The Hammond Typewriter Company

The Hammond Anvil and Shuttle (A&S) model is a beautiful machine that was really for one purpose: to demonstrate the innovation of moving from a split-shuttle design, prone to breaking and difficult to manufacture, to a more durable, single element design. The anvil and shuttle mechanism patent was awarded in 1893 putting a beginning on […]

I was asked to help a friend obtain several antique typewriters (that is, pre-1920) from a serious collector. The husband and wife team had collected about three dozen machines over the years, such as a Williams, Franklin, Bennett, Blick, and Hammond. The majority during the typewriter collecting “golden years” when a Sholes and Glidden could […]

John Peralta, the brilliant artist behind Professor Fox’s Fantastic Writing Machine was very kind to answer a few burning questions about his Hammond installation. (edited slightly for clarity) “I first fell in love with Hammond’s at the home of a friend in Austin who is an avid collector of Hammond’s and Blickensderfer’s. I now own […]

There is a well known photo of the Philadelphia office of the Hammond Typewriter Company. It is a fascinating window into the past for a number of reasons, least of which is what’s on the left wall. A nearly complete display of a Hammond typewriter an “exploded” view. Each of its parts are laid out […]

In 1933, Ralph C. Coxhead purchased the rights and assets to the Hammond Typewriter Company, which had been renamed Vari-Typer. Between 1933 and 1944, Mr. Coxhead is credited with over 1,300 innovations. Mr. Coxhead himself only held a handful of patents for the Varityper. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to say which Mr. Coxhead personally created, and […]

This is an original blank letterhead sheet for the Hammond typewriter company, circa 1916. Printed on onionskin paper it’s gotten a little wrinkled over the pat 100 years, but it is otherwise in great condition. Feel free to use! Choose the PDF or the original image below, but be aware that the image is quite […]

Analyzing the Hammond company’s financial records and reports for 1880 – 1900 is a fascinating look into a small, niche company growing. These documents have yielded dozens of names of company employees, stock holders, and directors which are fantastic leads to follow up some day. What caught my eye on this adventure was the company […]

What better gift than to give someone a Hammond typewriter? James B. Hammond gave machines to many people and institutions, but only one survives. King Alfonso XIII James Hammond gifted an ornate gold Hammond Multiplex to the King of Spain, Alfonso XIII. Mundo Gráfico magazine (June 3, 1914) described it as “made of gold, specially […]

Hammond models 2 and 12 are sometimes indistinguishable from one another. The Hammond No. 2 is a rare machine, not many were made, but the subtle differences between the 2 and the 12 confuse many. Hopefully this will help clear things up. This is a Hammond No. 2 This is NOT a No. 2. What’s […]