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51-500: The Royal Typewriter Company was founded by Edward B. Hess and Lewis C. Myers in January 1904 in a machine shop in Brooklyn, New York. The next year, Hess and Myers turned to Thomas Fortune Ryan , to whom they demonstrated a prototype typewriter. Their machine had numerous innovations including a friction-free, ball-bearing, one-track rail to support the weight of the carriage, a new paper feed,

102-527: A brokerage firm with two partners, Lee, Ryan & Warren, the following year. In 1873 Ryan married his former boss's daughter, Ida Mary Barry , whose family were devout Roman Catholics. They had eight children. In 1874, his firm purchased Ryan a seat on the New York Stock Exchange . At the same time, Ryan became active in politics, especially with the Tammany Hall machine that controlled much of

153-614: A 55% stake in Triumph-Adler. Included in the deal was Royal Typewriter. Sales continued to climb and by 1982 sales in North America of Royal and Triumph-Adler totaled over $ 600 million. In April 1986, Olivetti , the Italian typewriter/computer manufacturer, announced plans to purchase Triumph-Adler and Royal from Volkswagen. For nearly two decades Royal was a part of the Olivetti family. By

204-668: A Royal HH model manual typewriter. Thomas Fortune Ryan Thomas Fortune Ryan (October 17, 1851 – November 23, 1928) was an American tobacco, insurance and transportation magnate. Although he lived in New York City for much of his adult career, Ryan was perhaps the greatest benefactor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond in the decades before the Great Depression . In addition to paying for schools, hospitals and other charitable works, Ryan's donations paid for

255-534: A bond issue were misappropriated. Ryan was investigated for corruption in 1908, but the grand jury brought no charges. Ryan also invested in King Leopold II 's Congo Free State . In 1906, he cofounded the American Congo Company with Daniel Guggenheim . He was also an investor in other Belgian colonial concession companies, including the diamond and lumber conglomerate Forminière . Meanwhile, Ryan

306-653: A cheaper model. Royal McBee sold and serviced early computers RPC-4000 and RPC-9000. Royal McBee partnered with General Precision in the Royal Precision Electronic Computer Company, which sold and serviced the LGP-30 (in 1956) and LGP-21 (in 1963) single-user desk computers manufactured by the Librascope division of General Precision. Royal McBee was based in Port Chester, New York . The RPC-4000

357-560: A lighter and faster typebar action, and complete visibility of the words as they are typed. Ryan put up $ 220,000 in exchange for financial control. In March 1906 the first Royal typewriter, the Royal Standard, was sold. The Royal Standard was set apart from its competition by its 'flatbed' design. With demand increasing, Royal purchased 5¼ acres in Hartford, Connecticut, as the new site for its manufacturing facility. Original plans called for

408-629: A new cathedral in Richmond and soon doubled that donation to ensure that the interior would be of the highest workmanship. The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart , whose cornerstone was laid by the apostolic delegate on June 4, 1903, was dedicated by the same nuncio on November 29, 1906, and remains one of the metropolitan area's architectural landmarks. Other Ryan gifts in Virginia included the Cathedral High and

459-690: A new senator was elected. Weeks did not run in that election. Weeks was a member of the United States Republican Party and served as the member of a Republican National Committee from 1941 to 1953. He was the treasurer of the party from 1940 to 1944. Weeks was the president of the American Enterprise Association from 1946 to 1950. President Dwight Eisenhower appointed him the United States Secretary of Commerce from January 21, 1953, until November 10, 1958. Among

510-616: A noted art collector. A great-granddaughter was Virginia Fortune Ryan Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie (1933–2024), wife of David Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie . Grandson Joseph Bondurant Ryan (1906–1950) was the developer of the Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec. Joseph's son Peter (1940–1962) was the first Canadian to compete in Formula 1 auto racing and the winner of the first Canadian Grand Prix in 1961. Grandson Clendenin J. Ryan Jr. (1905–1957)

561-690: A private American company again. As of 2019, Royal is still introducing new typewriters under the Royal brand name. On 1 November 2021, Royal Consumer Information Products, Inc. (for the Americas) and the Czechia-based Moravia Consulting spol. s r.o. (for all other markets) became the licensees of HP Development Company, L.P. to continue the development, production, distribution, marketing and support of HP-branded calculators . In March 2024, Royal Consumer Information Products underwent

