LDT006 Posted 27 November , 2021 Share Posted 27 November , 2021 Hello, several documents that I had seen before seem to have removed typewritten text and handwritten corrections. How did they do that early 1900? Was there a method to dissolve or remove the ink very precisely without damaging the paper? I stumbled over a document today and would be glad to know how it was done so that my mystery is solved. The extract shows 2 lines of erased typewritten text and corrected in red, parts of the original text are still there below "B". The paper doesn't look damaged and the printed column lines are intact. "How do they do it?" Luc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay dubaya Posted 27 November , 2021 Share Posted 27 November , 2021 I’m not so sure the text has been erased Luc. If we’re talking about the two ‘eyebrows’ below the ‘B’ then I would suggest it’s an overstrike of the key which has left a part strike of the lower character on the same key. I’m looking at my very old Underwood typewriter and the ‘underline’ key is also the #6 key, when I press shift and excessively press #6 key twice I get a similar marks to what is seen above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 27 November , 2021 Share Posted 27 November , 2021 Typewriter erasers - hard rubber as opposed to the softer type used for pencil - have probably been around almost as long as the typewriter. This patent from 1909 https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=GB&NR=190917944A&KC=A&FT=D&ND=4&date=19100721&DB=&locale=en_EP is for a holder, so the erasers themselves would certainly have been around during the Great War. (Google 'typewriter erasers' to find images of later versions) NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Bach y Sowldiwr Posted 27 November , 2021 Share Posted 27 November , 2021 I agree with JW. The marks are those from a second hit on the paper when using the Shift button. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT006 Posted 27 November , 2021 Author Share Posted 27 November , 2021 The extract comes from a GRRF document, it's original was typewritten and modified several times. There is only the typewritten grave number left for those lines and it doesn't make sense on a GRRF form to have a line with nothing else in the other columns. I am convinced that there was something but how did they erase it so neatly and precise. NigelS, your reply was received while typing this and it is the answer if I understand it correctly, will google a bit more. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay dubaya Posted 27 November , 2021 Share Posted 27 November , 2021 Luc, why would they go to so much trouble to completely erase the text when it’s so easily crossed out, typed over or struck through in some fashion as is often seen in these reports? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Bach y Sowldiwr Posted 27 November , 2021 Share Posted 27 November , 2021 They've done well to erase those two letters, only about 5mm apart, yet left the vertical column line between them completely untouched. I think not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT006 Posted 27 November , 2021 Author Share Posted 27 November , 2021 I have checked other pages in this set and the ‘eyebrows’ are sometimes also there beneath the underline. It can't be remnants of erased text because they are to high compared to the grave number. Thanks for sorting this out. Why the trouble? I don't know. Almost all corrections (ballpark figure +- 50) on this set of forms are indeed crossed out, overwritten etc.. But there are 3 or 4 lines like this. Have any of you ever seen a line on a GRRF form with only a grave number and nothing else? Doesn't make sense, there must have been something: UBS, Unknown... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT006 Posted 27 November , 2021 Author Share Posted 27 November , 2021 27 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said: They've done well to erase those two letters, only about 5mm apart, yet left the vertical column line between them completely untouched. Precise erasing with something like this should be possible and simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay dubaya Posted 28 November , 2021 Share Posted 28 November , 2021 Whilst these do offer some ability to remove typed text they are far from great and I don’t think you could remove a whole line of text or even one word without leaving some trace. The ink would need to be completely dry before attempting to do this. As I said above, it just wouldn’t make sense to completely erase a error/mistake using this or something similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT006 Posted 28 November , 2021 Author Share Posted 28 November , 2021 A closer look this morning with a fresh brain and eyes confirmed that these lines indeed never had a typewritten entry and were intentionally left blank. But there was a pencil note which was erased on some lines. Erasing the pencil left some marks and I wrongly assumed that it was typewritten. "Assumption is the mother of ......", thanks to all for their contribution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay dubaya Posted 28 November , 2021 Share Posted 28 November , 2021 5 minutes ago, LDT006 said: "Assumption is the mother of ......" Insert the words ‘can be’ to the above, sometimes assumption is all we will ever have, of course we should never base facts around assumptions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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