What is a dramaturgy blog?

This blog will serve as a source of research and information for the cast and crew of GPAC's Ragtime. Each post will address specific topics or areas of interest presented in the show. Dramaturgy is meant to highlight the historical, social, political, and economical context of the play as well as answer any questions presented by the cast and crew. Instead of printing packets of information for the cast, this online blog will allow me to continuously share research, pictures, video, music, etc - without wasting any paper! The blog will constantly be updated and under construction so feel free to email me about specific topics: JoanMarieHurwit@gmail.com.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The Typewriter

I already mentioned some basic history about the typewriter in the previous post, but here are some photographs to check out.

This is the Hansen Writing Ball -- 1870, the first typewriter manufactured commercially.


This is the Prototype of the Sholes and Glidden typewriter, 1873, the first commercially successful typewriter, and the first with a QWERTY keyboard. This was not a small, easily transferable object.

However, by 1910, mechanical (or manual) typewriters were fairly common, fully equipped with a type bar -- what you see below.  It was significant because it introduced the shift key, and soon in 1917, a noiseless design enabling the typist to type quietly. Commercially, and ironically, it didn't sell very well. Customers seemed to prefer it's "clickity-clack."
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