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612-597: A significant organizational change. The company has now officially split into two distinct entities: Royal Consumer Information Products, Inc. - This entity will focus on continuing the core operations and services of the original company within the United States and other international markets. Royal Consumer Information Products de Mexico (www.royallatam.com) - This entity will handle the company's operations and services specifically within Mexico Central America,

663-464: A youth, nor did his ancestors flee the Great Famine of Ireland as did many who worked on or rode his streetcars. Rural Virginia where Ryan grew up attracted few of those emigrants. Ryan's father was a tailor and managed a small hotel. He traced his ancestry to Protestant Anglo-Irish settlers who came to North America in the seventeenth century. Ryan's mother, Lucinda Fortune Ryan, died in 1856 when he

714-454: Is the computer on which Mel Kaye performed a legendary programming task in machine code, as told by Ed Nather in the hacker epic The Story of Mel . A Royal typewriter is a large story element in Stephen King 's novel Misery . 60 Minutes correspondent Morley Safer was known to write all of his scripts on a Royal typewriter. A Royal typewriter with a Prestige Elite typeface

765-742: The American Tobacco Company . Together Ryan and Duke developed the British-American Tobacco Company to protect the American tobacco trade in Europe. Upon his death, Ryan also had major holdings in R. J. Reynolds and Liggett & Myers . In 1905, amid public outcry, Ryan purchased the $ 400-million-strong Equitable Life Assurance Society , a major factor in the insurance industry. Although Ryan strove to make Equitable more responsive to its policy holders, public reaction to his purchase

816-650: The First National Bank of Boston , the United Carr Fastener Corporation and as President of Reed & Barton of Taunton Massachusetts. He served as mayor of Newton, Massachusetts from 1930 to 1935. He was a United States senator from Massachusetts from February 8, 1944, when he was appointed by Governor Leverett Saltonstall following the resignation of Henry C. Lodge Jr. , who went to serve in World War II , until December 19, 1944, when

867-666: The Good Samaritan Hospital . Ryan announced his intention to retire in 1912. Re-establishing his roots in his native state of Virginia, he had since 1901 maintained " Oak Ridge " in Nelson County, formerly the estate of tobacco trader William Rives and later of former Confederate and U.S. Congressman William Porcher Miles . Ryan also became a Virginia delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1912, which selected fellow Virginian Woodrow Wilson as

918-558: The Royal Typewriter Company Building to have a floor capacity of 250,000 square feet (23,000 m) and cost $ 350,000 to build. In 1908, Royal began manufacturing there and in time, Royal and cross town competitor, Underwood Typewriter Company , would make Hartford the “Typewriter Capital of the World”. In 1911, Royal introduced the Royal 5 typewriter, which also utilized the "flatbed" design. Royal's first model utilizing

969-727: The South Pole . In 1887, the Ryans bought the Groesbeck mansion near Suffern, New York in what is today the village of Montebello in the Town of Ramapo , a major municipality on the Erie Railroad , and rebuilt it into a summer home they called "Montebello". During the three decades before her death, Ida Barry Ryan funded the construction of the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as well as

1020-470: The "upright" design was the Royal 10, which came out in 1914. Original models had two beveled glass panes on each side. In 1926 Royal introduced the "Roytype" brand name for its line of typewriter ribbons and carbon paper. In order to promote the new portable Royal president G. E. Smith secured the exclusive sponsorship of the September 23, 1926, Dempsey–Tunney championship fight for $ 35,000. This boxing match

1071-405: The 1970s and 1980s, the typewriter market matured under the market dominance of large companies from Britain, Europe and the United States. Before the advent of daisywheel and electronic machines — Royal as well as the other major manufacturers faced strong competition from typewriters from Asia, including Brother Industries and Silver Seiko Ltd. of Japan. In September 2004, Royal became

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1122-563: The Caribbean, and Latin America. This strategic split was designed to enhance Royal's operational efficiency and better serve diverse markets. Both entities remain committed to delivering the high-quality products and services you have come to expect. During the 1980s, Royal also produced consumer daisy wheel printers like the Royal LetterMaster and Royal OfficeMaster 2000, the former being

