Victor Standard Typewriters

Victor Standard Typewriter The history of the Victor four-bank, front strike typewriter is much like that of many other machines introduced in the same period. There were changes in model number with only tiny actual alterations, and there were not only multiple owners of the company, with multiple names, but multiple inventors and patent assignors as well. This information is tricky to properly interpret without the inclusion of assumption. We will take a careful look at what is available, and employ unseen advertising materials and US Patent Office filings to help with the details.

Many thanks to Peter Weil, Jim Dax and Richard Polt for their materials, pictures and input. This article would not have been possible without their contributions. All ad illustrations this page are courtesy of these three gentlemen; the text and interpretation is mine alone, and I bear responsibility for any errors.

Many collectors are aware that the Victor was built in the same factory that had previously been owned by the Franklin Typewriter Company, noted for production of the machine bearing the Franklin name. The production of the Victor began sometime around 1907/1908, although it is totally impossible to rationalize the disparate information in the variety of sources. Still, it appears as if there may have been some overlap between the final Franklin production and the first production of the Victor if we go only by dates.

At left is our first illustration, one of many sent to us by Peter Weil, Jim Dax and Richard Polt for this effort. It dates from 1908, and advertises the Victor No. 1 model. Clearly visible is one of the distinctive features of the Victor -- the odd nature of the type bar design with forked end and double mounting. This was advertised as a "one inch" bearing.

Here is the first odd piece of data; this is a crop from US patent number 1,048,974, filed 1908 and granted 1912. It covers various aspects of the Victor design. It was filed by Iwan Jones and Frank Tanner, who are listed as assignors to the International Textbook Company of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Previously written material on the Victor only mentions the involvement of this company at very late dates. It has now become apparent, through the discovery of this, three more patents, and original Victor materials, that International Texbook was involved much earlier than previously assumed.

Getting right into it, we can identify, from printed advertising, official materials, and patents, three different companies involved with the Victor over the years. These are the Victor Typewriter Company, of New York; the International Textbook Company, of Scranton, Pennsylvania; and the Victor Typewriter Company, of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Certainly, the International Textbook Company became involved in the 1909-1910 time period. Patents granted in the 1910-1912 period list this company as assignor (to protect its investment, should Victor fail) and one manual for the No. 3, seen below, was printed by Int'l Textbook and carries a copyright date clearly on the cover of 1910. This is shortly after the accepted 1907/1908 time frame for introduction of the Victor Standard. No hard data exists to determine whether International Textbook was a part owner of Victor from the beginning, or whether it bought into the company as investors after operations began. If nothing else, we can guarantee the association with Int'l Textbook at the introduction of the Victor No. 3.

Above, patent filed 1909 and granted 1914, assigned to Victor Typewriter Company of New York. On the right, instructions for Victor No. 3 printed by International Correspondence Schools, Scranton, Pennsylvania, which was owned by the same interests as International Textbook and was inextricably linked. Date on this manual, lower front, is 1910.

At left, another 1908 ad for the Victor. This is again the No. 1; the No. 2 and No. 3 are quite similar. The important thing to note here is that all Victor machines included the tabulator. There was no 'product line;' only one model was offered at a time, with no options. This was actually common practice for the smaller manufacturers.

The earlier ad makes great effort to persuade the reader that the Victor's type bars cannot go out of alignment. This was an enormous problem for all early makers that used individually hung type bars. Every single one converted over to slotted segments as soon as the Underwood patent expired, and as soon as they could afford it.

At right, a Victor No. 3. Let's identify some of the characteristics of these machines. First, the ribbon takes a vertical direction change at the print point. The ribbon spools are mounted down inside the machine, and are carried at an angle; the patent illustration seen earlier makes the orientation perfectly clear. The two devices on the front of the machine are distinctive; on the left is the operator for the tabulator, with notched quadrant, and on the right, the ribbon selector.

One other peculiarity of these machines is the button you see in the center of the machine, above the keyboard and below the name "Victor." This is the backspace key, which was designed to be operated by either hand.

This set of features makes it easy to distinguish an early Victor from anything else, even if all of the decals are worn or painted over.

We have few reliable records as to the actual production volume of the Victor standard, or regarding the breakdown of models (as regards year of introduction of each.) We can guess that No. 1 and No. 2 occupy the time frame 1908-1910, with No. 1 probably being less common than No. 2. The instruction manual for the No. 3 shown above, as noted, has a print date on its cover of 1910, and so we must go against previously published data here and mark the No. 3 as appearing in 1910.

The No. 3 ran for a number of years as the only model; but, according to Peter Weil, the best available information is that a new Victor No. 10 appeared in 1919. We also know that, by this time, the manufacturer had changed from Victor Typewriter Co. of New York, to Victor Typewriter Co. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. The change in name was probably concurrent with the model change, or nearly.

VICTOR No. 10 (Richard Polt collection) S/N 54668.

Here is an example -- and a fine one at that -- of the late model Victor Standard. Many things are notable here. First, the entire ribbon equipment has been altered; the spools are now on top of the machine, and the ribbon path is fully horizontal. The decal on the rear clearly gives the Scranton, PA. location. The paper table decal is different, and on the front, behind the top row of keys, the Scranton location is again listed on decals not present on earlier versions. The carriage return lever has changed, and patent information indicates numerous other subtle changes.

Some further facts: All known Victor No. 10 machines have serial numbers in a new 50,000 block. As before, all have tabulators; we can see that the tabulator and ribbon selector are not altered. The bearings may also have been improved by this time, or at least, patents were taken out for such improvements. The basic mechanism remained the same.

Here we have a collage of original Victor advertising material, courtesty of Peter Weil. These all date from the 1920-1921 time period. This is thought to be very near the end for this machine, and for this company.

We do know that the Victor No. 3 was still being advertised as late as 1916, or perhaps 1917; it probably ran slightly longer than that. Whatever the case, there are only a small handful of Victor No. 10 machines known to survive, meaning that production was very slight, and probably was no more than 10,000 units, if that.

Note the "10 1/2 IN." on the right front frame of the No. 10 Victor, indicating a platen width of this measurement.

Again, we see in the piece above, one of those phrases commonly associated with marginal machines; "1000 fewer parts than other high-grade typewriters." Frequently, this was a sign of doom.

"Incontrovertible reasons why" you should consider a Victor No. 10, at left. The ad copy is typical, espousing all of the inherently designed superior features of the machine. We must note, though, that even if all were true, the huge juggernauts of typewriter history -- Underwood, Royal, L. C. Smith, and Remington -- were at their height at this time, making it hard for any small company to compete fully.

At present, no hard data exists for the exact end of production by Victor. We do know that, in 1927, the Victor Adding Machine Co. introduced a portable typewriter it called the Victor-- and that it had bought the rights to the name prior to that. However, with the very minimal number of Victor No. 10 machines extant, and the seeming cutoff of advertising after 1921, we can safely guess at this time period being the end of the Victor Standard Typewriter. Many times, it was proven that no matter how much hard work went into a typewriter design, the simple lack of funding killed it. In many cases, machines were offered by various makers at times only by mail order, with no nationwide sales or service network. The Victor appears to be roughly in this class; if we add to this the often-found phraseology of "fewer parts" and "one model for all uses," that time and again are hallmarks of failed machines, the Victor can be properly viewed in perspective. The machine had lasted longer than some others did -- from 1907/8 to 1921, or about 14 years.