The typewriter was patented in 1868 by Christopher Latham Sholes, who sold his rights to the Remington Arms Company in 1873. The first typewriters were initially thought to be replacements for printing and so typewriter keybars utilized printing types; monospaced typefaces, that is those designed so every letter takes up the same amount of space, were a more practical alternative and soon replaced printing types.

Monospaced designs are still in use as typewriter typefaces today. In 1974, Joel Kaden and Tony Stan adapted the friendliness and immediacy of typewriter letter styles into a proportionally spaced typeface, ITC American Typewriter.

ITC American Typewriter can be used for business correspondence or in any work that requires an old-fashioned, personal look.