, of
Trumbull County, Ohio. Bartholomew was fascinated by
mechanical things as well as the art of Stenography. His
combination of interested led him to design his shorthand
machine after he saw the first Typewriter (Sholes &
Glidden, manufactured by Remington) in 1874. Bartholomew
applied for his first patent in 1878.
The Stenograph has 5 keys, 4 of which are grouped
in pairs, one key button for each side of the machine.
Thus, each finger of each hand controls a single key with
key buttons both right and left of center. A single key
in the center is controlled by both thumbs.
The keys produce dashes on a narrow paper tape in
a code representing letters of the alphabet. One to five
dashes in any combination could be produced using the
chord method.
In practice, the user is intended to form one
letter at a time, pressing as many keys as necessary, but
always using alternate hands. This skill is key to
whatever speed might have been achieved with the machine.
As one hand finishes one letter, the next hand pounces on
the keys to print the next letter. The user would be
expected to reduce each word to its phonetic minimum and
eliminate most vowels. This would reduce the number of
strokes needed to an average of two to three for each
word.
Learning to read the code of dashes was the other
essential skill in becoming an accomplished user
of this odd machine.
Later stenographic typerwriters printed actual
letters instead of dashes, and using the chord principle,
the user could print a whole word (or at least a whole
syllable) for each stroke. This idea evolved into modern-
day machines.
Despite its limitations, the Stenograph appears to
have had a quiet success. It was never promoted with
massive advertising, but as we have seen, it was on the
market for at least ten years. Several models were
produced during that time, varying in the shape of their
bases and various other details.
Today, "Stenograph" is the brand name applied to a
modern stenotype machine produced by Stenographic Machines
of Skokie, IL. The brand name has no connection to
Bartholomew's Stenograph.
Stenograph Patents: (U.S.)
215,554 - May 20, 1879
255,910 - April 4, 1882
Further information:
Early Typewriter Collector's Assoc.
2591 Military Ave.
LA, CA 90064
(darryl_rehr_AT_lamg.com)
Dead
Media | 0.01-02.0 | 02.1-04.0
| 04.1-06.0 | 06.1-08.0 |
08.1-10.0 | 10.1-12.0 |