Glidden C
NAME: Glidden, Carlos.
ACHIEVEMENT(S): Collaboration in the invention of the typewriter.
NICKNAME/ALIAS:
DATE/PLACE OF BIRTH: 1834.
DATE/PLACE/AGE AT DEATH: 1877.
DISCIPLINE:
FIELD: Invention.
LANGUAGE: German/English.
PARENTS: No details.
SIBLINGS: No details.
SPOUSE: Married.
CHILDREN: Jennie.
EDUCATION: Studied in Vienna.
MAJOR WORK: An intermediate-lever typewriter.
LIFE AND TIMES: Glidden emigrated to the US from Vienna, Austria, and settled in Milwaukee, WI, where he worked on his inventions in a machine-shop, and met two other inventors, <collaborated with> Sholes* and Samuel W. Soulé. Glidden and Sholes worked together on various projects and, at the same time, Sholes started to work on his designs for a <developed> typewriter*and Glidden was working on a kind of plough, which he called a ‘mechanical spader.’
Between them, Sholes and Soulé had invented an automatic numbering machine that could be used to print sequential numbers on train tickets, bank notes and book pages. When Glidden saw their machine, he showed Sholes an article in ‘Scientific American’. about the Englishman Pratt’s attempts at designing a typewriter.
According to Glidden’s daughter, her father had also worked, intermittently from 1862, on designs for a typewriter, along with various other inventive projects. It seems however, that Glidden’s model was only a crude device made out of wood and string. He showed it to Sholes and the two developed it to the standard required for a patent application.
The patent was registered in Sholes’ name because Glidden wanted Sholes to take preference. They continued development and finally, in September 1867, Sholes had successfully typed his name in block capitals and the first primitive machine was ready.
At this stage they decided to finance the project long-term.
Sholes, Glidden and Soulé took a quarter of the shares each and then James Densmore paid them $200 each for the fourth quarter share. Densmore continued to put money into developing a viable machine and various models were produced.
In 1870, Densmore and Sholes tried to sell the machine to the New York Automatic Telegraph Company. The company rejected them because they were asking too much, especially as one of their own mechanics, Thomas Edison, claimed he could produce a better machine for less money.
Back in Milwaukee, the four shareholders began to fall out. Sholes was on the brink of giving up but Densmore wanted to make more improvements. A ‘final’ machine was built, with a continuous roll feature and other refinements. Densmore picked up an order for ten machines but they ran out of money and abandoned the project.
Between 1870 and 1872, Glidden spent time in the machine shop, assisting Sholes in developing the typewriter. He made suggestions for improvement, which Sholes was free to ignore, since the law recognised only him as the inventor. With this in mind, at some point later, Glidden independently developed a new typewriter with a lever, a distinctive feature that he claimed was his own idea.
Still heavily under-funded, the partners began to manufacture again in 1872 and a new player, George Washington Newton Yost, came onto the scene. A first class salesman, he and Densmore were desperate to exploit the machine and formed their own marketing company. This caused the breakup of the partnership, one story claiming that Glidden sold out and, some time later, so did Soulé.
The story goes that Glidden then approached Densmore in an attempt to get back into the company. He wanted Densmore to call the machine the ‘Sholes and Glidden type-writer’, which Densmore agreed to. Glidden also wanted part ownership.
Densmore refused but Sholes, believing the invention to be worthless, gave Glidden part of his own holding. In 1872, a document detailing the shareholdings recorded that Densmore held control of the company with 40%, Amos and Emmett Densmore, his brothers, 10% each, Sholes 30% and Glidden 10%.
Around this time, the Civil War was over, and the market for weaponry had declined, so Yost suggested approaching <did deal with> Remington* and Sons with the machine, since they were looking for products to fill excess machine-tool capacity. A contract was signed on 1st March 1873, in which each shareholder would get his own proportion of the royalties. Remington launched the ‘Sholes and Glidden typewriter’, with Yost and Densmore in sole charge of sales.
Glidden was unhappy with his share of the royalties. Refusing to part with any of his rights, he approached Densmore and claimed that the agreement of 1872 was worded incorrectly and he was actually entitled to a tenth share of Densmore’s profit. Densmore held his ground and Glidden’s bid for a greater share failed.
Even under Remington supervision, production of the typewriter ran into problems. Defective machines were being returned and too much unsold stock was left on the shelf. Debts began to mount in the typewriter section of the business, and Remington finally took control of sales strategy and development.
ASSESSMENT: The social effects of his invention were wide-ranging, especially in the filed of women’s emancipation.
EXTRA CONNECTIONS: None.
ONELINER: Carlos Glidden, co-inventor of the typewriter
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Michael Adler, The Writing Machine, George Allen & Unwin Ltd, London, 1973.