Typewriter used by Orson Welles
date: label: date made
content: 1926
name: label: user
content: Welles, Orson
label: maker
content: Underwood Corporation
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Typewriter used by Orson Welles in the 1930s and 1940s. The Underwood 4-bank portable typewriter is housed in a leather case with handle that bears the inscription "ORSON WELLES / HOTEL DE LA / TREMOILLE / PARIS 8 FRANCE". The theater, radio, and film writer, director, and actor used the typewriter throughout the 1930s and 40s, perhaps including work on the 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast and other works of the Mercury Theatre, 1941 film Citizen Kane, and 1946 film The Lady from Shanghai.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The typewriter has four rows of round glass keys, a decorative wood grain finish on case surfaces, and a nickel-plated shift lock lever. The paper table bears a label that reads, ''Standard Four Bank Keyboard'' in gilt lettering beneath the printed ''Underwood'' brand name. Underwood sold 1.2 million of this model typewriter between 1926 and 1947 when production ceased.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view (lid)
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Connecticut, Hartford
label: place used
content: France: Île-de-France, Département de Ville-de-Paris
topic: label: Subject
content: Radio
label: Subject
content: Motion Pictures
label: Subject
content: Writing
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Popular Entertainment
label: Exhibition
content: Entertainment Nation
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Steve Soboroff
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2021.0169.01
label: accession number
content: 2021.0169
label: catalog number
content: 2021.0169.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: typewriter
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (mechanical components and fixtures material)
label: Physical Description
content: leather (case material)
label: Physical Description
content: fabric (ribbon material)
label: Measurements
content: case: 5 1/2 in x 12 in x 12 1/4 in; 13.97 cm x 30.48 cm x 31.115 cm
label: Measurements
content: typewriter: 4 1/4 in x 11 1/2 in x 10 1/2 in; 10.795 cm x 29.21 cm x 26.67 cm