SYNOPSIS OF TELETYPE CORPORATION HISTORY Don Robert House, NADCOMM 2001 1902 - Charles Krum, a cold storage engineer, initiated experiments with printing telegraph devices. This invention of the "start-stop" principle made possible the mechanization of "key" telegraph. Jay Morton of the Morton Salt dynasty gave support to Krum's experiments. 1906 - The Morkrum Company was established with its ownership shared by Charles Krum and the Morton family. 1908 - The Morkrum Company developed its first commercial printer (M10). A field trial was conducted with the Alton Railroad. The trial was successful, but the Alton Railroad made no purchase. 1910 - The Postal Telegraph purchased the first commercial Morkrum equipment. In 1912, Western Union purchased the same device Although these M10 units were mechanically successful, none were commercially successful until 1925. 1915 - The Associated Press adopted Morkrum M10 printing telegraph equipment to provide simultaneous service to competitive newspapers in New York City. 1918 - Morkrum Company operation was expanded from its "garage" type facility. Employees numbered "over 200". 1921 - The M11 type-wheel tape printer, went into production. It constituted the first commercially acceptable and successful unit, The M11 was manufactured through 1927 with 883 machines being produced overall. 1922 - The M12, a type-bar page printer with moving platen, was first marketed. Previous to 1922, printing telegraph was limited largely to commercial-telegraph and railroad uses. The M12 page printer opened the way to general business uses. Substantial numbers of this unit were sold through 1930, with quantity, too, being sold as late as 1943. A total of 11,899 M12 units were sold. 1925 - The M14 type-bar tape printer was first marketed. The machine reached its highest production in 1929 and 1930. A total of 60,000 units had been sold when the device was manufacture discontinued in the late 1950s. 1925 - The Morkrum & Kleinschmidt Companies merged to form the Morkrum-Kleinschmidt Company. 1929 - The title Morkrum-Kleinschmidt was found to be too cumbersome and was dropped in favor of "Teletype." 1930 - The M15 type-bar page printer with stationary platen was introduced. This machine soon became the "bread and butter" unit of Teletype, reaching its peak output during WWII. Through 1954, about 200,000 were sold. A large percentage of Bell System Teletypewriter Exchange (TWX) stations were of the M15 vintage. 1930 - The Teletype Corporation was purchased by the Bell System and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Western Electric Corporation. The Bell System at this time, was formulating plans for a new teletypewriter exchange service called TWX. The Teletype Corporation was selected and purchased to provide the necessary equipment for the proposed service. 1932 - TWX (Teletypewriter Exchange Service) was inaugurated by the Bell System. Terminal equipment provided by the Teletype Corporation was of the M15 type. 1941 - The M14 tape punch was first marketed. Approximately 50,000 units were sold through the late 1950s when the device was manufacture discontinued. About 90% of all effort at Teletype was devoted to the war. 1951 - The first M28 page printer was delivered to the Navy. This represented approximately 12 years of research and development effort. The M28 line was accepted by the Bell System as a successor to the M14, 15 and 19 lines of equipment in 1956. The M28 design principle constituted the corporations basic approach to both message and data recording equipment until 1960. 1960 - Teletype Corporation assembles for the first time under one roof in their new quarters in Skokie, Illinois. A multi-million dollar plant with a million and a half square feet of operating area and employing over 6,000 workers, it represented a milestone in the history of the Teletype Corporation. 1961 - The M35 and M33 lines of equipment were introduced, While the M35 is merely an 8 level version of the M28, the M33 represented the marriage of many proven designs into a totally new design, best described by the term "low cost concept." Approximately 6 years of research and development went into the M33. 1965 - As a manufacturing arm of the Bell System, the primary function of the Teletype Corporation through the years was the research, development and manufacture of the best possible record communications equipment at the lowest possible cost. Simply stated, Teletype's job was to supply the Bell System with the data terminal equipment required to satisfy their customers needs. This function remained the same until the end. Concentrating In the above fields of endeavor, Teletype depended for direction upon market analysis information supplied by the Bell System. The product mix available to the data communications salesman, represented the requirements placed on Teletype by the Bell System. Considering the fact that the teletypewriter, with associated devices, constituted the sole offering in the field of data terminal equipment, it is useful to have an understanding of Teletype Corporations position within the Bell System organizational structure: American Telephone & Telegraph | Bell Companies --- Long Lines --- Western Electric --- Bell Labs | Teletype Corporation Teletype's responsibility within the Bell System was the research, development and manufacture of data and record communications equipment. This did not conflict with Western Electric's efforts as a manufacturer of transmission, switching, and telephone equipment. But this was not the only difference between Teletype and Western Electric; and in fact, all other elements of the Bell System. Because of the nature of its business, as stated in the corporate charter, Teletype was allowed a unique mode of operation. It was organized as a separate entity, and contained all the elements necessary for a separate corporation. Teletype's charter permited the sale of equipment to customers outside the Bell System which explains their need for a separate sales force. Here is a breakdown of Teletype's customers: Bell System 55-60% Federal Government 25-30% Other enterprise 10-15%