Caligraphs' Hidden Signatures

Some collectors have discovered when they removed the front panel from their Caligraphs that many of the machines hold a hidden message from the past. Upon the horizonal wooden bar that spans the keylevers there may be a signature written in pencil. Sometimes the bar is covered by a strip of gauze, which makes one wonder if they were ever meant to be seen.

Indeed, when I removed the front panels from my Caligraph No.s 2 and 4, each had a signature!

An unusual signature inside my Caligraph No.2. A couple of knowledgeable readers have pointed out that the signature reads "Fritz Strauss" in pre-Revolutionary Russian.

 

Signature inside my Caligraph No.4

Who these people were or why their names are written inside the Caligraphs remains a mystery. Were they the names of factory workers, possibly inspectors? Repairmen? Customers? I personally feel that they may be the names of the customers the machines were destined for. If they were the names of repairmen, it would require participation by repairmen from all across the country, and so far as is known Caligraphs are the only typewriters these signatures appear upon.

For now, the mystery endures.

 

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