Today is International Typewriter Day 2016 – QWERTY & Mellencamp is our blog post topic. On this day – June 23, 1868 the Sholes and Glidden typewriter (also known as the Remington No. 1) – using the QWERTY keyboard was patented.
The timing is perfect to have seen The Wall Street Journal article yesterday sharing how John Mellencamp in writing his Born is a ‘Small Town’ song was aided with the use of his electric typewriter in 1985.
From WSJ article – “Anatomy of a Song” column – Born in a ‘Small Town’: How John Mellencamp Wrote the Song, John Mellencamp wrote ‘Small Town’ in his basement laundry room, using an electric typewriter, by Marc Myers Updated June 22, 2016.
“…I’m the worst speller in the world, so Vicky had ordered an electric typewriter with a built-in spell-check system. I tried to make sense of the owner’s manual, but I couldn’t figure it out. I’d put a sheet of paper in and start typing, but the words I misspelled weren’t being corrected.
Frustrated, I said to myself, “Well, I guess I’m just a stupid hillbilly. What do I know? I was born in a small town.” After a few more minutes with the typewriter, I began to realize it didn’t automatically correct misspelled words. It had a dictionary on a computer chip that identified words you misspelled and beeped to alert you to fix them.
I had my Gibson Dove, so I put the guitar strap around my neck and started playing and typing lyrics [he sings softly], “Well, I was born in a small town / And I live in a small town.” But as I typed my lyrics fast, the machine let off beeps to flag spelling errors: “All my friends—beep!— are so—beep!—small town / My parents—beep!—live in the same small—beep!—town.” Upstairs, I could hear Vicky and my Aunt Tootes, who was also our nanny, dying of laughter over the beeps. Finally I yelled out, “Would you guys shut up!”
Once the song started to come, it came fast. I’d sing some lyrics, type them out and play the music on my guitar. Then I’d start at the beginning to sing what I had to inspire additional lines.”…
It is a great article, to read the entire Wall Street Journal article click here.
I’ve included this YouTube from 2014.
QWERTY Keyboard Patented
“QWERTY is a keyboard layout for the Latin script. The name comes from reading the first six keys appearing on the top left letter row of the keyboard (Q W E R T Y) from left to right. The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden typewriterand sold to Remington in 1873.”
Here is a link to my blog post article for last year, 2015 Celebrating International Typewriter Day. Be sure to check out The Typosphere website as they have been promoting Typewriter Day 2016… and beyond!
If you don’t have a typewriter I’m cheering for you to consider getting one! Wishing you a great International Typewriter Day 2016 today!
Anchors Aweigh,
Helen
Typewriter Day 2016 – QWERTY & Mellencamp – Attribution &
Thank you to those referenced today
Image above upper left, Drawing for a Typewriter, 06/23/1868. This is the printed patent drawing for a typewriter invented by Christopher L. Sholes, Carlos Glidden, and J. W. Soule. From the National Archives. By Illustrator: Unknown Patent assignees: Christopher L. Sholes, Carlos Glidden, and J. W. Soule [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Wikipedia Sholes and Glidden typewriter, Wikipedia QWERTY
Excerpt WSJ article – “Anatomy of a Song” column – Born in a ‘Small Town’: How John Mellencamp Wrote the Song, John Mellencamp wrote ‘Small Town’ in his basement laundry room, using an electric typewriter, by Marc Myers Updated June 22, 2016 @JazzWax
YouTube John Mellencamp – Small Town (Live at Farm Aid 2014) posted by Farm Aid, published on September 17, 2014
The Typosphere website – Typewriter Day 2016… and beyond!
