The Underwood Portable Typewriter is made from an Underwood antique portable typewriter, which has a series of patent dates on the back with the last date being in August of 1923. Therefore, the Underwood Portable Typewriter is a true centurian. In 1714, Henry Miller obtained a patent in Britain for a machine that, from the patent, appears to have been similar to a typewriter. In 1829, American William Austin Burt patented a machine called the "Typographer" which, in common with many other early machines, is listed as the "first typewriter". By the mid-19th century, the increasing pace of business communication had created a need for mechanization of the writing process. Stenographers and telegraphers could take down information at rates up to 130 words per minute, whereas a writer with a pen was limited to a maximum of 30 words per minute (the 1853 speed record). The Underwood Typewriter Company was an American manufacturer of typewriters headquartered in New York City, with manufacturing facilities in Hartford, Connecticut. Underwood produced what is considered the first widely successful, modern typewriter. By 1939, Underwood had produced five million machines. The Underwood Portable Typewriter is a wonderfully unique iHorn, which calls back an era of productivity which demonstrated that machines were tools that could speed progress and that well made products can not only carry their weight but stand the test of time.
