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The Hall was the first typewriter to have no keyboard, this "index" typewriter uses a selector to choose the characters.

Patented in 1881, the Hall was originally sold for $40, a low price alternative to the $100 keyboard machines, a good horse-drawn carriage could be bought for $70.00. At a time when few people knew how to type, it didn't seem important, that the user of a Hall had to pick out the letters one-by-one.

By selecting a character with the hand held pointer and pushing down, a character was printed. Under the index chart is a rubber plate with all the characters molded into it's surface, with the same arrangement as above. When the handle is moved, the rubber plate moves in a corresponding fashion below. Depressing the handle pushes the selected rubber character through a hole, making an imprint. The rubber type could be quickly changed for different fonts and languages.

© , Martin Howard