Tristate Machinery Dismantlers Forum > ILLINOIS
> Electrical Components
> Used
> Without Warranty
> Vintage ibm selectric composer business typewriter
Vintage ibm selectric composer business typewriter
I really dont know what to say about this rare machine. It has sat for many years and needs servicing. It powers up and hums but keys are unresponsive. Comes with everything pictured.
I found this very informitive and interesting article at http://ibmcomposer.org/
The IBM "Selectric" Composer was the first desktop typesetting machine. It was based on the successful "Selectric" technology. In case you're not familiar with that, the IBM Selectric typewriter is the one that has a small ball with all the letters imprinted on it.
The basic task of the IBM Composer was to produce justified camera ready copy using proportional fonts. It has the capability of using a variety of font sizes and styles.
The first IBM Composer was the IBM "Selectric" Composer announced in 1966. It was a hybrid "Selectric" typewriter that was modified to have proportional spaced fonts. It is 100% mechanical and has no digital electronics. Since it has no memory, the user was required to type everything twice. While typing the text the first time, the machine would measure the length of the line and count the number of spaces. When the user finished typing a line of text, they would record special measurements into the right margin of the paper. Once the entire column of text was typed and measured, it would then be retyped, however before typing each line, the operator would set the special justification dial (on the right side) to the proper settings, then type the line. The machine would automatically insert the appropriate amount of space between words so that all of the text would be justified.
Here's a few pictures of my Selectric Composer:
Here's my first IBM Composer, completely operational and lookin' good!
This is a close-up of the measuring window. The colors change while you are typing. When you finish the line, you have to record the color and the number on the little ruler below it.
When you're ready to retype the document, you set this dial to the appropriate color/number combination before typing each line. The Composer will automatically insert the right amount of space between words to make the line lengths equal on all lines.
