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I want the useless knowledge to understand how they typed justified columns of text in 1939. Can anyone facilitate?

iratewizard 5y ago
I was curious too, it might be with a justifying typewriter. It sounds like it requires typing entries twice since you can't easily know the justification until after you type it. https://patents.google.com/patent/US2379862A/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US2379862A/en
- watersb 5y ago
  Wow! -- The inventor on this patent is Vannevar Bush, the Father of All Knowledge Base Systems. Zettelcasten before it was cool. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_We_May_Think https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_We_May_Think
wolfgang42 5y ago
Linotype machines were well established by that point. The way they justify text is with spacebands, wedge-shaped widgets inserted at word breaks during composition. After the operator completes each line, the justification vise squeezes the spacebands up until the line expands to the appropriate width before it’s cast. (If the composed line is too short this process can fail, potentially dumping molten lead all over the place.) Alternately they may have used a Monotype machine, which (per Wikipedia) uses a two-step process (with a paper tape intermediate) and can therefore calculate the necessary justification after the fact, though I don’t know the exact mechanism by which this was done. Mechanical processing was incredibly clever; these days everything can be done with a couple microchips but the heights that were achieved with mechanical linkages are absolutely astonishing.
- Pinus 5y ago
  +1 on the astonishingness (hm...) of mechanics in general, and Linotypes in particular. Some time ago I watched a fairly good movie on how they work. I think it was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzilaRwoMus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzilaRwoMus . Those things not jamming every fifteen seconds is nothing short of a miracle. Some useless knowledge for everyone who is curious. =)

I was curious too, it might be with a justifying typewriter. It sounds like it requires typing entries twice since you can't easily know the justification until after you type it. https://patents.google.com/patent/US2379862A/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US2379862A/en

watersb 5y ago
Wow! -- The inventor on this patent is Vannevar Bush, the Father of All Knowledge Base Systems. Zettelcasten before it was cool. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_We_May_Think https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_We_May_Think

wolfgang42 5y ago

Linotype machines were well established by that point. The way they justify text is with spacebands, wedge-shaped widgets inserted at word breaks during composition. After the operator completes each line, the justification vise squeezes the spacebands up until the line expands to the appropriate width before it’s cast. (If the composed line is too short this process can fail, potentially dumping molten lead all over the place.) Alternately they may have used a Monotype machine, which (per Wikipedia) uses a two-step process (with a paper tape intermediate) and can therefore calculate the necessary justification after the fact, though I don’t know the exact mechanism by which this was done. Mechanical processing was incredibly clever; these days everything can be done with a couple microchips but the heights that were achieved with mechanical linkages are absolutely astonishing.

Pinus 5y ago
+1 on the astonishingness (hm...) of mechanics in general, and Linotypes in particular. Some time ago I watched a fairly good movie on how they work. I think it was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzilaRwoMus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzilaRwoMus . Those things not jamming every fifteen seconds is nothing short of a miracle. Some useless knowledge for everyone who is curious. =)