1173-841: The Cathedral Primary schools in Richmond. In October 1903, Ryan and his wife donated a two-story brick and steam heated building near the Newport News Shipyard to the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth so they could start a Catholic girls school (to be named St. Vincent's de Paul School and later renamed Peninsula Catholic High School ). In June 1904, they donated a new building for the Sisters and their 104 students in their charge. The Ryans also financed construction of Catholic churches in Harrisonburg and Charlottesville. Pope Pius X recognized

1224-571: The Green Mountains of Vermont. Due to the illness of his second wife, in 1958 Weeks retired to his farm in Lancaster, New Hampshire . In the 1960s, Weeks worked with his friend and Republican colleague New Hampshire Governor Sherman Adams and others to ensure that Interstate 93 did not destroy the fragile environment of Franconia Notch State Park through which the Interstate was intended to run. As

1275-846: The Quiet Deluxe series of portable typewriters, produced from 1939 until 1959 (with a gap during WWII). In 1947, Royal produced, in limited quantity, a gold-plated version of its popular Quiet Deluxe model. Ian Fleming , the British novelist who wrote the James Bond novels, used a gold-plated Quiet Deluxe. Many other writers used a Quiet Deluxe, including Ernest Hemingway , or other models of Royal typewriter, including John Steinbeck . Other typewriter manufacturers utilized Royal's innovations in their typewriters. In 1947, Royal won patent suits against Remington and LC Smith Corona. In February 1950, Royal introduced its first electric typewriter. Lewis C. Myers,

1326-536: The State of New Hampshire to be a State Park. They intended the historic Arts & Crafts-style 1913 Lodge and 1912 Observation Tower on the summit to educate the public about sustainable forestry management. Today Weeks State Park , with its historic 1910 NH Scenic Byway road to the top, Lodge and Tower, attracts thousands of visitors annually to enjoy a panoramic 360-degree view of the White Mountains of New Hampshire and

1377-464: The United States and accepting honorary degrees and awards concerning his country's defense against the invading Germans. On November 23, 1928, Thomas Fortune Ryan died, the South's wealthiest native son and the nation's 10th wealthiest man. He left a fortune of more than $ 200 million. He was buried on his Oak Ridge estate, as was his second wife, Mary. Although a place had been reserved for Ida Barry Ryan in

1428-569: The acquisition of Royal McBee. The deal became final in March 1965. Litton would change the name of Royal McBee back to Royal Typewriter and reorganize the company into five divisions: Royal Typewriter, Roytype Consumer Products, Roytype Supplies, McBee Systems, and RMB. October 1966 saw Litton announce plans to acquire the English typewriter producer Imperial, through its Royal Typewriter division. In January 1969, Litton Industries further cemented its hold on

1479-572: The architecturally important St. Jean Baptiste Catholic Church on the Upper East Side . In Washington, D.C. , they paid for a gymnasium and dormitory at the Jesuit -founded Georgetown University . In 1901, the Ryans funded the construction of Sacred Heart Church and Sacred Heart School on Perry Street in Manchester, Virginia (now part of Richmond). In the same year, the Ryans donated $ 250,000 to build

1530-554: The city's operations, giving him political and industrial contacts across the city. Ryan's fortune began in public transit . In 1883, he founded the New York Cable Railroad and bid on the proposed route from lower Manhattan to Midtown . After numerous legal and financial problems, in 1886 Ryan reorganized his cable railroad as the Metropolitan Traction Company . By 1893, construction of Ryan's rail system

1581-573: The construction of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond, Virginia . Ryan also made significant donations to Catholic institutions in New York City and Washington, D.C. Thomas Fortune Ryan was born on October 17, 1851, near Lovingston, Virginia , the county seat of Nelson County . Despite a myth promulgated by Cleveland Amory regarding his background, Ryan was neither orphaned nor penniless as

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1632-478: The couple's generosity by naming him to the papal nobility and giving Ida Ryan the cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice for her work in the Diocese. The couple's lifetime contributions to Catholic charities around the country totalled $ 20 million. However, Mrs. Ryan refused to allow any funds to be used for "colored work" (including schools and hospitals for Virginia's freed blacks, despite diocesan missionary priorities of

1683-453: The crypt of Richmond's Sacred Heart Cathedral, she was ultimately interred in the cemetery at St. Andrews-on-Hudson Seminary in Hyde Park, New York (now The Culinary Institute of America ). Ryan's eldest son John Barry Ryan (1874–1942) became a financier and writer. His grandson Allan A. Ryan Jr. (1903–1981) was a New York State Senator from 1939 to 1942. His granddaughter Sally Ryan was

