IBM Selectric Typewriter, Star of 'Mad Men,' Turns 50, Gets Stamp

Fifty years ago this month, the IBM Selectric typewriter was introduced to the public.

In the 25 years that followed, more than 13 million of the typewriters were sold. The machine, designed by Eliot Noyes over a period of seven years, transformed typewriting by allowing the use of different fonts and dramatically increasing the speed at which most people could type.

In the 25 years since the Selectric went out of production in 1986, the machine has become a cultural icon. It is part of the collection of the Computer History Museum, seen in countless shots in the AMC hit show "Mad Men" and now even has a stamp bearing its image. (The stamp, issued in June by the United States Postal Service, was designed by Noyes' daughter Derry.)

"At IBM, good design was and is about clarity and appropriateness of form," Lee Green, vice president of brand experience and strategic design at IBM, told The Huffington Post. "At the same time, great design is often combined with innovation, as in the Selectric."

The major innovation of the Selectric was the golf ball-like type head that took the place of type bars. This change allowed users to swap in italics or letters with accents or just different typefaces, and also made the machines less vulnerable to jamming than traditional typewriters.

Noyes' focus was on aesthetic design -- both of the machine and in his general role with the company. He had served since 1956 as IBM's first true director of design, and became involved in everything from the design of the company's offices to the Paul Rand logo that remains in use by IBM today. Noyes wanted the Selectric to be a machine that would be highlighted -- not hidden -- on desks. He probably never could have imagined the Selectric's ultimate reach. The iconic Selectric type balls were even incorporated into the work of jewelry designer Nancy Worden.

Now, of course, Apple is known as the technology company with the most relentless focus on good design. But IBM doesn't want to be ignored. In his interview with HuffPost, Green pointed to the firm's servers as an unlikely but important example of its continuing focus on design. The servers have a unique system that uses LED lights to walk a technician to the physical source of any problems with the machine.

"We think about design as being very purposeful," Green added. "It's not about decoration. It's not about embellishment."

Click below for more images of the IBM Selectric:

More Views of the IBM Selectric

• • • Courtesy IBM

Comments

[UWS NYC]

03:20 PM on 09/20/2011

I had selectrics in my high school typing class. The thing I remember that all of the keys were blank so we would not look at the keys but had to reference a diagram at the front of the classroom. Worked for me I had a 75wpm speed test.

[Gerald OHare]

09:59 PM on 09/10/2011

I remember those. Everyone called them "Electric typewriters". You could hit one key too long and the result would be "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...."

[Bradley Walter]

11:26 AM on 08/21/2011

The Selectric was to the typewriter 50 years ago, what Microsoft Word is to the Selectric today.

[coachwrite]

07:26 PM on 08/17/2011

Copy paper that left powder on your fingers, white out that poisoned small animals and plants, BUT if you forgot to hit "save", your material was still there....to re-type!

[Karl Wilder]

01:29 PM on 08/16/2011

Even though the Selectric was around when I was born they were expensive. I had (and still have) the WORST handwriting so I began typing young on a manual. I was thrilled when we got a Selectric, though I do have very strong hands to this day.

[vetxcl]

03:56 AM on 08/10/2011

This is in the smarter ideas section. Uhuh, okie dokie. Not historically smarter ideas, like, say the telephone or even the telegraph or morse code. I smell corporate influence/kick-back. No, don't admit it. That would hurt too much.

[vetxcl]

03:53 AM on 08/10/2011

This is relevant how? Someone get paid to write up this article?

[Bobjack23]

02:14 AM on 08/25/2011

The same way most historical facts are.

[Larkin31]

09:55 PM on 08/08/2011

Go for the full manual made by other companies. There is nothing like them. I still have my grandfather's sexy little blue Torpedo from the 50's. Timeless.

[biglog]

06:39 PM on 07/30/2011

Learned to type on one of these as a freshman. Loved the response of the keys and the overall heavy feel of the machine, but really have no frame of reference to compare it to anything else. By the time I was writing and editing for the school newspaper as a sophomore, we were exclusively using the "Mac Lab" and everything was being done on a floppy disk.

[InfinteShibumi]

05:46 PM on 08/31/2011

And the hum! Don't forget the hummmmm..........

[Deli]

02:26 AM on 07/29/2011

I just saw one at my local thrift store. Maybe I should get it.

[mburgh]

08:13 AM on 07/27/2011

I love the feel, sound, and yes, smell of the Selectric. I often think about buying one on E-Bay, but them I relalize that for all the panache of the typewriter, my computer allows me so much more latitude.

[Red45]

06:38 PM on 07/26/2011

Geez. This brings back so many memories. Back in the day, being proficient on a Selectric was considered a high skill. I got more than one job with those skills. But, computers are so much better in so many ways. I don't miss typewriters of any kind.

[rhondarenee]

06:36 PM on 07/26/2011

I loved the feel and the sound of this typewriter. It was a lot of fun to use.

[Counterglow]

09:02 AM on 07/25/2011

The other big change that came along with the Selectric was the plastic ribbon and the correction ribbon that let you just type over a mistake to fix it. And the Selectric keyboard is still my absolute favorite. I buy the computer equivalent whenever I can find one.

[Tony581]

06:34 AM on 07/25/2011

I loved the IBM Selectric: the Rolls Royce of typewriters! Modern computer keyboards don't come close to the feel of those old IBM machines. Plus the machine had that soothing humming sound. Of course, I disliked the fact that if you made a mistake, you had to use that horrible erase tape.

[Counterglow]

09:05 AM on 07/25/2011

I agree with you, but would like to point out that the Erase Tape was the best thing going for a while. I learned to type on a manual typewriter, and the first time I got access to a Selectric I thought I'd gone to heaven.

[Random User]

11:11 AM on 07/29/2011

IBM made buckling spring keyboards with the same feel as the Selectric II typewriters into the late 90's. They are still made by a company called Unicomp. They aren't inexpensive, but I've had one of the original IBM model M keyboards in service on various PCs for over 20 years now, so they are definitely worth it.