BETZ VISIBLE

One of a kind -- the BETZ VISIBLE

Preface. Prior to the discovery of the machine now under discussion, exactly three machines were known to exist which were relabeled variants of the Harris Visible No. 4. One of these machines is referred to commonly as the AUTOCRAT, and the other two are known by the name REPORTER'S SPECIAL. The Autocrat and one of the Reporter's Special machines are in the Dietz collection at the Milwaukee Public Museum, while the other Reporter's Special is in private hands. All three machines run together in the same group of serial numbers at the very top of the 19,000 range and in the low 20,000 serial range, and in fact no machines carrying the Harris Visible name have been found between the serials of the three variants. The Autocrat might be referred to more exactly as the Autocrat Visible, since the front frame of the machine below the keyboard actually carries the name "Autocrat Visible Typewriter." The other two machines have no decal there at all, and nothing is known about how these two different relabels of the Harris were advertised or distributed. Recently, one further, completely different relabeled Harris Visible No. 4 turned up, and we are now lucky enough to have this machine in our collection.

The machine seen here is the Betz Visible; it is serial number 20509. This serial number is above that of the higher of the two Reporter's Special machines but below any further known Harris Visible; thus, all four known relabeled machines are in a tight grouping of production.

Unlike the other machines already discussed, the Betz Visible clearly carries the name of the company that sold it. On the flat area behind the keyboard is the perfectly clear decal "Frank S. Betz Company, Hammond, IND." This is surprising if one attempts to discover the nature of the Betz company's business, which was the manufacture and sale of instruments and supplies for doctors, surgeons, dentists and pharmacists.

If one examines the machine more closely, though, the reason for the distribution of this machine through Betz becomes clear; the Betz Visible is equipped with a pharmaceutical keyboard.

Here is a shot of the keyboard of the Betz Visible. Note the name of the distributor clearly appearing above the keyboard. On this machine, the regular figures obtained by Fig-shift of the A,F,G and H keys have been replaced by pharmaceutical characters.

The symbols associated with the above mentioned keys on this machine are, respectively, the symbols for SCRUPLE, DRAMS, OUNCES and PRESCRIBED (the last one being the familiar combined Rx symbol.)

Betz Visible and Harris Visible No. 4.

The machines are functionally identical in every respect, with the exception of the four mentioned figures. The Betz has only a gold bead line on its front frame, and appears never to have had any other decals there. It also appears not to have had gold bead on its paper table, which is consistent with the other three known relabels.

We can be sure this machine is a Harris No.4 and not a Rex No. 4 by serial and by lack of any ribbon selector device of any kind.

Included just for fun are a couple shots taken at the hotel we stayed at, showing ourselves and the Betz Visible. We picked it up to avoid shipping problems or damage, requiring a two-day trip deep into Pennsylvania.

It is of interest that none of the advertisements or flyers for either the Harris Visible or the Rex Visible mentions anything about the availability of special keyboard characters. One would then have to say that the Betz Visible is NOT just a Harris Visible No. 4 with pharmaceutical keyboard but which has been relabeled; it is in fact a completely special machine if one assumes that no other Harris machines were made with special keyboards.

In a way, the Betz does bring up other questions, even though as far as the three known labeling variants of the Harris go it is the only one with a guaranteed background. Did either the Autocrat or Reporter's Special have different keyboards? Did the latter, perhaps, include a symbol for "paragraph" and other literary characters? How were they marketed, and by whom were they sold?

The Betz does show clearly only a gold bead on its front frame and nothing else. Its retailer's name is also in a very unusual place. Did either the Autocrat or Reporter's Special have a decal in this position? Was the Reporter's Special front frame blank or gold-beaded only? All of these are worth investigating.

For those interested in minute detail, the Betz Visible has no ribbon selector, and the bead line in the front, stamped panel is unbroken. The machine has a completely conventional tabulator, and in point of fact mechanically is identical to all Harris machines with no ribbon color selector. The carriage and platen are completely standard (and in fact there are no known wide-carriage Harris machines at all.) Labeling on the rear is the totally expected "PATENTS PENDING" that all Harris and Rex machines display, even though the vast majority were made well after the patents were granted.

We might suspect that the machine was made in 1915 or early 1916; this would be after release of Harris Typewriter Manufacturing Company from its exclusive arrangement with Sears-Roebuck but before the transition (with new ownership) to Rex Typewriter Company.

The discovery of the Betz Visible has caused us here to once again focus our attention on the confusing serial number blocks found assigned to the Harris and Rex machines. It has long been our supposition here that either the serial number block of Harris machines running from approximately the 11,000 range to the 25,000 range, or else that from about 100,000 to about 111,000 was assigned exclusively for machines supplied to Sears-Roebuck for catalog sales. Our conclusion based upon all available evidence at this time is that the HIGHER block was that for Sears catalog sales. (The two given serial number blocks are the only serials assigned to Harris machines through their whole production 1912-1915 or 1916.) Support for this is as follows:

-One machine in the 100,000 range has been discovered with its original Sears - published owner's manual, tattered but intact.

-The machines produced for sale through other venues than Sears would not be in a dedicated serial block for that company, and we know that all four existing relabeled machines carry serials in the high 19,000 or low 20,000 range, indicating that range for use by Harris for its own purposes.

-The one known Smith Visible No. 6 has a serial in the lower range, which supports our theory that the vast majority of such Harris machines rebuilt and relabeled by rebuilder Harry A. Smith probably came from the 800 machines Sears-Roebuck was known to have been using in its own offices and which were not thus for sale by catalog.

-The Sears-advertised Harris Visible No. 4 never has a ribbon selector, no matter the date of the advertisement or printing date of the owner's manual -- and NO known machine in the 100,000 block actually has a ribbon selector. The only Harris machines that DO have ribbon selectors are the extremely rare Harris Visible No. 5 machines, but those are in the LOW serial number block, mixed in immediately above the Autocrat / Reporter's Special / Betz Visible.

It would indeed seem that the discovery of the Betz Visible has raised a number of questions, although for once in such a case the actual lineage of this "triggering" machine is solidly assured. Frank S. Betz Co. of Hammond, Indiana was at one time the largest U.S. manufacturer of medical, surgical and pharmaceutical supples (even drugs for a while) and had an enormous mail-order business via its many catalogs. Certainly, these catalogs would have been of a special nature, sent only to those who could use them, but some still exist today in various collections and antique book stores. We may even discover an advertisement for this special pharmaceutical Betz Visible in one of these catalogs. Whatever the case, this machine adds another chapter to the already fascinating story of typewriters manufactured in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and gives collectors yet another name to search for in the field.

Footnote: The Betz Visible is shown in the article above in the condition in which it was found. It is completely intact and operable, but not clean. We have decided to have it cleaned, and photos of the machine after this will appear below.