Police in front of Imperial Typewriter in Leicester England August 1974

The Imperial Typewriter Company was a British manufacturer of

typewriter A typewriter is a Machine, mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of Button (control), keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an i ...

s based in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, England. The company was founded by Hidalgo Moya, an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

engineer who lived in England. After first building the Moya typewriter, he set up the Imperial Typewriter Company in Leicester in 1911 with local businessmen John Gordon Chattaway, William Arthur Evans and Joseph Wallis Goddard. It stopped manufacturing typewriters when electric models and then

word processor A word processor (WP) is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features. Early word processors were stand-alone devices dedicated to the function, but current word ...

s and

personal computers A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

became popular, causing typewriter sales to fall. The company was acquired by

Litton Industries Litton Industries, Inc., was an American defense contractor that specialized in shipbuilding, aerospace, electronic components, and information technology. The company was founded in 1953 and was named after inventor Charles Litton Sr., who was ...

in 1966, and gradually introduced

Royal Typewriter Company Royal Consumer Information Products, Inc. (formerly The Royal Typewriter Company) is an American technology company founded in January 1904 as a manufacturer of typewriters. Royal’s product line has evolved to include cash registers, shredders, ...

models largely assembled from parts shipped from

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, United States. In May 1974, Asian workers at the Imperial Typewriter Company in Leicester went on strike over unequal bonus payments and discrimination in promotion. The

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a trades/labour union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the un ...

s committee and

Transport & General Workers Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900,000 members (a ...

branch refused their support, but the strikers stayed on strike for almost 14 weeks. The manufacture of typewriters ceased at Leicester and Hull in 1975.

Models

*Imperial A *Imperial B *Imperial C *Imperial D *Imperial Doppelganger (see external link) *Imperial model 50 *Imperial model 55 *Imperial model 60 *Imperial model 65 *Imperial model 66 *Imperial model 70 *Imperial model 80 (Royal) *Imperial model 90 *Imperial Electric *Imperial model 200 *Imperial War Finish model *The Good Companion model 1 *The Good Companion model 2 *The Good Companion model 3 *The Good Companion model 4 *The Good Companion model 5 *The Good Companion model 6/6T *Imperial Safari model *Imperial Messenger Portable Typewriter *Imperial Signet Portable Typewriter *Imperial Pavey Musigraph

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20091028060244/http://www.geocities.com/wbd641/EuropeImperial.html * https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/lily-paveys-musikriter/ Typewriters Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies based in Leicester {{UK-manufacturing-company-stub