1734-414: The film No Time for Sergeants (1958) , when Will Stockdale ( Andy Griffith ) visits U.S. Air Force psychiatrist Maj. Royal B. Demming ( James Millhollin ), a Royal typewriter is prominently displayed in his office. In the opening title sequence of the television series Kolchak: The Night Stalker , the main character, Carl Kolchak (portrayed by actor Darren McGavin ), is seen writing up a news story on

1785-622: The party's presidential candidate. In 1916, Thomas Fortune Ryan was also the principal financial backer of John T. Thompson 's Auto-Ordnance Company for the purpose of developing his "auto rifle" and the Thompson Submachine-Gun . On October 17, 1917, on his 66th birthday, his wife Ida died from heart disease. Twelve days later, the widower Ryan married widow Mary Townsend Lord Cuyler. The resulting scandal did not deter Belgian Cardinal Desire-Joseph Mercier from accepting Ryan's proffered private railway car in 1919, which he used in touring

1836-498: The plan and Royal McBee was formed. From 1954 to 1964 sales soared from $ 84.7 million to over $ 113 million. Royal McBee was consistently listed as a Fortune 500 company. In December 1957, Royal announced it had just produced its 10 millionth typewriter. Congratulations were received from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Sinclair Weeks and the Governor of Connecticut, Abe Ribicoff. In December 1964, Litton Industries ' stockholders approved

1887-706: The ruggedness of its typewriters, George Edward Smith, president of Royal, bought a Ford-Stout tri-motor airplane in August 1927. This plane, commonly called the Royal Airtruck, dropped over 200 typewriters in crates with parachutes to dealers over the eastern seaboard of the USA on its maiden flight. Royal eventually delivered over 11,000 typewriters this way with only ten being damaged. In January 1941, Edward B. Hess, one of Royal's founders and vice presidents, died in Orlando, Florida . Hess

1938-1304: The signature initiatives of the Eisenhower administration with which Weeks was involved was the Interstate Highway system of 1956. As Secretary of Commerce, he was charged with securing funding for the project. Weeks married the former Beatrice Lee Dowse of Newton MA on December 4, 1915. She was the daughter of William Bradford Homer Dowse, Esq., President of Reed & Barton Silversmiths and granddaughter of Henry Gooding Reed, co-founder of Reed & Barton Silversmiths (1824 - 2015), They had three sons and three daughters, Frances Lee Weeks Hallowell Lawrence, John Wingate Weeks III, Martha Sinclair Weeks Sherrill, Sinclair Weeks Jr, William D. Weeks and Beatrice Weeks Bast. His wife died July 10, 1945, in Lancaster NH. Weeks married Jane Tompkins Rankin of Nashville TN on January 3, 1948. In 1968 he married Alice Requa Palmer Low of San Francisco, CA - widow of Admiral Francis S. Low . He had no children by his second or third wives. In 1941, he and his sister Katherine Weeks Davidge had given their father's summer estate on Mt. Prospect in Lancaster to

1989-637: The surviving founder of the Royal Typewriter Company, died in Freeport, New York at the age of 84. Worldwide demand caused Royal to open a new factory in Leiden, the Netherlands, to produce typewriters in 1953. In April 1954, the Royal typewriter Company announced its plan to merge with McBee, a leading manufacturer of accounting and statistical machines and supplies. By July, Royal stockholders had approved

2040-633: The time). The Ryans' philanthropy also extended to Southern history, the fine arts and exploration. Ryan financed and selected Charles Hoffbauer to create a series of paintings, "The Four Seasons of the Confederacy", commissioned for a major gallery in what is now the Virginia Historical Society . For Jamestown's 300th anniversary in 1907, Ryan donated a collection of portraits of key players in Virginia's settlement. Thomas Ryan also helped finance Virginia explorer Richard E. Byrd 's flight to

2091-496: The typewriter market by purchasing the German typewriter manufacturer, Triumph-Adler . Almost immediately, the U.S. government filed an anti-trust suit against Litton accusing it of creating a monopoly. The FTC ruled in March 1973 that Litton had to divest itself of Triumph-Adler. Litton appealed and, in a rare reversal, the FTC issued a ruling in April 1975 stating that Litton could keep Triumph-Adler. In March 1979, Volkswagen , seeking to diversify, announced its intention to acquire

