Antique Typewriters

The Martin Howard Collection




Columbia 2

Columbia 2


Columbia Typewriter Compnay of New York
1885 - serial no.977

The exquisite Columbia 2 shows some key changes to the Columbia 1. Notably, the type-wheel now prints across the top of the platen, with the anvil and leather cushion strip present on model 1 gone. Also the upper and lowercase characters are now on one larger type-wheel and the index pointer has two ends, one end for selecting lowercase characters and the other end for uppercase characters.

The type-wheel could be changed to give different fonts by unscrewing the black handle and switching the discs. One of these type-wheels can be seen in the fourth detail photo below. What looks like an oiling can, in the same photo, is actually for applying ink to the felt inking pad

The transition from model 1 to model 2 is quite remarkable and clearly shows that a brilliant inventor was at work.

To type, the black handle is turned to select the characters, by rotating the pointer on the dial, and then the handle is pushed down.

Its work is the full equal of book-print, whether done by an expert or a novice; whether written on a table or in a train at full speed.

The only writing machine that attains an Invariable Alignment, and a variable spacing to accommodate wide and narrow letters ...


Detailed Typewriter Image


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