The Dart is a wondrous machine in its own right, but as it types letters consecutively onto a surface, it is very much a typewriter. As clearly stated in a period advertisement: “A Movable Typewriter for addressing Shipping Cases – Prints a plain, neat address with great saving in labor and cost of maintenance.”
video of this Dart operating
Here is a fine period account of the Dart:
“The Connecticut Mfg. Company, Hartford, Conn., are introducing a typewriter and a marker, as illustrated herewith (see first illustration below). This is intended for businessmen, manufacturers and jobbers, wholesalers and retailers, and is referred to as a practical marking machine. The uses to which the machine can be put are enumerated as addressing boxes, parcels, & printing notices, display cards for stores, price tickets, bills of fare, etc.”
“It prints letters 1 inch high, is self-inking, moving on wheels over the surface printed on, prints each letter at a single stroke, and spaces accurately between words and letters. In using, the operator grabs the knob on top of the machine lightly in the hand and turns the pointer on the dial to the letter or figure to be printed. The knob is then pressed downward with sufficient force to make a good impression, when the vibrating frame is allowed to come back to place without removing the hand from the knob. The statement is made that it can be operated by any man or boy with but a few minutes’ practice.”
The first illustration below shows a Model 1 in use, while the second is an advertisement for the slightly larger Model 2, which features minor mechanical differences.
This Dart came from the M.M. Rhodes & Sons Company of Taunton, Massachusetts, USA. Once the largest manufacturer of shoe buttons, the company operated from 1861 until 2014. Remarkably, this Dart never left their shipping room, where it remained untouched for well over a hundred years. Below is a brief historical overview of the company, along with a photograph of the factory.
