Last U.K-made typewriter goes to museum

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WREXHAM, Wales, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A factory in Wales produced the final typewriter made in Britain and immediately dispatched it to a museum, officials said.

Typewriter manufacturer Brother says it donated the last machine made in its factory in Wrexham to London's Science Museum.

Edward Bryan, a worker at the factory that produced 5.9 million typewriters since opening in 1985, made the last one.

"If people ever ask me, I can always say now, as a strange question, that I've made the last typewriter in the U.K.," he told the BBC.

The typewriter is widely considered as helping many women to enter the workforce, and still has "a special place in the hearts" of members of the public, said Phil Jones, head of Brother in Britain.

"Because of this, and the typewriter's importance in the history of business communication, we felt that giving it a home at the Science Museum would be a fitting tribute."

Brother said it stopped making typewriters in Britain because of lack of demand. Although it still had significant sales in the United States, its factory in the Far East produces enough typewriters to serve that market.