The Teletype Corporation was an American manufacturer of teleprinters and other data and record communications equipment. A part of American Telephone and Telegraph Company's Western Electric manufacturing arm from 1930, it came into being in 1928 when the Morkrum-Kleinschmidt Company changed its name to the name of its trademark equipment.
Unlike its parent, Western Electric, Teletype had customers outside the Bell System, which it served with its own sales force. Its primary external customer was the United States Government.
The Teletype Corporation continued in this manner until January 8, 1982, the date of settlement of United States v. AT&T, a 1974 United States Department of Justice antitrust suit against AT&T. At that time, Western Electric was fully absorbed into AT&T as AT&T Technologies, and the Teletype Corporation became AT&T Teletype. The last vestiges of what had been the Teletype Corporation ceased in 1990.
History The Teletype Corporation had its roots in the Morkrum Company. In 1902, electrical engineer Frank Pearne approached Joy Morton, head of Morton Salt, seeking a sponsor for Pearne's research into the practicalities of developing a printing telegraph system. Joy Morton needed to determine whether this was worthwhile and so consulted mechanical engineer Charles Krum, who was vice president of the Western Cold Storage Company, which was run by Morton’s brother Mark Morton. Krum was interested in helping Pearne, so space was set up in a laboratory in the attic of Western Cold Storage. Frank Pearne lost interest in the project after a year, and left to become a teacher at Armour Institute, now Illinois Institute of Technology. Krum was prepared to continue Pearne’s work, and in August 1903 a patent was filed for a "typebar page printer". The present-day Pearne family disputes the claim that their ancestor lost interest, saying that Morton didn't pay him enough to support his family and that is why he left. It is perhaps noteworthy that many of the engineering staff of Teletype were educated at Armour/IIT, beginning with Howard Krum.
In 1904, Krum filed a patent for a "type wheel printing telegraph machine" which was issued in August 1907.
In 1906, the Morkrum Company was formed, with the company name combining the Morton and Krum names and reflecting the financial assistance provided by Joy Morton. This is the time when Charles Krum's son, Howard Krum, joined his father in this work. It was Howard who developed and patented the start-stop synchronizing method for code telegraph systems, which made possible the practical teleprinter.
In 1908, a working teleprinter was produced, called the Morkrum Printing Telegraph, which was field tested with the Alton Railroad.
In 1910, the Morkrum Company designed and installed the first commercial teletypewriter system on Postal Telegraph Company lines between Boston and New York City using the "Blue Code Version" of the Morkrum Printing Telegraph.
In 1925, the Morkrum Company and the Kleinschmidt Electric Company merged to form the Morkrum-Kleinschmidt Company.
In December 1928, the company changed its name to the less cumbersome "Teletype Corporation".
In 1930, the Teletype Corporation was purchased by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company for $30,000,000 in stock and became a subsidiary of the Western Electric Company.$30,000,000 Worth of Teletype, Fortune Vol. V No. 3, March 1932, p 40 While some principals in the Teletype Corporation retired, Howard Krum stayed on as a consultant. Sterling Morton, who no doubt got his job as President of Teletype because of his family's investments in the company, became head of the family's salt business. Although he was not educated as an engineer he seems to have had quite an aptitude for invention, as evidenced by his name on several of the company's patents.
In 1974, the Teletype Corporation, being a Western Electric company subsidiary, went on strike with its 1400 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers employee members at Little Rock over improved benefits, pay increases, and cost‐of‐living adjustments. A ratified contract was agreed on September 3, 1974 with other Western Electric plants to end the strike; however, the contract was subject to ratification at the Arkansas plant.
Teleprinter equipment
Morkrum Company Morkrum Printing Telegraph – This was the first mechanically successful teleprinter, initially used to 1908 for the Alton Railroad trials. A "Blue Code Version" was used in 1910 as a part of the first commercial teleprinter circuit that ran on Postal Telegraph Company lines between Boston and New York City. In 1914, a "Green Code Version" was installed using Western Union Telegraph Company lines for the Associated Press and was used to distribute news to competing newspapers in New York City. Morkrum Model 11 Tape Printer – The Model 11 Typewheel Tape Printer, at about 45 words-per-minute, was a bit faster than the Morkrum Printing Telegraph Blue and Green-Code printers, and was modeled after the European Baudot Telegraph System printer. The Model 11 was a Tape Printer which used gummed paper tape that could be pasted onto a telegram blank. This was the first teleprinter to successfully operate from an airplane. Morkrum Model GPE Perforator – The Morkrum Company Model GPE "Green Code" Perforator was designed about 1913 and a US Patent was filed in 1914. This equipment continued to be produced for the next 50 years. Morkrum Model 12 Typebar Page Printer – This equipment, also known as the Model 12 Page Printer, based on an Underwood typewriter mechanism, was the first commercially viable machine. This printer was produced from 1922 to 1925 under the Morkrum Company name, from 1925 to 1929 under the Morkrum-Kleinschmidt name, and from 1929 to 1943 under Teletype Corp.
