Remembrances: Typewriters

Today, we bring you one of Sylvia Henricks' "Remembrances." You can read more of Sylvia's columns weekly in The Franklin Township Informer, or in her book From The Ash Grove(available directly from the FTHS, and via the web site).

At left: Oliver Typewriter, No.9, patended Nov.5, 1912.

I’ve always loved typewriters, ever since I first played with my father’s old Oliver typewriter. He wrote business letters on it, and my mother used it to copy recipes. In junior high I took a typing class and persuaded my parents to buy me a typewriter of my own, a used L.C. Smith (if I remember right) – and I’ve been typing ever since.

When I saw that my eldest son, John, had in the back room of his bookstore in Alabama, a dusty old Oliver typewriter, I wanted it. (I told him it was for the Township Historical Society.) The only problem was, how would I get it home on the airplane?

But for the last couple years Ann and her friend Jean have driven me to Nashville, Tenn., where John and his wife Karen have met us, and the next day taken me the rest of the way to Alabama. Reversing the process two weeks later would, I figured, provided an easy way to transport a heavy object such as an Oliver typewriter, to a new home in Indiana. John was agreeable, and I have my Oliver No.9, patented Nov. 5, 1912.

It’s in good condition, considering its age, but has no ribbon, nor do all the parts work as smoothly as they should. This, in spite of the order written on it, “Keep Machine Cleaned and Oiled.” I dusted it and took some photos.

And I learned more about it on the Internet. It was conceived by an Iowa Methodist minister, Thomas Oliver, who thought it would be an aid to producing more legible sermon notes. In 1888 he attempted his first typewriter from “cut strips of tin cans.” He was awarded his first patent four years later in 1891, a “crude model with 500 parts.” He resigned from his church, and sought financial backing. He found it among his townsmen and set up shop in Chicago.

At first he marketed his typewriter through word of mouth, individuals who bought one selling them to their friends. Not until he adopted different selling methods, mail order and the use of credit, did he begin to be more successful.

Mr. Oliver died in 1910 at 55, but his company survived, adding new patents yearly.

The Franklin Township Historical Society’s Oliver Typewriter will be on display at the Meeting House when Open Hours begin on Saturday, March 3. (1 to 4 p.m.) We have two other antique typewriters, a Remington Portable, and a valuable old one in a wooden case, on which past member Fern Carlson’s father used to type his sermons.

The Oliver No. 9's simple three row, but already standard, QWERTY keyboard.

Remembrances: Paris Plaiter

Today, we bring you one of Sylvia Henricks' "Remembrances." You can read more of Sylvia's columns weekly in The Franklin Township Informer, or in her book From The Ash Grove (available directly from the FTHS, and via the web site).



"We found this in an old trunk in an upstairs bedroom of the house my daughter and her husband bought," Nancy VanArendonk said, showing us a strange object, a wooden board covered on one side with narrow metal strips hinged at one end and clamping to the board at the other.

What could it be? We at the Meeting House, gathered for a board meeting, had no idea. Faded printed directions on the back of the board gave us a suggestion, calling it a "Paris Plaiter." "Plaiting," to our group, meant a braiding-like process, but as we deciphered the instructions, we learned they referred to what we call "pleating." The device was apparently an aid to producing evenly spaced pleats in a dress or blouse.

I took the Paris Plaiter home, cleaned it up a bit -- it was both rusty and dirty, but apparently in working order. As I read the directions (with a magnifying glass, I must admit), I learned you needed a cardboard gauge to properly pleat the fabric, which lay under some of the metal strips, and on top of others. But how did you keep the pleats in place so you could sew them down.? A final sentence in the directions suggested the answer. "If you are working with wool, use a damp cloth." Of course! You ironed them in -- that was why the thing was on a heavy board!

While I didn't succeed in making a set of plaits/pleats, I could see it might be done by a nimble-fingered persistent seamstress. I found a 1906 copy of a women's magazine, and sure enough, there was an article about making tucks, gathers and pleats. But who today makes pleated bodices, which would also surely have to be carefully ironed?

One wonders if the seamstress of a century ago who lived on a farm on Vandergriff Road and who bought a Paris Plaiter found it useful. Perhaps she tried it out, decided her "old way" was easier, and put her new purchase away for a future day...

