IBM STANDARD MODEL D: A very friendly manual (but a little sexist for the modern standard)
Below, you can download the manual for the IBM Standard D from 1967.
Actually is a very friendly manual, because explain very well what to do with this typewriter.
The title is “The art of being spoiled”.
It’s dedicated specifically to the women secretaries, and nowadays would be considered sexist.
It's a clear example on how chages the standard during the years.
A lot of time has passed, at that times IBM wanted to address in a very friendly and reassuring way to female secretaries (about 95% of users at the time), who probably were approaching an electric typewriter, perhaps for the first time.
It's a manual in Italian; I assume there's an English version.
Among other things, it reads:
"Women are constitutionally more delicate."
"The art of pleasing is natural in all women."
"Feminine charm ensures happiness and success."
"Women have a particular way of judging."
"The art of being pampered is passed down from mother to daughter."
"For women, details aren't always important."
Nowadays, anyone writing a manual would be very careful to avoid these phrases.
Although the first point is certainly true.
Manuals currently contain 90% useless safety instructions that no one reads, and barely 10% explain how to use the device.
The main goal here is to put the user at ease.
If we really had to, we certainly wouldn't use those phrases today.
But back then, nobody paid attention to this. Could it be that things were once a little simpler?
