A typewriter ribbon arrangement has upper and lower portions which are supported on a carriage for movement with a single element printer. The upper portion contains the supply of ribbon and is removably attachable to the lower portion which is fixedly mounted on the carriage and has separate drive mechanisms for use with an upper portion having a cloth ribbon or an upper portion having a carbon ribbon. Each upper portion carries a pivotally supported ribbon lifter so they may be interchangeably attached to the lower portion without further threading. The upper portion for a cloth ribbon has spool-supporting spindles which are drivingly coupled to an indexing ratchet wheel drive mounted in the lower portion, and the upper portion additionally carries a pair of drag levers for keeping the ribbon taut and a pair of tension arms for sensing the tautness of the ribbon to operate a ribbon reversing means mounted in the lower portion when a spool carried by a spindle becomes fully wound.