A New Look at the Barr Typewriter

Will Davis / June 2024

Preface:  I first published my comprehensive article on the Barr and its variants almost 20 years ago.  Since then, it's held up pretty well - but two things have caused me to revise and republish it.  First, the site it was published on is essentially defunct and closed.  Second, I've been able to acquire many more research resources since then and I can much more accurately delineate changes in the history, both to the machine and to corporate entities.  I hope you enjoy this near-total revision and rewrite which includes many illustrations from the original piece.  

Background.  John H. Barr, already a well known mechanical engineer generally and, specifically, in the typewriter field, left Remington Typewriter in 1923 to launch a firm of his own.  Barr joined forces with Morse Chain Company in Ithaca, New York and the Barr-Morse Corporation was formed in that year.  Barr had been involved with a number of significant machines for the Remington (Union) sphere including the large Smith Premier 10 full keyboard visible and the original Remington portable. 

Barr applied for patents covering a wholly different concept of typewriter design and manufacture in 1925; this machine would be built to the size and cost of the largest portables then on the market or planned but was to be designed so as to be made from stampings of sheet stock and extruded wire as much as possible, in order to simplify assembly and repair.  This was in sharp contrast to the complicated and expensive-to-build Remington portables of the day.  Further, the machine would incorporate segment shift for the first time in a large four bank portable.  

Market Introduction.  We can now, through the availability of advertising, be certain that the Barr Typewriter was introduced to the market in the last quarter of 1927.  The following advertisement appeared in the Typewriter Trade Journal in October, 1927; advertisements in New York papers appeared soon after.

"The Correspondence Machine for Office and Home' and the clever slogan "Small Enough to Carry Off, Sturdy Enough to Carry On" directly imply the intent of the makers that the Barr Typewriter was suitable for serious use.  

Early Model.  When introduced to the market, only one model - the Barr Typewriter - was available.  Richard Polt let us on to the fact years ago that a repair manual in his collection (which is now online) told of numerous, but small, changes in the machines at serial number 2000; we also have here a typewriter trade-in listing from 1930 that mentions Barr portables' trade value with a differentiation between pre-serial-2000 and post-serial-2000 machines.  Price of the machine as introduced was given as $65 but some were offered at an "introductory price" of $45.  

Above, Barr Typewriter serial 1258 from the Chuck Dilts / Rich Cincotta collection.  Very few machines from prior to the design revisions at serial number 2000 exist today, and from an operability standpoint there is no difference in the machines before and after the break.

From the Herman and Connie Price collection comes this wonderful green Barr, serial 2099.

From my collection is this red Barr, serial 2521.  This machine is complete and operable and has its original brown carrying case.  

Barr Typewriter - Description.  The Barr incorporates a full-size keyboard with shift keys both sides, and a shift lock only on the right; the lock is depressed by itself only to achieve a locked shift.  The lock is released by the right-side shift key.  This typewriter incorporates what Barr referred to as "perpendicular key action" which later in the industry would be more generally known as "parallel key action," in which the key top remains parallel to the tabletop when depressed.  Similar key action (although with totally different mechanism) appeared on the Smith Premier standards as well as others before the Barr and appeared on the large portable L.C. Smith & Corona that would hit the market a few years later.  This key motion is thought by many to make a machine easy to use for a wider range of typists of varied strength and speed.  Shift on this typewriter, affecting the segment, is rapid, light and positive.  The machine has a solid feel and is capable of considerable speed.

One unusual feature on these machines is the "Paragraph and Indent Device" applied to the rear of the carriage; this takes the place of a conventional tabulator and incorporates the margin stops as well as tabulator or indent stops. 

Above, detail from the patent granted to Walter Barnard for the paragraph indent and tabulator device applied to Barr typewriters.  Below is the device as seen on Barr Typewriter serial 2521.

