This company started out by the Underwood family selling typewriter ribbons, until they chose to move into manufacture of the typewriter itself. To promote itself, Underwood built the world's largest typewriter, on display in Atlantic City, NJ, and went on display at the 1939 World Fair. When World War II hit, the typewriter was scrapped for metal to contribute to the war efforts. The company felt very sure of itself as it boast in a newspaper ad in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on January 23, 1928, that the Underwood typerwiter is "The Machine You Will Eventually Buy"!