Bring-An-Item Antiques Showcase

While it's cold and snowy and dark outside, it's best to think back to warm times... like last August, when the FTHS sponsored its second "Bring-An-Item" Antiques Showcase! If you missed the event, here's a recap:

It just goes to show that often it's right to hang on to those old things.

The "Bring-An-Item" antiques showcase, sponsored by the Franklin Township Historical Society and held August 2, 2009 at the Zion United Church of Christ, drew a wide variety of items to be evaluated. Attendees arrived with china, a Civil War sword, an autographed baseball, old artwork, silver and statuary, among other things. But the focus of the event turned out to be a set of toys that were originally paid for with chickens.

Harold Prange brought farming toys that were originally purchased for him in 1938 when he was a boy. At that time, he says, the toys were paid for with two chickens, and he played with the toys quite a bit. But when Antique Week editor Connie Swaim examined the toys and looked up the prices at which the same items had recently sold at auction, Mr. Prange learned that his three toys are now worth $1,500.00.

It's the hope for that sort of news that draws many of the people who attend events such as this one. Some come with a cherished family heirloom; others attend just hoping that that old item they stored all these years might turn out to be worth something.

This was the second year that the Franklin Township Historical Society has offered the "Bring An Item" event. This year, as last, those attending were able to enjoy complimentary refreshments while they waited to have their items examined, and were also able to browse the collection of Historical Society publications for sale.

This year's event was again made possible with the assistance of Antique Week editor Connie Swaim and a group of evaluators from the Exit 76 Antique Mall. The Franklin Township Historical Society greatly appreciates the work done by each of these individuals, all of whom came at their own expense, making it possible for the Society to again offer this event to the public free of charge.

The Historical Society also wishes to thank Zion United Church of Christ for graciously allowing the use of its facilities.

Remembrances: Post Cards

Today, we bring you one of Sylvia Henricks' "Remembrances." You can read more of Sylvia's columns weekly in The Franklin Township Informer, or in her book From The Ash Grove (available directly from the FTHS, or via the web site).



“Everyone ought to have a hobby, and it ought to be something he can share,” says Joe Seiter, a postcard collector and new member of the Franklin Township Historical Society. Joe has collected Indiana postcards for 35 years, and still finds cards to add to his favorite subjects, interurban, small town street scenes, and Santa Claus cards.

“I think we are all collectors by nature,” he says. Born and raised on Indianapolis east side, Joe remembers as a boy collecting balls of string to sell to a dealer who came through the neighborhood. Then he and a friend picked up discarded cigarette packages and took out the tinfoil, squeezing it into a ball. That, too, found a market as did match book covers, used stamps, and all kinds of Christmas memorabilia.

“And then,” he continues, “sometime in my twenties, I saw an ad for 100 postcards for $1.00. I asked for as many Indianapolis cards as possible, getting about 40 such cards in the package.” During Army service in the Korean War, marriage and a 35 year career at Western Electric, Joe’s love of Indiana postcards has grown and remains his favorite activity.

His cards are carefully arranged in albums. A special album holds his 350-plus interurban cards, showing the big electric “tractions” stopping at intersections for passengers, rolling through the countryside, crossing bridges, in city traffic with horse drawn wagons and automobiles, and at stations. Some cards show groups ready for an outing posing in front of cars. Other cards show the buildings which produced the electricity that powered the interurbans. Several show the Interurban Terminal on Market Street in downtown Indianapolis, with its nine tracks, the largest such station in the country. (Only Ohio had more miles of track than Indiana.)

Joe values all postcards for their historic and sentimental value. “Sometimes a postcard is the only proof that a house or building really stood somewhere,” he says. The monetary value of individual postcards depends on its rarity, and its condition. “Most valuable,” he says, “are the ‘real photos,’ actual black and white photographs printed on postcard stock. ‘Views’ are often colored and are printed by a different process, often with a white border.”

Joe, who lives in Perry Township, is a charter member of the Indianapolis Postcard Club, organized in 1975, and has served as president for some 20 years. He also has 17 postcards of Acton, of which he has given us copies. He enjoyed looking at our Society’s postcard collection, commenting, “I’m always intrigued to see a “new” card I haven’t seen before.”