Inventor Louis Philippe Valiquet’s little American 1 typewriter consists of a mere 35 parts! However it is a very well built index typewriter. Its selling features were ease of learning, simple maintenance, portability, and a low price of only $5.00.
The typist simply moves the pointer to a character on the index plate with one finger and then presses a lever with the other hand to print – repeating for each character desired. The actual imprint was achieved by pressing rubber type against the paper. Two small felt rollers apply ink to the rubber characters as one types.
“A Splendid Investment for those who can’t afford the TIME to learn and MONEY to buy an expensive typewriter.”
