(June 23, 1868)
oh little machine
oh patent
oh miniature tune-maker, crossed with a clock
or a kitchen table
oh impersonal, personal love-lettering machine
your song keys were once piano keys, oh, it works! it works!
Here’s how it works!
I strike a key:
a tiny hammer that’s attached to a lettered type is thrust through a circular brass disk
the disk chaperones the type to a point where it kisses the ink ribbon
the paper is caressed smooth into a frame above this and sweeps from left to right when I press firmly on the desired key