Blickensderfer No.4
ca.1895
Blickensderfer Mfg. Co.
Stamford, CT, US
Blickensderfer's No.4 typewriter was built on the frame of the company's No.5 model but with a few modifications specific to telegraphic use. Such typewriters, also known as mill typewriters, only printed uppercase letters, numbers and characters but no lowercase letters. As a result, Blick's No.4 has a 2-row typewheel instead of the standard 3-row version and just one shift key on the left side of the keyboard for characters and numbers.
Since the No.4 model was based on the frame of the No.5, it was thus introduced after the No.5 and not prior, contrary to what its numeric designation suggests. The No.4's higher serial numbers also validate this point. For example, the serial number of the No.4 on this page is 9,150 while the earliest known No.5 has a serial number of just 371. It should also be noted that it is possible to find lower-numbered No.5s with 2-row typewheels because such examples were the forerunners for the No.4s. Based on serial numbers, the No.4 was produced as early as 1895.
Like all of the early Blick models, the No.4 was produced by the Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company of Stamford, Connecticut.
Have a Blickensdefer No.4 for sale? Please email me at Antikey.Chop@gmail.com or call +1 (860) 729-2252
