Pages

▼

Monday, March 17, 2025

The Conqueror numbering machine

This is one of my favorite typewriter "go-withs," another lifeform from the Papyrozoic era. People do still manufacture and use numbering machines (the most famous is the Bates), but they are hardly a 21st-century type of device. I believe I got The "Conqueror" at a yard sale back when I lived in Chicago in the 1980s. I've never had much occasion to use it, but I admire its clever mechanical design and thought fellow typewriter lovers might enjoy seeing it.












Here are the two patents from Oct. 27, 1891, by Willard W. Sawyer, referenced on the device.



I could not find the other patent, from September 29, 1910, unless it's this British patent.

My machine bears the serial number 305883, so hundreds of thousands of Conquerors were made and sold over decades by Wm. A. Force & Co., but references to this numbering machine online are few and far between. Here's an ad in Geyer’s Stationer, November, 1922.
The Conqueror certainly resembles the Bates and other numbering machines. In fact, the Bates Co. sued Wm. A. Force in 1906, but evidently did not succeed in putting the company out of business.

Those who want to learn more about numbering machines can visit this page.
 

at

5 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 18, 2025 at 5:58 PM

    We had a Bates numbering machine at the print shop. Usually used to number multi-copy forms. I kinda wish I'd swiped it, but I can't imagine what I'd use it for. :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mail AdventuresMarch 19, 2025 at 4:13 AM

    I didn't know such a machine exists! It would be pretty cool to number my letters...

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 20, 2025 at 2:58 PM

    I started my work life as a secretary in the 1960s. The church and community centers I worked at still had many of the older tools and machines they’d purchased earlier in that century … Unless memory fails me, I’m fairly certain the church accountant had a Bates numbering machine sitting in a prominent spot on her desk and used frequently throughout the work day. Sitting catty-corner to her desk while typing on a huge Royal typewriter, manual desk model circa 1950s. What I most remember: the solid two syllable ka-thump! of the numbering machine’s stamp on the shades of green page, the thump! a tad muted atop the thick stack of pages. Thank you for this website, preserving the history of the amazing writing and numbering machines born of human ingenuity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard PMarch 22, 2025 at 2:08 PM

      Thanks for your comment! Sounds unforgettable.

      Delete
  4. HERIKMarch 21, 2025 at 12:19 PM

    Nunca había visto una numeradora... ahora necesito una.

    ReplyDelete