Blickensderfer No.6
1902 - 1916
Blickensderfer Manufacturing Co.
Stamford, Connecticut, US
From the very beginning Blicks were made to be lighter and more portable than their competition, so further eliminating excess weight by producing them from cast aluminum seemed like the natural evolutionary course. The aluminum cast would shave 2 pounds off of Blick No.5 models, which were cast from iron. The new lighter Blick No.6s were thus aptly marketed as "The Five Pound Secretary."
As fate would have it, George Blickensderfer was once again thinking too far out of the box and too far ahead of his time. Aluminum casting technology hadn't quite been perfected at the time he wanted to employ it. No.6s had to wait. Not until after Nos.7 & 8 were already being sold were the No.6s finally ready, in 1902. They were sold for $50 each.
After the technology was perfected Blickensder began offering other models in aluminum. First the No.5 and then Nos.7, 8 (more on the aluminum No. 8 here) and 9. Aluminum casting was the standard for No.6s but, for other models, it was offered at a premium. The exceptions were models built on the No.6's platform, like the Featherweight.
So, other than their lightweight aluminum frame, was there anything else particularly innovative about the No.6s? Not really. These Blicks were nothing more than No.5s cast from aluminum. A few minor mechanical inovations are present that were first available on the No.7s but, as stated, nothing completely new. Then again, who needs innovations when these typewriters sparkle like a brilliantly polished diamond!