Operation of the device is simple; normally it simply operates as the margin rack, and the outer stops serve as the margin stops.  The different inner stops come into play when the lever seen at the top left of the photos is operated; in conjunction with the margin release, the carriage motion will be arrested at each intermediate stop on the rack. Margin release operates normally via a key to the left of the keyboard proper.  While clever and simple, this device was probably not competitive.

This illustration from material in the Dilts/Cincotta collection proves that a wide carriage Barr was available; this had ten tabulator stops and included the same device as seen above on s/n 2521.  Price of this wide carriage version was $80.

February 1929 advertisement shows the unusual "Typelyte" (also seen as "Type Lite") attachment, none of which is known to be in any collection with a Barr Typewriter.

In April 1929 it was announced that Morse Chain had been bought out by Borg-Warner; some of the side or smaller businesses that Morse was engaged in were not purchased by the outside firm but instead were sold directly either to Frank L. Morse himself or designated persons as a part of the whole package deal.  Barr-Morse Corporation was not included in the sale to Borg-Warner and came under the control of Frank Morse and John Barr; our best information tells us that production was continued as-is in the Morse factory complex on top of South Hill in Ithaca, New York.

Split into Two Models.  Somewhere between serial numbers 4133 and 8871, and in all probability in early 1930, the company decided to split production into two different models. In any case, the split occurred prior to July 1930. The original model effectively continued as the Barr Universal, while a stripped down model was launched as the Barr Special.  A facsimile letter in the collection of Peter Weil tells us that in July 1930 the retail price of the Barr Special was $50 while the dealer cost for the machine was $30.  Similarly, the Barr Universal retailed at $65 while dealer cost was $39.

Available data - which is incomplete - seems to show that for a time the Universal may have retained the Barnard-designed paragraph device on the rear of the carriage, but soon enough a conventional tabulator operated by a key on the keyboard was designed and included.  

This green Barr Special comes to us from the Herman and Connie Price collection and is serial number P17857.  It is unusual in that the paint is crinkle finish.  The Special lacked the ribbon selector, variable line spacer and left-hand carriage release that the Universal had and also had no tabulator of any sort.

From the photo library and collection of the late Tilman Elster we have this illustration of a later Barr Special, serial number C3P548.  Look carefully and you will notice that the shift lock key has moved down to above the right-side shift key, from its former position abreast the third row of keys.  This is because the machine had been redesigned slightly by this point to incorporate a key operated tabulator in the Universal version, which of course is omitted on the Special.  See next photo for clarification.

Barr Universal serial number B4U926 comes to us also from the Tilman Elster collection; the tabulator key is visible above the shift lock on the right side of the keyboard, as is the ribbon selector switch on the top cover.  

Production in Canada.  Unfortunately, an error has crept into the popular history of the Barr - it is written in places that production in the US ended in 1934 and was sent to Canada.  In fact, the origin of this error appears to be the catalog that was written in 1965 to accompany the Carl P. Dietz collection of typewriters (now housed at the Milwaukee Public Museum).  This is not the case; the facts are, briefly, as follows.

In 1933 Canadian press reported that architects in Montreal had been contracted to find a site for and design a $175,000 factory for the US based Barr-Morse Corporation in order to start production in Canada and for export to the British Empire from there.  This did not occur; what did happen seems to be that space was rented in the Montreal factory of Northern Electric Company.  A Canadian corporation, titled Barr-Morse Company Ltd. was incorporated in Montreal in July 1933 with a capitalization of $50,000 to launch the Canadian effort.  However, there is simply no indication at all that production was moved to Canada or, in other words, ended in the US.  There MAY have been a lull in production or a slowdown due to the general economy, but as we will shortly see, production in Canada was a parallel, not a move. 

Close inspection of the front frame of Tilman Elster's Barr Special, serial F1P591 will reveal the name "Barr Morse Company Ltd" and the fact that this machine was made in Canada.  These are very hard to find today.  

