Carbons to Computers

Historical Timeline 1900-1909

Decade overview

At the turn of the century, the average workweek consists of ten-hour days, six days a week.

The new century brought important changes in the demographics of the office workforce. More than one hundred thousand women are employed as secretaries, stenographers, and typists.

The growing number of offices requiring staff for routine dictation, typing, and filing skills encourages potential employees to supplement their general education with specialized training.

Employers emphasize the high status appeal of "office work," as opposed to "factory labor," while reducing the salary levels for office work.

Corporate milestones

1900

Paper clip patented

1901

First transatlantic telegraphic radio transmission

 

First numerical keyboard for punching cards for tabulating machines developed by Herman Hollerith

1902

Arthur Pitney, a founder of Pitney Bowes Inc., received a U.S. patent on the world's first postage meter approved for use by the U.S. Postal Service in 1920

 

First electric typewriter to be sold worldwide--the Blickensderfer Electric--produced

1903

Clipper Manufacturing Company formed to manufacture paper-fastening devices (incorporated as ACCO in 1922)

 

L. C. Smith and Brothers Typewriter Company formed (became Smith Corona Company in 1926)

1904

Three-ring binder patented by Irving Piff Manufacturing Company

 

Human speech transmitted via radio waves by scientist R. A. Fessenden

1905

Star Furniture Company founded in Zeeland, Michigan (renamed Herman Miller in 1923)

1906

Stenotype machine invented by Ward Stone Ireland

 

Photostat developed

 

The Haloid Company founded to manufacture and sell photographic paper (name changed to Xerox Corporation in 1961)

1907

Telephotography inaugurated when Arthur Korn telegraphed a photograph from Munich to Berlin, Germany

1908

Olivetti founded by Camillo Olivetti

1909

Bakelite, the first totally synthetic plastic, patented

1900-1909 || 1910-1919 || 1920-1929 || 1930-1939 || 1940-1949
1950-1959 || 1960-1969 || 1970-1979 || 1980-1989 || 1990-

This material was generously provided by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

Introduction || Birth and Growth of the American Office || Office Equipment
Office Organization || Global Office || Conclusion
Historical Timeline || Lesson Plans || Resources || Site Contents
Home (text) || Home (graphics)

Contact education@soe.si.edu with any questions or comments

Smithsonian Institution Copyright 1998