To type on the unusual American Visible typewriter, one slides the nickel-plated selector back and forth over the keyboard, using any of the four pointers on the selector, to choose a character. The lever on the left side is then pressed, causing a metal rod to push the selected character, molded in rubber, against the platen. The rubber character strip (shown below in the second image) was kept inked by two felt rollers as the selector moved.
This typewriter was offered at the remarkably low price of just $3.98 in the Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalogue.
“So simple in construction that even a child can operate it without an instructor.”
“In the high-priced machines this (learning the key locations) requires many months of tedious five finger exercises, but with this machine, a few hours practice will enable you to carry on your ordinary correspondence at a fair rate of speed, which will increase rapidly until you can exceed the speed of the pen, from five to ten words a minute.”
