This tip is not about how typewriters work or whether a correction tape was used.

Instead it is about how something got in a typed record, certificate, etc. Did someone orally give the information directly as the form was typed? Was the information misheard? Did someone write down the information in an abbreviated manner only to complete the form on a typewriter later? Is it possible that their notes were difficult to read?

A reader mentioned recently that “Oh” and “Ok” may look very similar depending on the handwriting. They are very different place and one could very easily be misinterpreted for the other.

The typed out form could be hiding how the information came to be in that typed record. And the “how” matters and could explain why a certain aspect of that record is confusing.

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  1. Iowa was transcribed as Ireland. The only child of a Large family living in Iowa to have a child born in Ireland.

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