Standard & Export Models

Oliver Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 were the standard models produced and primarily sold in the United States, with limited quantities sold internationally. In addition, the Oliver No. 15 was manufactured by British Oliver for sale in England. Other downstrike Oliver models, including the 32-key export models, are derivatives of the standard models, most of which were marketed outside of the United States.

Oliver Way-Billing Typewriter

An Oliver No. 2 with a tabulator attachment and an all capital billing keyboard with special shipping characters was originally offered for sale in a standalone brochure as the Oliver Way-billing Typewriter and later in Oliver No. 2 brochures as the Oliver Billing Machine. The combination of tabulator and keyboard/typeface was specifically designed for making way-bills, expense bills, freight bills, invoices, statements, and all forms of tabulated work comprised of columns of figures.

Woodstock

In 1898, the Oliver Typewriter Company manufactured an Oliver No. 2 variant known as the Woodstock for sale by department stores. From September 1898 to January 1899, Detroit’s Board of Education purchasing committee held meetings to discuss purchasing typewriters for use in public high schools. The Linotype Company of Montreal, also known as the Canadian Oliver Typewriter Company, published a pamphlet known as the Battle of Detroit which complied contemporary publications detailing these meetings. According to the pamphlet, an individual referenced as Inspector Marr showed the purchasing committee an advertisement for the Woodstock in the Fall and Winter 1898–99 Montgomery Ward Catalogue, questioning the fairness of the price at which Oliver typewriters had been offered to the Board. W. Waterbury, the general sales manager of the Oliver Typewriter Company, declared the Woodstock an unguaranteed, second-grade machine of which only nineteen were manufactured, all sold to Montgomery Ward. The Oliver Typewriter Company printed an advertisement offering to purchase twenty Woodstock typewriters for a substantial amount of money, reinforcing the fact only nineteen were manufactured. Manufacturing of the Woodstock ceased after it had been on the market for less than ten months.

Linotype/Canadian Models

John Redpath Dougall was born on August 17, 1841 in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, to Scottish-born merchant John Dougall, founder the Montreal Witness newspaper. In 1871, the father relocacted to New York City where he founded the Daily Witness and New York Weekly newspapers, leaving his son in charge of the Montreal Witness. In 1891, John Redpath Dougall founded The Linotype Company, which manufactured typesetting machines known as the Linotype at 156 St. Antoine Street, Montréal. In 1898, the Linotype Company expanded to manufacture versions of the Oliver No. 2 and, in 1901, the Oliver No. 3, for Canadian and South American markets. In 1904, Dougall sold the Linotype division of his company to the Toronto Type Foundry, and rebranded the typewriter division as the Canadian Oliver Typewriter Company. The Canadian Oliver Typewriter Company eventually stopped manufacturing machines and by 1912, focused solely on nickel plating and polishing.

Latin American Models

The Oliver Typewriter Company marketed most Oliver models in Latin America through Compania Parker S.A., operated by William Archer Parker, the Oliver Typewriter Company’s Latin American sales agent. Oliver Nos. L-10 and earlier were nickel plated by default, with olive green finishes furnished upon request. Oliver Nos. L-12 and L-13 were only nickel plated. The Linotype Company/Canadian Oliver Typewriter Company also manufactured Oliver typewriters for sale in South America.

Fabrik Stolzenberg Models

Fabrik Stolzenberg, Deutsche Einrichtungs-gesellschaft m.b.H. was the primary distributor of Oliver typewriters in Germany. The company, owned by Gustav Metz, was based in Oos, Baden-Baden, with subsidiaries in Berlin, Cologne, and Hamburg. All Oliver machines distributed by Fabrik Stolzenberg have white margin release keys as opposed to black.

A. Greger & Co. Models

A bicycle manufacturer in Vienna, Austria known as A. Greger & Company produced the Oliver No. 3 as the Courier from 1903 to 1919. Parts already manufactured were still being assembled until 1927. The only major difference between the Oliver No. 3 and the earlier Courier machines (aside from the name) is the ring-and-glass key tops.

Remodelled (RM) Oliver Models

The Oliver Typewriter (Sales) Company remodelled some olive green Oliver models in the style of Oliver Nos. 11/12 and 15/16 machines— black with gold pinstriping. Earlier specimens kept the original decal below the keyboard (as seen above). The Remodelled Oliver machines were given new serial numbers with an RM prefix in place of the original numbers on the frames. The carriages were stripped of their original serial numbers with no new number in place.

Four Bank Desktop Models

The first instance of a four bank desktop Oliver occurred in the early 1920s, when Theron Knapp, Chief Design Engineer of the Oliver Typewriter Company, presented to the Oliver Board of Directors his new four bank typewriter prototype. This machine was designed to resemble typewriters of other brands on the market at the time. It still featured the iconic Oliver typebars, but they were angled to swing towards the platen from the front instead of downward. Despite its novel design, the prototype never reached production due to the Depression of 1921–22. Photos of this prototype were once owned by Chester Nelson, Chief Cost Analyst of the Oliver Typewriter Company.

Portable Models

In the early 1930s, Europa Typewriters AG began producing a small portable typewriter branded as Europa. Around this time, Oliver Typewriter (Italy) Ltd. was founded with a factory and headquarters located in Milan. They began producing an Oliver portable with the same body style as the Europa. Fortuna Büromaschinen GmbH of Berlin, Germany, also produced the Europa portable under the Oliver name. In April 1932, when Oliver Typewriter (Italy) was liquidated, Società Industriale Meccanica (SIM) of Turin, Italy, began manufacturing the Europa portable as Oliver. This body style was also sold under the names Augusta Monaco, Edelweiss, Fortuna, Imperia, Junior, Sabaudia, SIM, and SIM-Italia. These machines were branded with Oliver above the keyboard by either a decal displaying The OLIVER (the same decal used on downstrike machines) or an embossed OLIVER plaque. A large variety of colors and finishes were produced. Machines of the earliest variation are typically found with serial numbers in the 3000s, many with a Z prefix. This early variation has an unaccented ribbon reverse above the keyboard to the left and ribbon selector to the right. The next variation is the same as the earliest version except it lacks the ribbon selector. These often have serial numbers in the 20000s, some with a K prefix. Some have the ribbon reverse accented in metal trim while others remain unaccented. The most common variation is almost identical to the earliest variation except for its ribbon reverse and selector accented in metal trim. The last variation has the ribbon reverse on the side of the machine instead of above the keyboard. SIM continued to manufacture five other body styles, three of which were also branded with the Oliver name. Some of these portables were assembled by the Oliver Typewriter Manufacturing Company at their factory in Croydon, England.