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Tuesday, January 10, 2017

2017's first typewriter safari and guessing game

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know this game. Here are some things I saw at the antique mall this morning. Can you guess which one came home with me?

I've seen these R. C. Allen miniatures before, but never one with a letter in it!




Royal KMM and LC Smith no. 8 ($160):



Underwood Five, $79.99:


Royal Quiet De Luxe, $80:



Elliott-Fisher book typewriter with original desk and chair:



I'll tell you that this is not what I brought home. The price would be a bargain for a collector with space and an understanding partner, but I don't want to get divorced. This beautiful set has been languishing at the Ohio Valley Antique Mall for months.



Royal portable, $69.99 (what model is this and when was it made?):



Remington Deluxe Noiseless, $45:



Wide-carriage Woodstock, $100:



LC Smith no. 8, $160 (yes, another one at the same price):



Remington 12, $85:


Underwood portable, $39.99:



Remington no. 5 portable (boxy), broken space bar, escapement not working, $29:



Underwood, $45:



Let's take an adding machine break.



Marx Dial De-Luxe, $59:



Smith-Corona Silent, $85:


Underwood and Smith-Corona, each $75:



Royal Companion (serial number doesn't seem to fit), $64.95:



Finally, a pair of toy "Master Phones." I bet these were a thrill for their young owners!

30 comments:

  1. 1941 Varsity and 1941 Companion. Serial totally fits :D

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    1. Ah, you're right. I overlooked that part of the Database page! Thanks.

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    2. yeah, these are the Depression-era Junior variants, different series than the "A" frame portables. I refer to them as "D" frame Royals. not bad machines, usually. A bit flimsy-looking but good performers. (:

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  2. The $80 Royal Quiet De Luxe. In this part of the world (the Northwest), I've seen those go for a lot more. A recent $75 listing had me running down to the store selling it, but by the time I got there, it was gone.

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    1. Nope, keep guessing. (The QDL is the most common typewriter on The Typewriter Database, by far. Of course, several different machines were given that name.)

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    2. I've found several better deals on QDLs in Seattle--usually between $20 and $50--Goodwill often has great prices on them.

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  3. The Remington Deluxe Noiseless? That's a beautiful machine.

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  4. Difficult. That's a lot of caps on the page in the underwood. That's not a mill, is it?

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  5. If you shop like I do, $80 is too much for a QDL, $69.99 is pushing it on a caseless Varsity, you found the Companion cute, but too much. I'm guessing either the Underwood Leader or Remington Deluxe Noiseless

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  6. Just the RC Allen miniature in the interests of avoiding that divorce?

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  7. Remington Noiseless Deluxe (just for the typeface - I believe the top cover can be replaced from a donor machine) and Underwood portable (the price is right to fix it up and put to a good use - or sale - at Wordplay). I'd probably also be tempted by the Smith-Corona Silent Secretarial but you've already been there I think...

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    1. You have a good eye for typefaces! That's the one I got, and I do have a parts machine so I can replace the top piece.

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    2. Hey - if the second picture with just the typeslugs wasn't a hint I don't know what it was... ;)

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  8. The real question is did you get the mini-RC Allen?

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  9. I don't know you well, although we have met. But I would say with as large of a collection as you have .. something more modern. A gift for someone ... the Smith Corona Silent. It is not overpriced and looks clean. Easy to clean and it would make someone happy. Bring Christmas into January?

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  10. I haven't a clue as to what you may have taken home. So many of the fairly common typewriters have prices that are out of line. The L.C. Smith 8 looks nice.

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  11. ZetiX got it. The Deluxe Noiseless is the one I bought, because I've never owned a typewriter with that typeface, which I believe is called double gothic.

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  12. I have a Portable #5 (boxy) with Double Gothic...strange but neat!

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  13. Thanks for the closeup of the Elliott Fisher. Then only time I've seen one in action was checking into the Stevens Hotel in Chicago in 1952. It was a bookkeeping machine with calculator, and I was amazed when the desk clerk threw a ledger card on the table and started typing, arms following the machine as it moved across the paper. I've wanted one ever since, but you never seen one.

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    1. I see that experience certainly made an impression! They are fascinating devices. They do turn up on eBay from time to time.

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  14. I have to comment on the telephones, as I used a set like that while in college at Berkeley in 1948. I was in a room on the front of the building on the 6th floor, and my brother was on the 3rd floor on the back of a wing. We took a spool of magnet wire, and threw it over the wing to the back side and down to his room. We connected the magnet wire to each phone, and connected the other wire to the radiator. I think each phone took 2 C cells. When you picked up the receiver, and turned the dial, the other phone would ring. When it was picked up, you had a completed connection. Nobody could see that fine magnet wire going from my window, over the wing and down the back wall. The dorm had only 1 phone per floor,and a small switchboard for 4 incoming lines. I think there were 10 extensions. We used it one semester. The next semester I moved to the room just above his, so all we had to do was stick our head out the window and holler.

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  15. My very favorite one on these photos is the Underwood Five. xD

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  16. I would have gone for the Noiseless too, that typeface looks great.

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