Made in England, West Bromwich.
Constructing engineer: J.S. Foley + J. Birch.
Manufacturer: George Salter & Co. (spring balance manufacturer)
George Salter & Co. was familiar to the public as the makers of penny-in-the-slot weighing and other automatic machines, which had found so prominent a place in the railway stations, and whose other productions were used throughout the habitable globe.
It was in 1892 that the Salter machine was first placed on the market. The early model possessed a number of novel features, and a very good idea of its appearance may be gathered from the illustration. It will be seen that it had a semi-circular key-board, which was considered at that time to be easier of manipulation, as it preserved the natural position of the fingers. The machine also possessed visible writing, and many other advantages of a more or less important nature.
The sale of the Salter was entrusted to a syndicate, and improvements were added from time to time (among them being a square key-board which appeared to be preferred by the majority of typists), and in 1903 the makers decided to conduct the selling as well as the manufacturing part of the business.
The Salter machine has been so vastly changed in its later models that there is no comparison between the newer instrument and the previous models.