2003.185.4

Picht Braillewriter

Picht, Oscar

(a) Black enameled cast steel frame with conical front; six wood braille keys, with a space key extending from middle, set at 90 degrees to the other keys; gold script above keys, "Picht"; mfr label on flat front of the base of the diebox arch, "Bruno Herde und Friedrich Wendt, Berlin SW 19, Generalvertrieb: Reichsdeutscher Blindenverhand e.v. Berlin, Abt. Zentrale fur Blindenhilfsmittel"; blued-steel back space lever on right side of frame; blued-steel carriage release on left side; carriage is nickel-plated steel; wooden main roller with a spring-loaded paper clamp and knurled hard rubber knobs on both sides; secondary paper roller is black rubber covered steel with knurled steel knobs; back bar of carriage has a spring-loaded margin set with twenty notches stamped in the bar on the left; carriage return spring mounted under carriage to left and line return bell mounted to right; serial# stamped under margin control bar, "66620"; (b) base to original carrying case.

ca. 1935

Germany

The Picht braillewriter, or Schnellschreibmaschine, was invented by Oscar Picht (1871-1945) in 1899 while teaching at the State School for the Blind in Berlin, Germany. Picht was the director of the Provincial School for the Blind in Bromberg, Germany, from 1910-1920, and returned to Berlin to head that school from 1920-1933. He held multiple German braillewriter patents. This example came from the Kentucky School for the Blind History Room in Louisville, KY. The serial number suggests it was one of a hundred Pichts imported by APH in 1935 and sold on federal quota.

Gift of the Kentucky School for the Blind, 2003.185