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2142-509: The war ended, Ryan fled the lack of economic opportunity in post-war Virginia and moved to the nearest big city, Baltimore, Maryland with $ 100 in his pocket. En route, Ryan converted to Catholicism , purportedly after long discussions with the conductor. In Baltimore, John S. Barry, a prosperous dry goods merchant and Catholic, hired young Ryan. By 1872, Barry helped Ryan secure a brokerage assistant position on Wall Street where he would be tutored by William Collins Whitney . Ryan opened

2193-522: Was a prolific inventor and held over 140 patents relating to the typewriter. World War II brought tremendous change to Royal. In order to aid the war effort, Royal converted its manufacturing to war work exclusively. Royal manufactured machine guns, rifles, bullets, propellers, and spare parts for airplane engines. It wouldn't be until September 1945 that Royal started typewriter production full-time again and not until December 1948 that it caught up on its pre-war backlog. Royal's most popular models were in

2244-504: Was an American businessman best known as the publisher and owner of The American Mercury magazine. Sinclair Weeks Charles Sinclair Weeks (June 15, 1893 – February 7, 1972), better known as Sinclair Weeks , was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Massachusetts in 1944 and as United States Secretary of Commerce from 1953 until 1958, during President Dwight D. Eisenhower 's administration. Born in West Newton, Massachusetts , Weeks

2295-419: Was five years old. His father remarried and moved to Tennessee two years later. Ryan was raised as a Protestant by his mother's extended family in Lovingston, south of Charlottesville in Virginia's Piedmont . Local Baptist ministers taught the youth to read and write, but Ryan did not attend college. Before the American Civil War , Ryan and his younger brother owned three slaves. Aged 17, three years after

2346-471: Was making fortunes with coal mines, banks, public utilities and railroads. He owned Royal Typewriter and backed the maker of the Thompson submachine gun . At one time Ryan had controlling interest in 30 corporations. As her husband's wealth grew exponentially, Ida Barry Ryan began making large benefactions to Catholic charitable organizations in New York, Virginia, and across the country. The Ryans funded churches, convents and hospitals in Manhattan, including

2397-401: Was one of the items found at Zodiac suspect Arthur Leigh Allen 's apartment, matching the typewriter the Zodiac killer used to write letters sent to the Riverside Police Department. Jessica Fletcher used a Royal typewriter to write her novels. Mason Williams threw a Royal Model X typewriter out of a speeding car driven by Ed Ruscha for their art book Royal Road Test (1967). In

2448-509: Was overwhelmingly negative. His reputation for cutthroat business dealings in the streetcar and subway businesses made the public distrustful. In 1909, Ryan sold his Equitable stock. Also in 1905, Ryan's Metropolitan street car system was threatened by New York's increasingly popular subway system . He merged Metropolitan with August Belmont Jr. 's Interborough Rapid Transit Company . But the joint company's finances were shaky, and Ryan pulled out. Meanwhile, some $ 35 million that Ryan had raised in

2499-442: Was the first nationwide radio hook-up. "The Daily News" of New York estimated that 20 million fans from coast to coast listened to the broadcast. Royal's introduction of its portable line of typewriters was an immediate success and launched the company to become the world's #1 selling typewriter brand. On October 9, 1926, the " Hartford Daily Courant " reported that Royal had just produced its one millionth typewriter. To promote

2550-403: Was the second child of John Wingate Weeks , who was a United States congressman and Secretary of War, and Martha Aroline Sinclair. His older sister was Katherine Weeks, wife of John Washington Davidge. Weeks graduated from Harvard College , served on the U.S.-Mexico border with the U.S. National Guard in 1916, and served in World War I . He was a businessman in various industries, including

2601-484: Was underway on Broadway . Metropolitan continually acquired additional lines so that by 1900 it controlled 3,000 cars and 300 miles of track, the majority of New York's streetcar operations. Ryan's most profitable investment was tobacco. Having invested in its stocks throughout the 1890s, Ryan joined tobacco assets in 1898, forming The Union Tobacco Company . Shortly thereafter, he merged Union Tobacco with his greatest competitor, James Duke of North Carolina , forming

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