Wetaskiwin District Heritage Museum Centre & City of Wetaskiwin Archives

With school just around the corner, students should appreciate the size and mobility of their devices. Many students today are fortunate enough to have a laptop, weighing about 5 pounds on average, making it easy to transport between various locations such as school, work and home. Scholars and professionals in the early and mid-1900s didn’t have this convenience. They had to use typewriters which were bulky and extremely heavy— ones that weighed up to 45 pounds! The typewriter pictured here was manufactured by Oliver Typewriters, a company established in 1895. Oliver Typewriters was the first to introduce the “visible” typewriter, meaning that users could read what they were typing as they typed it rather than flipping up the platen. This particular model is the No. 5, made circa 1913, and is noticeably different in shape and design from previous models. This model was also the first to offer a new typeface, Printype. It mimicked actual book print! The last No. 5 Oliver typewriter was produced in 1915. Come visit the Wetaskiwin and District Heritage Museum to check out the various typewriters we have in our exhibits!