[GreenKeys] Kleinschmidt, Morkrum, M-K, M14-TP, and other early stuff

Wed Apr 5 20:13:39 EDT 2006

Gil, Here goes....

Per E.E Kleinschmidt's partial Autobiography: "Printing Telegraphy...A =
New
Era Begins"

I.
Kleinschmidt Electric Co. was founded in 1913. He made his first printer =
in
1911 and demonstrated it to Western Union. It appears he did freelance
inventing / engineering before that.=20

II.
Products, there were a number of typewriter based printers:=20
1. 3B page printer (Western Union's unit was designated 1A and Mr. Potts
unit was 2A)
2. "Kleinschmidt Telegraph Typewriter" 1919
3. 21A and later 22 for gummed tape
There are lots of pictures in the book without specific model =
designation.
4. The Keyboard operated Morse that sometimes show up on Ebay as the =
1940s
version made by Teletype corp. Except for wrinkled paint job vs. gloss
enamel and the brand name they are almost identical. And they almost =
always
launch a "what is it?" on Greenkeys! =20

III.

EE stayed with MK through the sale of Teletype Corp to Western Electric =
/
AT&T in 1930. He was on contract with AT&T until late 1934. He then
"retired." In 1944 he got involver with the Army Signal Corps though his =
son
Bernard (My great Uncle). Kleinschmidt Laboratories Inc. was established =
in
1949 to build printers for the Government.=20

IV.
EE has a number of patents on the M14 mechanism - the selector is one =
that
comes to mind if memory seves.=20

V.
The Book: Perhaps we should scan the book and post it. I do have =
photocopies
available if you want a copy. They do show up in used book stores now =
and
then. Some are even autographed. It was self published.=20

Tom

-----Original Message-----
From: greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of gil at baudot.net
Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 3:27 AM
To: greenkeys at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [GreenKeys] Kleinschmidt, Morkrum, M-K, M14-TP,and other early
stuff

Hi folks:

I am curious about some of the early days (pre-Teletype Corp).  As I
understand it, the Morkrum Company existed from 1915 to 1925.  EE
Kleinschmidt was doing his thing up until 1925, when the merger created
Morkrum-Kleinschmidt -- the M-K name lasted until 1929.  The M-K name
was changed in 1929 to Teletype Corp.  A few questions come to mind for
anyone who might recall (anything not in the Krum, Nelson-Lovitt, or
Slayton docs):

- During what years did Kleinschmidt's (original) company exist? =20
   One reference says 1905-1920, but this ends before the M-K merger.
- What was Kleinschmidt designing/producing until 1925?
- For how long did EE Kleinschmidt stay on with the M-K company?

This all came to mind when I was looking into history of the Model 14
Tape Printer, a design that spanned  approximately 1925-1955.  This
printer was also commonly know as the Western Union Simplex Printer
2-B.  Western Union 2-B printers made by Morkrum-Kleinschmidt are
around, which puts start of production of the M14-TP to at least
somewhere between '25 and '29.  I have heard that a model 1-A was made
by Kleinschmidt before the M-K merger, though I have also read about a
1-A produced by Western Electric.  Ahh, this goes before '25.  Was this
1-A design essentially the same as what would become the 2-B and the
M14-TP?  But one reference says that Krum and Morton filed a patent
application for the M14-TP in pre-merger 1924.  Hmm. =20

The M14 tape printer is clearly a relative of the later M14 typing
reperf and the M15, as evidenced by the design of the selector and
other sections.  But I never knew where the technology originated prior
to the M-K merger.  I presumed much of it came from Morkrum roots, since
they were producing the M11 and M12 before the M-K merger -- the M11
introduced the "cam-and-contacts" type of sending distributor, as well
as the "Teletype" scroll symbol branding plate (1921).  I am curious
what technology came from the Kleinschmidt side of M-K merger.  I am
also interested in what designs came from Kleinschmidt, Western
Electric (1-A maybe?), and Western Union (eg: the 100-family -- I have
a 103).

Here are the production dates I have of some other early models:

- Morkrum Printing Telegraph (Blickenderfer-based page printer):
    1910 to 1925 under Morkrum Company

- GPE Perforator (aka green code perf, iron-horse):
    1913 to 1925 under Morkrum Company
    1925 to 1929 under Morkrum-Kleinschmidt
    1929 to 1963 under Teletype Corp

- Model 11 Tape Printer:
    1921 to 1925 under Morkrum Company
    1925 to 1927 under Morkrum-Kleinschmidt

- Model 12 Page Printer:
    1922 to 1925 under Morkrum Company
    1925 to 1929 under Morkrum-Kleinschmidt
    1929 to 1943 under Teletype Corp

Any insight appreciated.

thanks,

gil

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