Typewriters

[kiwilrdg]

https://flic.kr/p/nn7Zc7
This weekend I was at a WWII event and several visitors thought my Underwood was an enigma machine.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Is it military green?

 

[Shangas]

Hahahaha!! That is funny! A typewriter looks nothing like an enigma machine! Except, maybe, for the keys...

 

[kiwilrdg]

It is a black Model 1. Several young kids had no idea what it was and it was guys in their late 20s who thought it was for crypto work.

 

[rjb1]

I may be too much of an optimist, but I'd be a little glad that people of that age were even aware of the existence of Enigma machines. (and some vague notion of what they looked like)

 

[Barton Keyes]

My Royal Quiet Deluxe

I have five. Royals are my favorite, followed up by Smith Corona. I always look for Royal Quiet Deluxes. I'm presently searching for a Quiet Deluxe from the late 40s designed by Henry Dreyfus but I can't find one. I had one lined up for 80 bucks, but the seller backed out on me. The closest I could get to one was a 1950 Quiet Deluxe. I've attached a picture of it:

Well, if I can figure out how to attach a pic, I'll post it.

 

[Barton Keyes]

Ok, I think I got it.... My Quiet Deluxe, 1950:

 

[Hemingway Jones]

That's an early Quiet Deluxe. I love those. They're snappy typers and I like the art deco embellishments on the ribbon selector. Nice machine.

 

[Shangas]

I like earlier Royals from the 1920s and 30s, the RQD never really appealed to me.

 

[rjb1]

Until yesterday I had about ten or so pre-WWII portables and was not, was not, was not going to get another, but I found a mint-condition late-1939 Underwood portable for $30. I now have one more than I had before.

 

[kiwilrdg]

When you have a love for a certain type of item it is best to vow that you will give one to someone else who will love it (or sell at a reasonable price) if you get another rather than say you will not get another. That way you can move up without losing more storage space.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

This is my latest find, a Royal Quiet DeLuxe circa 1957 in lovely turquoise. The finish is in A-plus condition. It gleams and has no dents or dings. We are just now getting acquainted and I am enjoying this machine very much. I especially like its highly stylized typeface: Herald Elite. It's nice to see something different on a machine from time to time.

 

[Shawn C.]

My working horse typewriter is the 1947 Underwood Desktop. It's got that Art Deco look that I love and it works just fine. People love getting letters from me. I recently acquired an L.C. Smith & Bros. Number 2 that's dated 1905. It needs a full overhaul, but that will come in time. A good friend of mine is a manual typewriter buff. There's nothing like smoking a cigarette and typing a letter to a good friend! I'd definitely like to get my hands on one of the late-40s Electromatics.

 

[MikeKardec]

My childhood was played out against a score of typewriter music. Dad clacking away at a new novel in the little room that was his office. He used an Olympia until '57 or so and then bought a huge IBM Model B that sported gray wrinkle finish and smelled of warm and dusty oil.

I have most of his typewriters and occasionally use them for making notes and such but I can't use them for writing, though I started on typewriters ... I back and fill too much as I create material, even though I was a slow adopter of word processors my thought process is more tuned to them then typewriters. Dad just wrote straight through, one draft, sure and confident for better or for worse. He could never figure out why other writers had a secretary to retype their heavily edited manuscripts.

Here's the Olympia being used in the mid 1950s ...

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Great pic. He looks confident.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

This is my Hermes Rocket. I put my hand in the photo for perspective. It is the smallest and lightest typewriter that I have yet to experience from the 1950s. It is truly the laptop of its day.

It is also a very energetic and responsive typer; very fast, and fun. It also makes this great telegraph-machine-style noise. It is very compact, with the top snapping right over top of it.

 

[Giftmacher]

Manufacturing of typewriters in the pre-war Czechoslovakia. From magazine "Pestry tyden" 1932 (Colorful week)

 

[martinsantos]

Olivetti Studio 42, from late 30s. A very very fine typewriter!

I bought this after this photo. He is my grandfather, and worked with the same model (plus a Remington) for over 30 years. This photo is from 1964.

 

[martinsantos]

A fine and interesting typewriter. Mercedes Selecta, from Germany, 1938.

 

[martinsantos]

Not a great photo - but the typewriter is just like a dream to write with. Continental made in 1935. Happily it didn't asked more than a few drops of oil. And probably someone put a new platen few years ago. Looks like an Underwood 5 but the feel of typing is very different.