Kleinschmidt Electric Company In 1916, Kleinschmidt filed a patent application for a type-bar page printer This printer utilized Baudot code but did not utilize the start-stop synchronization technology that Howard Krum had previously patented. The type-bar printer was intended for use on multiplex circuits, and its printing was controlled from a local segment on a receiving distributor of the sunflower type. In 1919, Kleinschmidt appeared to be concerned chiefly with development of multiplex transmitters for use with this printer. Kleinschmidt made his Kleinschmidt keyboard perforator which was later manufactured by Teletype.
Western Electric Company 10-A Printing Telegraph – The Western Electric Company made a line of printing telegraph equipment prior to acquiring the Teletype Corporation in 1930. The design for this equipment was provided by the Bell Telephone Laboratories and their predecessor, the W. E. Research and Development Department. One Western Electric product which was preserved is the 10-A Printer. It was electrically operated, being controlled by relays and powered by magnets. Its printing element was a small typewheel mounted on a vertical axis.
Morkrum-Kleinschmidt Company Model 14 (1925) – On December 23, 1924, Howard Krum and Sterling Morton filed an application on the type-bar tape printer which matured into Patent No. 1,745,633. The Model 14 was a family of devices, printing, reading or punching narrow tapes; Baudot code. About 60,000 were built.
Teletype Corporation
Teletype models and their dates:
Model 15 (1930) The Teletype Model 15 is a Baudot code page printer; the mainstay of U.S. military communications in World War II. A reliable, heavy-duty machine with a cast frame. In 1930, Sterling Morton, Howard L. Krum, and Edward E. Kleinschmidt filed an application for a U.S. patent covering the commercial form of the Model 15 page printer. Approximately 200,000 Model 15 teleprinters were built. The Model 15 stands out as one of a few machines that remained in production for many years, remaining in production until 1963, a total of 33 years of continuous production. The production run was stretched somewhat by World War II — the Model 28 was scheduled to replace the Model 15 in the mid-1940s, but Teletype built so many factories to produce the Model 15 during World War II that it was more economical to continue mass production of the Model 15. The Model 15, especially in its "receive only" configuration with no keyboard, was the classic "news Teletype", at least until the 1950s, when the news wire services began to move to TeleTypeSetter feeds, but also long after that in places. Some radio stations used a recording of the sound of one of these machines as background during news broadcasts.
Model 19 (1940) The Teletype Model 19 is a Model 15 with an integrated paper tape perforator and a Model 14 Transmitter-Distributor.
Model 20 (1940) The Teletype Model 20 is an upper/lower case Type Bar Page Printer available as a receive only machine or a send-receive machine with four rows of keys, using a six-bit code for TeleTypeSetter (TTS) use.
Model 26 (1939) The Teletype Model 26 is a Baudot code page printer; a lower-cost machine using a typewheel. The platen and paper moved while typing, like a manual typewriter.
Model 28 (1951)
The Teletype Model 28 is a product line of page printers, typing and non-typing tape perforator and tape reperforators, fixed-head single contact and pivoted head multi-contact transmitter-distributors, and receiving selector equipment. Regarded as the most rugged machines that the Teletype Corporation built, this line of teleprinters used an exchangeable type box for printing, and a sequential selector "Stunt Box" to mechanically initiate non-printing functions within the typing unit of the page printer, electrically control functions within the page printer and electrically control external equipment. The Teletype Corporation introduced the Model 28 as a commercial product in 1953, after this product had originally been designed for the US Military.
Starting with the Model 28, Teletype page printer model numbers were often modified by letters indicating the configuration. The configurations, in increasing order of equipment level and cost, were: RO – Receive Only, with a printer and no keyboard or built-in paper tape reader or punch KSR – Keyboard Send and Receive, with a keyboard and printer, but no built-in paper tape reader or punch ASR – Automatic Send and Receive, with a keyboard, printer, and built-in paper tape reader and punch
Not all models came in all three configurations. Teletype Corporation documents suffixed the configuration to the model number, e.g., "Model 33 ASR" (Model 33 Automatic Send and Receive). In contrast, some customers and users tended to place the configuration before the model number, e.g., "ASR-33".
The U.S. military had their own system of identifying the various models, often identifying various improvements, included options / features, etc. The TT-47/UG was the first Model 28 KSR, and while Teletype's designation for the basic machine remained the same over the next 20+ years, the TT-47/UG took on suffixes to identify the specific version. The last TT-47/UG was the TT-47L/UG. The U.S. Navy also assigned some "set" designations using the standard Army/Navy system, such as the AN/UGC-5, a Teletype Model 28 ASR which has a keyboard, printer, tape punch and reader facilities all in one cabinet.
Model 29 (1950s) The Teletype Model 29 is a six-bit machine using an IBM BCD code. It began as a replacement for Model 20, but apparently there was no market for such a machine, so it was repurposed for IDP (Integrated Data Processing) use.
Model 31 (1947) The Teletype Model 31 is a compact and light-weight five-level start-stop tape printer designed for mobile operation in the air and on the sea.
Dataspeed systems (1962 and later)