The Columbia Typewriter Company owned all the patents to the typewriters as well as its UK based subsidiary, the Royal Bar-Lock Typewriter Company, until 1914, at which point the business and patents were sold completely to said UK subsidiary. Within a year the Royal Bar-Lock and the new ownership were working ona a new model to completely replace the outdated design. There would be no more double keyboard, no more downstrike typbera arrangement and definitely no more ornate typebar shields.
Royal Bar-Lock
No.10
ca.1910
Columbia Typewriter Co.
New York, NY, US
Granted, the shield on a No.10 isn't as ornate as on earlier models, but its Art Nouveau font in raised copper against the glossy black enamel is still very impressive.
Like most of the earlier Bar-Lock models this machine had a seven-row keyboard that typed uppercase and lowercase without a shift element.
Also as with the earlier models, its typbars are set-up in a front-downstrike arrangement. The type is lined-up by the patented typeBAR-LOCKing group of pins in front of the platen.
This was one of the last models to be produced with these very distinctive form and functions. Royal Bar-Locks were meant for overseas markets while Columbia Bar-Locks were for domestic sales. The two are virtually identical.
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