Barr Typewriter Corporation, NY NY and Weedsport, NY.  The intervening years between 1934 and 1937 do not yield much news of the Barr; it seems clear today that the machine never really took off, with the effort remaining alive but "at the back of the pack" as could be said of Woodstock Typewriter Company in the field of standard typewriters.  Barr himself sold out his interest in the company somewhere between '34 and '36, and the company was bought out by interests from New York in April 1937. 

A report in the Ithaca Journal, printed on May 11, 1937, detailed the fact that the new Barr Typewriter Corporation had purchased "the existing parts of the former Barr Typewriter," and rented from Morse the plant space used formerly by Barr-Morse in order to complete the assembly of machines in the process of being made.  Contracts were also put out for fabrication of parts needed to complete these typewriters.  A brief effort was made to find a place to relocate in Ithaca, but the move to Weedsport New York was shortly announced.  Offices for the new firm were established remotely, at 33 East 33rd Street in New York City.

(Aside:  It is from the above report coming out of Ithaca in 1937 that we can be convinced that production of the typewriters was not in whole moved to Canada in 1934.)

I was fortunate to contact Ezio Leonardi years ago, whose father, Salvatore Leonardi, took part in operating the factory for Barr in Weedsport.  Leonardi had been associated with the first effort in Ithaca and he and several other men moved along with the operation to Weedsport.  Leonardi in fact owned his own plating equipment and leased it to the new corporation.  According to Ezio Leonardi, the elder Leonardi had related that production of the typewriters ended either in 1939 or 1940.  

This remarkable 1939 letter shared to us from the Don and Carolyn Hoke Collection details the apparent fact that the new company continued with two models - a Model 21 that had ribbon selector, and a Model 40 that was single color.  Note also that the old slogan of the company has been replaced with "You can use a Barr wherever you are."  Mechanics will want to pay attention to the remark about the hardening of the type bars near their base as regards adjustments.

Weedsport machines shown.

From the late Tilman Elster's collection we see Barr (model 21) serial number 40339.  This is a very high serial number; Weedsport machines, no matter what label they carry, run roughly from serial number 37000 to serial numbers in the 40000 range.  This is the equivalent of the old Universal model.  Note the change to black keytops, found on most or all Weedsport-manufactured Barr-designed machines.

A truly rare variant is this "Standard Model Mercury" portable, actually again a Weedsport built Barr with serial 40155 and also from the collection of Tilman Elster.  It's not known to this writer just who was behind this labeling, but Royal was marketing a version of its portable as the Mercury at this time as well - which may explain why few of these exist.

From my collection comes this Macy's Portable No. 1, serial number 39840.  This labeling variant is probably the most commonly found Weedsport Barr.  This machine is fully operable, and I have typed on it extensively.  It is one of the most pleasant machines in my collection for use.  As with all Barr machines, it incorporates a snappy, accelerating type-bar action and it responds well to a firm, fast typing technique.  

The back of my machine, serial 39840 clearly displays the name of the final corporation and the place of manufacture.  Remember, this is a Macy's Portable No. 1 and yet it still clearly states on the rear the original manufacturer.  

Variations.  Most Barr-Morse machines are in smooth paint and have white keytops, and most Weedsport machines are in crinkle finish paint and have black keytops.  However, documented factory exceptions to all of these are known.  In addition, there are at least a few machines made after the model split in 1930 which do not state on the machines themselves the model.  For example, one machine is known that is clearly the stripped Barr Special with no ribbon switch, but the machine carries "Barr Typewriter" labeling as had the single-model machines prior.  

Advertising Materials.  We will conclude our new look at the Barr with some illustrations of advertising materials that appeared on the original article from 2005 and additions to it through 2008.

Barr Special folder, Dilts/Cincotta collection.

Early Barr Typewriter flyer detail, Dilts/Cincotta collection. 

Ink blotter, Barr Typewriter, Peter Weil collection.

This article is a complete revision from my original Portable Typewriter Reference Site linked from willdavis.org and should be considered a replacement.  I hope you've enjoyed it!