Automatic Typewriter Company, Brooklyn, New York
1887 - serial no.231

The Automatic typewriter is an exquisitely made machine, being made mostly of brass, with the quality and look of a fine scientific instrument.

This typewriter has proportional spacing, with the carriage moving further for wider characters and less for narrower characters. As it states in the first advertisement below, which is the only display ad known for the Automatic, '... and is the only writing machine in the market which will automatically space the letters correctly with reference to their proper widths.' In fact three different widths or varying carriage movements are used to accommodate all of the characters. It is clear that this notable ability is the source for the typewriters name.

The spacebar is positioned behind the keys, with the word AUTOMATIC beautifully embossed on it. No other typewriter ever had its spacebar positioned there and for good reason, as it would have been quite awkward to move ones fingers up to activate the spacebar while typing.

The Automatic had its patent applied for in 1884 and received it in 1887. The Automatic was only manufactured for three years, with the Automatic Typewriter Company going bankrupt in 1890. Very few were made and few have survived.

The letter shown below is a character reference for Mr. E.M. Hamilton, given by Amborse Webster, co-owner of the American Watch Tool Co. (AWT) in 1892. Webster was the Forman of the machine shop and was also an inventor. AWT would be known as the Waltham Watch Company and then the American Watch Company. AWT made various machines for the watch industry and were best known for their Webster-Whitcomb watch lathes. The letter talks about Hamilton engaging AWT to make two typewriter models in 1889 and attests to his engineering prowess. This letter is an exceptionally rare account of Hamilton's work on his typewriters.

‘The Amazing Automatic’ - An article written for ETCetera, Journal of the Early Typewriter Collectors’ Association.

If "the Pen is Mightier than the Sword", what of the type-writer?