The delightful Bennett, circa 1910 and here missing the last letter of its name in its decal, was a three-row type wheel machine measuring 10"x4"x1". Mine easily fits in almost any drawer and even some jacket pockets (though it is no lightweight). When a key is depressed, all keys directly below it are depressed as well with only the selected letter striking the ribbon. With an amazing number of very tiny springs and other somewhat delicate parts, it was not up to hard use, but it is both charming and fun. The Bennett was also sold in black and had concave keys at their bottom edge. The Bennett was preceded by the the Junior, which is usually black and also has keys that are concave along the bottom edge.
The Bennett appeared on the market the same year as the first large womens' suffrage parade took place in New York City and Alva Fisher patented the electric washing machine. That same year, the Mann Act, also known as the "white slave traffic act", was adopted by the U.S. Congress. By 1910, most black voters in the U.S. South faced obstacles such as poll taxes and literacy tests, from which white voters were exempted by grandfather clauses. In 1910, the U.S. tobacco industry produced nine billion cigarettes.
Elsewhere, the Mexican revolution against the dictator Porfirio Diaz took place, the Dali Lama fled Tibet from Chinese troops to British-Indies, not for the last time, and Tel Aviv was founded.
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