[TastyManatees]

O.K., that's step one. Now, does anyone know or can anyone point to instructions on how the Executive worked? If it was a giant pain, like the Composer, it would be very unlikely that anyone in Bush's Guard office sat around all day typing memos to their personal files with it. However, if the proportional spacing was incredibly easy to use, then the documents would be more likely to be authentic.

Like I said, I think it would be a lot more useful to see a reference guide or operating instructions, as opposed to another worthless, "I used to use it, and it was the bomb!" testimonial. I'm probably asking too much, but maybe there's an expert with a clue listening in.

(And, in a related question, if the Executive was so great, what kind of idiot marketing guy convinced IBM to sell the Composer at the same time as an easier to use model?)

[Cboldt]

O.K., that's step one. Now, does anyone know or can anyone point to instructions on how the Executive worked? If it was a giant pain, like the Composer ...

Obviously, I think from the ad, it was not a pain to use, although it might have been a pain to make corrections. Note too, post #137 or thereabout pointed to IBM's website, history of the year 1941 when the proportially spaced Executive model typewriter was introduced.

The "pain to use" aspect has been pointed out to you on several occasions, as being related to full justification (lining up both left and right margins). If there is no concern about lining up the right margin, just type away.

[MineralMan]

"O.K., that's step one. Now, does anyone know or can anyone point to instructions on how the Executive worked? If it was a giant pain, like the Composer, it would be very unlikely that anyone in Bush's Guard office sat around all day typing memos to their personal files with it. However, if the proportional spacing was incredibly easy to use, then the documents would be more likely to be authentic.
"

I don't have a manual, but I did use the Executive. Proportional printing was automatic. You just typed. Now, if you wanted to justify, you had to type the document twice, and figure out where to put the spacing so the lines would end in the same place. That was a pain. But typing this memo would have been just like typing it on any other typewriter.