S.J. Shimer & Sons, Milton PA
1898 - serial no.25

The Shimer's were a prominent business family in Milton PA during the second half of the 19th century and into the 20th century. Samual Shimer was the senior member of S.J. Shimer & Sons, who made their fortune owning large tracts of heavily timbered land, which they cut and sold through the nearby town of Milton. They also operated a small machine shop connected to the lumber factory that made cutter heads for wood forming. When the lumber factory burned down in 1880, the rebuilt factory made only cutter tools and ‘other specialties’, including washers made on a machine patented by Mr. Shimer in 1889. The Shimer cutter heads were the best on the market and sold throughout the US and globally.

With plenty of capital and the propensity to invent mechanical devices, Samual Shimer put forth the considerable effort required to design and produce a new typewriter during the 1890s. The Shimer typewriter received its first patent in 1891 and appeared on the market in 1899.

Being an understrike typewriter and of the same size as the early Remington typewriters, it is often referred to as having “more than a passing similarity to early Remingtons”, however the implication that it is essentially the same typewriter is incorrect. Granted it does have the same general look but with its own uniquely designed components it is a unique machine.

The early Shimers, such as this one, have the added distinction of a typebar basket shift (not the carriage shift seen on the early Remingtons), along with stunning white, not black, keys. In fact no two Shimers are the same, with differences in their frame design and later Shimers having a carriage shift, all indicating that the Shimer never reached the status of a full production machine.

The Shimer general catalogue from 1900 handsomely presents a 'cutter head' for wood molding on the cover and a two page advertisement for The Shimer typewriter within. This is the only known advertisement for The Shimer. The loose price sheet placed in the catalogue gives the selling price of $75.00.

The back of the catalogue (shown below) has a beautiful illustration of the Shimer factory.

"SAVE TIME & SAVE MATERIAL - SAVE MONEY."