fabrisse

Having tried to find the information below (it took me several minutes using Salon's search function), I decided that when I did I wanted it preserved.

I used IBM electric and Selectric typewriters in the 1980s. Most of the machines I used (at a DoD school in Brussels where I learned to type and later working for a civilian program affiliated with the US Military and based on a Kaserne in Mannheim), had different types of ball. Some had superscript; some didn't. Unless there was a special request, such as a cursive font for invitations, we didn't change the ball unless something was broken. I had five different balls for my typewriter. One was a Pica 10 for filling in forms, one was the Elite 12 that I used daily, one was the cursive one for invitations, and the other two were used at specific requests. I know that one was considered a "newspaper" font.

The typewriter that I used in Mannheim, had a key about where the enter key is on a computer keyboard (actually it had 2 keys there, the farther one had 1/2 and 1/4 on it in little letters.) which gave me the option for a superscripted th. I wish I could remember what that key did without hitting shift, but there you have it.

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