In the ’80s and ’90s, teaching people to type was big business. Nintendo’s Mario was happy to instruct you, or you might go with the much more staid Typing Tutor. The biggest name in typing utilities, however, was Mavis Beacon, of “Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing”.

“I remember, at [computer trade show] Comdex in 1987, walking around and having some of the competitors from two of the original typing products come up to me and say: ‘What a coup! How did you get Mavis Beacon to endorse your product? We’ve been after her endorsement for years,’” Abrams told The New York Times. “And when they did that, I knew we had a hit.”

The catch is that despite pictures of an actual woman appearing on the box, Mavis Beacon wasn’t real.