The Monotype (1890) that seems to have been used for text graphics.
The Monotype (1890) that seems to have been used for text graphics.
Leetspeak and possible emoticons from 1890. Found by Koichi Yasuoka, who writes:
The article shown right is from The Typewriter World (Chicago), Vol.I, No.2 (October 1897), p.46, which I found in The New York Public Library. You see the sentense “he Said it would Be a thxng of beavty & jOy FORever” is followed by a combination of punctuation marks, a semicolon and a right parenthesis, which is one of the so-called emoticons nowadays. I cannot make sure that it was really intended to represent a winking smile, but I need to check Berkshire News (Great Barrington, Massachusetts) of February 6, 1890. How do you think about this?