Simplex Typewriter Model 100 Toy

This Simplex Typewriter is from around the 1930’s. It is one of the simplest index typewriters -- that is, writing machines on which the action of selecting a letter is separate from the action of printing that letter.

Both the type and the so-called "keys" of the Simplex are made of rubber. In order to type, one simply revolves the wheel until the right letter is at the printing point, and presses down. As one does so, a simple device pushes the carriage or type head forward one space.

Originally, the Simplex was meant to serve as a serious writing machine for those of modest means (the price of the first Simplex was $2.50; a Remington went for $100). Early Simplexes include nickeled parts, substantial wooden bases, and bells, and often they include both upper- and lower-case letters. (Those machines can instantly be recognized by their big typeheads, whose radius is, naturally, twice the size of the caps-only Simplexes.)