Imperial ELE electric typewriter, about 1965

Made:
1962-1967 in England
maker:
Imperial Typewriter Company Limited
Imperial electric typewriter with 170 character width platen Imperial electric typewriter with 170 character width platen Imperial electric typewriter with 170 character width platen

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

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Imperial electric typewriter with 170 character width platen
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Imperial electric typewriter with 170 character width platen
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Imperial electric typewriter with 170 character width platen
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Imperial ELE electric typewriter with 170 character width platen, serial number ELE 1397, c. 1965

The ELE was the only electric typewriter made by British company Imperial Typewriter Company, a longstanding manufacturer of manual typewriters from 1911 until the 1970s - when the company was taken over by US electronics giant Litton Industries.

The Imperial Typewriter Company was a British manufacturer of typewriters based in Leicester, England and established by Hidalgo Moya, an American-Spanish engineer who lived in England, in 1911. In 1954, the company expanded and opened up a second factory in Hull.

In the late 1960s, the Imperial Typewriter Company succumbed to cheaper overseas production costs and began to import machines from Japan. In the 1970s, Imperial was taken over by US electronics giant Litton Industries, which also swallowed up Royal Typewriters, and after a brief revival under the brand name Imperial Business Equipment, the Imperial name disappeared completely in the 1980s.

Details

Category:
Printing & Writing
Object Number:
1988-448
Materials:
metal, paint, possibly synthetic rubber, nickel or chrome plated metal, plastic, acrylic, PVC plastic coated flex, textile and ink
Measurements:
overall: 260 mm x 640 mm x 450 mm, ,
type:
electric typewriters
credit:
London Borough of Barnet. Special Tuitio