Advertisements from the company weren't exactly shy about the Manhattan's lineage. They stated, "The Manhattan is built upon established lines and is not an experiment nor a novelty. The Manhattan embodies in most familiar form essential elements of proven value." The cost of a Manhattan typewriter was $75.
Manhattan Typewriter
1896 - 1905
Manhattan Typewriter Co.
Newark, New Jersey, US
If it looks like a Remington No.2 to you, that's because that's basically what it was. The Manhattan Typewriter Company was incorporated in 1896 by John Brown Price which began producing these clones after the patents for the Remington No.2 typewriter expired in 1898. Price made the most minimal of changes, primarily aesthetic. A scant few mechanical upgrades were also made, such as to the paper finger, backspace key and ribbon ink mechanism.
From the time it incorporated until its end in 1905, the company had offices on Broadway in New York City while its headquarters and factory were at 46 to 60 Nassau St. and 40 to 56 Sheffield St. in Newark, New Jersey. Though, the story does not truly end in 1905. During that year, the Manhattan brand was sold to the newly incorporated Blake Typewriter Co., also of Newark, named after owner George Waldron Blake. Though it may have been the intention, the Blake company never managed to produce a single Manhattan. It went into receivership in 1907, all of the company's assets were sold off in 1908 and, in 1909, the company was completely dissolved.
Known models from the brand included the Manhattan, Manhattan "A" and Manhattan "B," all of which were produced by the Manhattan Typewriter Co. There is also at least one known anomaly: a Manhattan No.9. The No.9 was produced by the Standard Typewriter Co. which was also located in Newark so there's a good chance it was produced at the old original Manhattan factory. Without further evidence, one has to assume the typewriter was produced sometime between 1905 and 1908. If that was before, after or even during the Blake company era is unclear.
According to the October 8, 1908 issue of Geyer's Stationer, the Newark factory was sold for $50,000 to the Royal Typewriter Co which had outgrown its Brooklyn factory. However, as history tells us, Royal would opt to build a new factory in Hartford, Connecticut instead and never move into the Newark space.
See the unfortunate photos of a destroyed Manhattan typewriter here...
Have a Manhattan Typewriter for sale? Email me at Antikey.Chop@gmail.com or call +1 (860) 729-2252
