1991.95

Perkins Braillewriter, Model A

Rectangular black-enameled steel plate body on a black wood base; base has a rounded extension with a raised rim under the front to form a keyboard tray, three rubber pads tacked to bottom to cushion the writer; fixed arched diebox on front middle; six steel braille keys with rounded wooden pads angle out from a central trapezoidal nickel plated steel space key; eighth key on left, currently inoperable and of unknown purpose; nickel plated steel carriage with two black enameled wood paper feed knobs; paper feeds between wooden and knurled steel rollers, rolling around the wooden roller inside a stationary bright aluminum tube; two line advance levers on left side of carriage; right and left margin stops on bar at front of carriage; small oval carriage release lever on extreme right of carriage; automatic line end bell inside body; stamped in middle of bar on front of carriage, "PERKINS INST. MODEL A"; stamped on left side of same bar, "8"; stenciled in gold on keyboard shield, " THE PERKINS BRAILLEWRITER/PERKINS INSTITUTION/WATERTOWN, MASS. PATENT PENDING".

H-2.5 W-15.125 D-3.375 inches

1907

Perkins Institution

Watertown, MA

The Perkins Model A came out in or around 1907. Models B, C, and D were introduced in the years between 1907 and 1933. Frank Hall at the Illinois Institution for the Education of the Blind, introduced his typewriter-style machine in 1892. The Perkins Institute in Boston and others brought out similar designs soon afterward. According to the Perkins History Museum, "these early writers were hand tooled, their performance was unpredictable and idiosyncratic, and replacing individual parts was extremely difficult and slow. Perkins produced several models over the next thirty years, all of which shared these design problems."

Gift of Pete Monheimer, 1991.95.