Thursday, January 13, 2011

Tips to typists from Smith-Corona

Here's the booklet that I found with the Royal QDL the other day.

Do you know the dimensions of "club size" paper ("strictly male and personal")?
Why does Norman Saksvig advise you to "hug the keys"?
How do you type a cedilla?
How can you type on both sides of a postcard without touching the card between sides?

Get the answers and learn about the fabulous Smith-Corona Eighty-Eight by clicking on this picture and downloading a PDF.




9 comments:

  1. Thanks! The "Atone for your sins of omission" graphic was worth the entire download!

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  2. That manual is so cool!

    I had never thought about it, but that tip to release the page release lever while not in use is really good. On a couple of mine I lift the paper bail after using, but I never thought to disengage the paper release.

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  3. hey that's my 88! darnit, i still can't make out the total tab clear lever. mine's broken.
    i remembered some of this stuff like the feed tricks and justifying. very cool piece of ephemera. what was it doing with a royal? isn't that like matter/antimatter?

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  4. I very much enjoyed reading this; lots of good tips!

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  5. My tabulator is my best friend too.

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  6. Hello everyone: Just had to comment that Norman Saksvig was my uncle; passed away in the late sixties. I now possess all that remains of his world champion typist trophy - a brass statuate which I keep above my piano. After Norman passed away my mother inherited his 1959 Chevy Impala convertable (red leather) which I was allowed to drive for about a year. He had what I think was a special edition Smith Corona typewrite which was chrome plated.

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  7. Thanks, Paul, for adding a fascinating personal touch! The Smith Corona might have been one of the sterling silver ones discussed by Alan Seaver.

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