Yesterday’s Technology . . . Today!
This is an early, computerised typesetting machine. The operator selects a character on the keyboard, which triggers a stroboscopic flash to set the type.
Four type styles, each with 105 characters, were available to the operator through filmstrips held on a drum.
S.A.M stood for ‘Sets All Matrices.’ It was a hot-metal linecaster made by M.H. Whittaker & Son.
This would then be cast in the machine. S.A.M. could use matrices from Ludlow, Linotype, Intertype and Nebitype companies.
The Intertype Monarch was designed without a manual keyboard. It relied totally on Teletypesetting (TTS) for setting type, using instructions from perforated tape.
It had an output of 14 lines per minute. A suction manifold held the matrices to the delivery belt as they were delivered at high speed to the assembler.
On its introduction in 1962, the Electron was said to be the fastest linecaster in the world.
It used Teletypesetting to automatically select matrices through a keyboard operated via perforated tape.
Launched as one of a range of ’70’ series linecasters, the model 79 was specifically designed for use with Teletypesetting (TTS). During TTS a perforated tape was passed through a special attachment on the linecaster. The perforation activated a keyboard and selected the appropriate matrices.
A keyboard operator perforated the tape, encrypting the original text in a series of dots. The tape could be transmitted by telegraph to a reperforator in the printer’s office, which replicated the perforated tape. It was then passed to the linecaster operator.
The C4 had four magazines allowing type up to 18 point, and used sliding carriages to help ease the changing of magazines.
A High-Speed version was introduced in 1954 that used Teletypesetting (TTS). TTS is a means of automatically selecting matrices using perforated tape running through a special attachment on the machine.
Intertype Models F, G and H were introduced in 1936. They had four magazines and a double distributor.
The G4 4SM, with its additional four magazine side unit, was announced in 1938. It had two widths of main magazines: a 72-channel magazine for fonts up to 36 point, and a 90-channel for standard sized fonts.
Introduced in 1935, the Model 48 could hold up to seven magazines.
The Whittaker machine is the standard model with four magazines, but a side unit holding another three magazines was available.
The “Mickey Mouse” was a linecaster that was used to produce display or outsize type up to 60 point. It was invented by M.H. Whittaker.
The “Mickey Mouse” was built using old, stripped-down star-based Model 1 Linotypes. They included several inventions patented by Whittaker. The matrices were kept in cabinets separate to the machine.
The Model 4 was introduced in 1908. It was the first hot-metal linecaster with the capacity to hold three magazines of matrices. It had a single distributor to return matrices to their magazines after use.
An automatic font distributor prevented the matrices entering the wrong magazine. The Model 4 was the first machine to be equipped with an automatic quadder.