As a person who submitted multiple school papers on a '95 typewriter I can say this: the "newer"style presented a similar issue. Pressing a key was similar to pressing a key on a computer keyboard, as opposed to traditional typewriters where the key press is physically pressing a stamp into ink paper (the ribbon).
I’m not sure how the 1995 one worked, but there were no physical stamps, and it required power. It still left a visible impression on the ribbon though.
This one was fancy and had multiple ribbons in a cartridge. The bottom ribbon was ink, but there was also a highlighter ribbon and an eraser ribbon. For the time, this was very high end. Almost like having a real computer!
The ribbon is just 2 wheels on gears, that work the spool of ink ribbon from one wheel to the other. I’ve taken them apart a few times, and yeah you can just read what was typed. If you have a fancy one that does erasing, both ribbons move the same, so retyping will end up with a ribbon that has jumbled letters. On older typewriters you can still manually move back on the line you are working on. Depending on the machine, and it’s mechanics, it might have a “backspace” button that might roll back the ribbon as well.
It’s not going to remove letters, but you can go over the same space on the paper multiple times. (As example: you accidentally hit “a” instead of “e”. You hit backspace to readjust to where the" a" is. You then press “e”. Repeat that 5 or 6 times, and the “e” should be visible on top the original “a”.)
If I’m not mistaken, there used to be typewriter tape available, might still be available. Used for instances that the ribbon gets tangled and you have to tape it back together. If that’s the case, just rig the receiving wheel so that you can remove used ribbon. Burn the ribbon and done.
I had an old one as a kid that didn’t advance the ribbon automatically anymore, so if you typed 4-5 chars, it would be a little dimmer, till you hit around 10 and couldnt really read it. So youd have to flick the wheel a little to advance it. Probably too annoying for real use, (and the reason my Nana had given it to me when I was 5) but would be great for short messages like this, and putting 5 chars on top of eachother makes a pretty unrecognizable jumble of lines on tbe ribbon.
I feel like it wouldnt be too hard to fashion a spring that goes between the spindle and a modified cassette, so that as the spindle turns with each keystroke, the spring builds up tension, and enough letters to obscure all type in one spot, then it releases it all at once, advancing the tape.
as someone who doesn’t use typewriters - is this all typewriters? most? modern? all?
As a person who submitted multiple school papers on a '95 typewriter I can say this: the "newer"style presented a similar issue. Pressing a key was similar to pressing a key on a computer keyboard, as opposed to traditional typewriters where the key press is physically pressing a stamp into ink paper (the ribbon).
I’m not sure how the 1995 one worked, but there were no physical stamps, and it required power. It still left a visible impression on the ribbon though.
This one was fancy and had multiple ribbons in a cartridge. The bottom ribbon was ink, but there was also a highlighter ribbon and an eraser ribbon. For the time, this was very high end. Almost like having a real computer!
The ribbon is just 2 wheels on gears, that work the spool of ink ribbon from one wheel to the other. I’ve taken them apart a few times, and yeah you can just read what was typed. If you have a fancy one that does erasing, both ribbons move the same, so retyping will end up with a ribbon that has jumbled letters. On older typewriters you can still manually move back on the line you are working on. Depending on the machine, and it’s mechanics, it might have a “backspace” button that might roll back the ribbon as well.
It’s not going to remove letters, but you can go over the same space on the paper multiple times. (As example: you accidentally hit “a” instead of “e”. You hit backspace to readjust to where the" a" is. You then press “e”. Repeat that 5 or 6 times, and the “e” should be visible on top the original “a”.)
If I’m not mistaken, there used to be typewriter tape available, might still be available. Used for instances that the ribbon gets tangled and you have to tape it back together. If that’s the case, just rig the receiving wheel so that you can remove used ribbon. Burn the ribbon and done.
All that I’m aware of. Or to put it another way: every typewriter you’re likely to encounter out in the wild.
It’s a common trope for old whodunit mysteries, so I bet someone solved this particular problem but I’ll also bet that they’re not common machines.
this is not my area at all, but there’s got to be some sort of ribbon design out there to randomize the travel after each keystroke
I had an old one as a kid that didn’t advance the ribbon automatically anymore, so if you typed 4-5 chars, it would be a little dimmer, till you hit around 10 and couldnt really read it. So youd have to flick the wheel a little to advance it. Probably too annoying for real use, (and the reason my Nana had given it to me when I was 5) but would be great for short messages like this, and putting 5 chars on top of eachother makes a pretty unrecognizable jumble of lines on tbe ribbon.
duh, just remove the automatic repeatable part. this is why you should think before commenting, kids. jeepers look at me go
but yeah, while annoying for regular use, certainly doable for certain occasions. and probably could be semi-automated fairly easily
I feel like it wouldnt be too hard to fashion a spring that goes between the spindle and a modified cassette, so that as the spindle turns with each keystroke, the spring builds up tension, and enough letters to obscure all type in one spot, then it releases it all at once, advancing the tape.