A missed holy grail, a dull safari, and more typewriters for sale

Well, it wasn't the happiest 24 hours in this collector's life. But at least I didn't spend any money!

On eBay yesterday, someone (one of you?)* outbid me for a unique item that would have been a real gem for my collection: a prototype Remington Noiseless Portable, which according to the seller had belonged to a Remington executive.

*Right after I posted this, I saw that on Facebook, Brian Hagermann volunteered his identity as its proud new owner. Congratulations, Brian!

The immediately noticeable difference from RNP's as we know them is the two-piece structure of the sheet metal covering the typebar mechanism. Also different: the knobs on the ribbon covers, and typebars that are straight instead of slightly curved.

Enjoy it, Brian!

Today I headed to two local antique malls to see if I could find a compensation prize. One of them had zero typewriters; the other had the following. Would you have been tempted by any of them?

Remington Ten Forty, $97.95. Bits of rust, yellowed plastic.

L.C. Smith, 14-inch carriage, $65, usual wear and tear.

1920s Underwood no. 5, filthy, reduced to $125.

Another no. 5 from the '20s, shinier. Unfortunately, my photo didn't capture the price, but it was also over $100, I think.

Mid-fifties "Royal Quiet Deluxe" (actually Royal HH), reduced to $99.99. Very good typewriter, but ...

OK, this one was a little tempting: a very pretty streamlined Corona from the late thirties. But it had various nicks and scratches, and the space bar wasn't working. Probably an easy fix ... but $220?

That's it.

Meanwhile, here are a couple more typewriters that I've put up for sale (details here). I didn't acquire any new machines in the last 24 hours, and I'm trying to escort some out the door. That's the right direction ... right?

A new case for a Noiseless Portable

I have a lovely example of a Noiseless Portable, which came to me from the estate of Australian collector Emeric Somlo nine years ago. This little three-bank machine was made in 1924 by the Noiseless Typewriter Company, shortly before it was absorbed by Remington. Remington adapted some of the mechanisms of this typewriter to create its own four-bank noiseless portable, which was successful in various models throughout the 1930s and into the 1950s.

The Noiseless Portable is a small device ...

... which gets even smaller when you fold its spacebar and carriage return lever, and flip the paper support down to make it a carriage lock.

It's all set to fit into a neat little case—but I've never had one.

So I got the idea to try to find a new case which would fit the Noiseless's dimensions.

On eBay and Amazon you can find hundreds of Chinese-made carrying cases for various kinds of tools and devices. They have black side panels and aluminum edge strips. They aren't generally of top quality, but they look good enough and they can protect your typewriter. They also often come with foam inside, which can be cut or picked apart to make a cozy space for your machine.

It took me a lot of searching before I found a case that was just big enough: 12 x 10 x 6 inches. This was a case that had been used to protect some unknown items.

When it arrived, I cut the foam into a shape that would hold the base of the typewriter snugly. I also lined the larger part of the case with felt, cut from a big old typewriter pad that had been sitting uselessly in my basement. This thick felt would interfere with the carriage, so I covered the parts of the case that had to fit around the carriage with some self-adhesive thin felt.

The finishing touch? A Noiseless logo, of course!

From a touched-up photo of the logo on this typewriter, Sticker Mule made 10 die-cut stickers for a bargain introductory price.

I stuck two of these stickers onto self-adhesive felt, which then provided good adhesion to the textured surfaces of the two largest sides of the case. Now it's perfect!

I couldn't resist also improving my laptop ...

... and my phone.

Would you like to do the same? Feel free to click on this image and download a nice, high-resolution version of the Noiseless logo for your own use.

So now I'm ready to go out into the world with my Noiseless in its neat little case and type up a storm, right?

No. My mainspring has a problem I need to solve first. The little protrusion inside the housing which catches the end of the spring has broken off, so the spring spins around without gathering enough tension.

However, I did manage to get a typing sample, and I'm looking forward to solving this problem before long so that I can put this soft-spoken gang of characters to work:

A date with my first love

 

New rubber on the back feed rollers:

The front feed rollers were recovered  with several layers of shrink tubing:

The felt pads on the feet make the typewriter grip the rough surface of my typing pad very firmly.

1: escapement trip adjustment screw and  nut

2: motion adjustment (vertical alignment)

3. lever leading to the margin stop — when it's too bent, the stop won't protrude enough and the carriage may not stop at the left margin

Polishing the paper table. 

(In the background is my new typewriter screwdriver set from Chapman Mfg.)

The paper guide was sliding around too much, so I just stuck a strip of felt under it to create more friction. You can also see a replacement for the fragile spring that connects to the bell trip.

I feel I have finally worked on this typewriter enough that I deserve to put my own repair shop sticker on it, across from the Berkeley Typewriter Co. ticker from April 1958. (Berkeley Typewriter, founded in 1936, is one year older than this typewriter.)

A highly unusual Noiseless

Can you find something very unusual about this “1941 Line” Deluxe Noiseless Portable?

This typewriter belongs to a customer of Urban Legend Typewriters. 

#N1118385 was made in August, 1940.

The backspace and margin release are up above the rest of the keyboard, 

allowing for two more keys (four more characters) on the keyboard ...

... but that’s not really unusual. 

It’s a common arrangement on European versions of the noiseless portables.

“Look closely at that keyboard” ...

Here’s the answer:

As a matter of fact, I have never seen curly quotes on any typebar typewriter, even sophisticated electric machines with proportional typefaces such as the IBM Executive. The even more sophisticated Varityper DSJ offered curly quotes on some of its type shuttles. Nearly all typewriters, of course, use "straight quotes" rather than “curly ones.” Even your word processor uses straight quotes! The application changes them to curly depending on the context. (At least in Microsoft Word, after you type a quotation mark and the application “curls” it, the Undo command will straighten it out again.)

Once you get used to it, this system is easier than the traditional typewriter keyboard, where you have to shift to get straight quotes or an apostrophe. On this machine, you shift only to get the opening curly quotes “ and single quotes ‘ . When you close a quote ” or insert an apostrophe ’ no shifting is required.

The accents are also interesting. These are “dead keys,” which don’t advance the carriage. 

You can see the difference between the three typebars on the right end of the typebasket and the other typebars: the dead typebars are cut short so they don't push down the universal bar when you type.

On most typewriters, you type the accent first and then the letter it modifies. Pre-war Remingtons do it more like handwriting: first you type a, for instance, and then ` on top of it. 

How do they manage this? With weird type slugs that reach over to the left.

I’m very charmed by this machine, and frankly, I wish I could keep it. 

I won’t be surprised if I never find another one like it.