The Last Keystroke: War, Hard Times, and the End of an Era

Even as Woodstock hummed with production, Oliver was planting roots in Chicago. In 1907, the company erected its headquarters on Dearborn Street, a striking red brick and cast-iron building adorned with typewriter motifs and Oliver-trademarked ornamentation. Declared a Chicago Landmark in 1984, the building's façade survives today as part of the historic James M. Nederlander Theatre (formerly the Oriental Theatre).

During World War I, the Woodstock factory supplied typewriters to the military and produced munitions for the British Army. In 1917, Oliver shifted to a mail-order model, offering typewriters on installment payments. The strategy initially boosted sales, but the Depression of 1920–1921 caused widespread customer defaults, forcing Oliver to repossess and resell machines at a loss.

By 1927, the company could no longer sustain operations and closed. Most assets were sold to a British businessman who formed the British Oliver Typewriter Company in Croydon, England, which continued producing typewriters through the 1950s before closing in 1959.

Back in Woodstock, the vacant factory was taken over by the Alemite Die Casting Company in 1928, passed through several subsequent owners, and was demolished in 1997, bringing down the last physical remnant of the era when Woodstock was the typewriter capital of the world.