When did London newspapers start to use typewriters in their offices?
Upvote:2
Judging by Jenson (1988), Using the typewriter: Secretaries, reporters and authors, 1880–1930 (author's Twitter), and assuming similar developments on both sides of the Atlantic, the answer would be yes:
The first claim, that the typewriter was deployed when it "made sense," is sup- ported by the rapidity with which the typewriter was adopted in American life in the 1880s, even though at least sixty writing machines of various sorts had been invented and patented since 1830. The first commercial machine was engineered in 1873; by the 1880s, a matter of a mere decade, Scientific Amen'can reported that over 40,000 machines were in regular use. Salesmen even claimed that the machine "sold itself" as a necessary business tool. During the same period, judges complained about the increasing wordiness of typewritten legal briefs, and would-be authors were advised that typewritten manuscripts were more readily saleable.I°
The author even has a section about the Newsroom specifically:
Typewriters in the Newsroom
Typewriters entered the newsroom without the fanfare and consternation that accompanied their arrival in the business office. One contemporary observer credits the advent of the linotype with forcing the widespread adoption of the typewriter. His claim is that typesetting was so much faster that printers required longer, more legible, less bulky "takes. ''18 He views the adoption of the typewriter as part of a more general (and natural) process of newsroom mechanization. [...]
Copy produced via the typewriter was considered more legible and thus more appealing to editors, so outside contributors were urged to submit typewritten copy. In 1894, Shuman claims that "the outside contributor is almost compelled to have his article typewritten if he wants it to have the fullest chance of acceptance" in a newspaper. 2° Shuman also notes that "The machine is rapidly coming into general use in news- paper offices and the time has already come when the reporter who can manipu- late the typewriter has a decided advantage in securing a position. ''21
I didn't read the entire article, but it also includes discussions on the preoccupations of the time, such as how typewriters introduced more women in the workplace as secretaries. (The latter gets echoed in this other article, which is about the UK more specifically.) Methinks it'll give you plenty of context for your book.
The linotype reference in the quote is almost certainly about the Linotype machine.
Some of these related scholarly articles might also be useful in your research.
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