The Klein-Adler typewriter was the first European portable typewriter, launched in 1912 by a company named Adlerwerke in Frankfurt. In the era of the smart phone, it hardly seems portable, but it was smaller than other models produced at the same time. Adlerwerke went on to make the Klein-Adler 2 model in 1925, featuring an angular shape and lower height with modern overprint.
Here is an advertisement for the Klein-Adler typewriter from the January 1916 issue of Das Plakat, which focused on the design of industrial and commercial ads.
Das Plakat was a German art magazine published from 1910 to 1921 by the Verein der Plakatfreunde, or the association of friends of the poster. It is a remarkable historical record of early European industrialization, commerce, and politics, as reflected in the graphic design of poster art.
