Jedidah, You are making the basic mistake most computer users make... a font is not a typeface... or a "font" (which also isn't a typeface although we are more and more using it to mean that)
A Pica is a unit of measurement used in printing. It is 1/72nd of an inch.
Neither Elite nor Pica, when referring to a typewriter, are typefaces or fonts. Both refer to the pitch of the typewriter, i.e., how many characters per inch that particular model will place on a page a paper. A Pica typewriter, regardless of the typeface used, will strike the paper, adding a character, and then move the platen to the left 10/72", thus resulting in a pitch of 10 characters per inch. An Elite Typewriter, also regardless of the typeface used, will hit the paper, and then move the platen over 8/72", resulting in a pitch of 12 characters per inch. An Elite typewriter could place more letters and spaces and thus more words on a page than a Pica typewriter... College students loved Pica typewriters because it was easier to turn out a 10 page paper using 10 letters per inch than it was to do the same using 12 letters per inch. Pica type was also larger and a bit easier to read.
Most typewriters were single pitch machines. The IBM Selectric was one of the first selectable pitch typewriters.
Thank you. I truly didn’t know that. And you are right — as a college student I avoided Elite whenever possible! When I posted yesterday, I just knew that the typed letters on the Kenyan document look both familiar and authentic to these old eyes.
(I never want to see another sheet of carbon paper.)