Friday, February 11, 2011

Executive decision


Correction: the date of manufacture is 1964.

The typeface is Mid-Century.

The craigslist pictures:



I get the typewriter home and put the hood up:


After cleaning:



The carbon ribbon:







13 comments:

  1. wow - as always, amazing before & after photos! And the design actually looks quite... designed.

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  2. Richard, Great job rescuing the Model C Executive. I've repaired many Model C and D Executives through the years and I'm always blown away by how beautiful the type is. They made a handful of different proportional space typestyles. I'm sure you will love it too.

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  3. Tom, thanks for specifying that it's a Model C. That's what I thought based on tw-db.com. I wouldn't be able to explain the differences among A, B, C, and D IBM's, though!

    Anyone interested in a font based on another Executive typeface, Testimonial, can download it at the bottom of my typewriter font page.

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  4. The typeface looks so modern. Great job getting it up and running.

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  5. What a story! I was on the edge of my seat reading the description of your visit to the "Bungalow from the Dark Side". Sounds like quite a day. The Executive makes it all worth it, doesn't it - with that beautiful typeface! It's great to finally track down something you'd been keeping an eye out for, and while it looked a bit... dubious before cleaning, glad to hear it was nothing serious!

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  6. What a score! Congratulations. Decades ago, I was impressed by an Executive that an employer had, even though I had no interest at all in typewriters, and the impression stayed with me. Good for you!

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  7. wow I like the way you find the unique ones. great story too.

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  8. That's wonderful, Richard. Beautiful typeface. (I probably would have run back home rather than go into the *basement* but your bravery paid off.)

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  9. That typeface is AGGRESSIVELY sans-serif. And the machine design...wow. Truly, design like that could not have come from any other era.

    And yeah...CL buying can be a test of bravery. I met up with the guy who sold me the Tippa S that I gave to Olivander and he told me to come around to the garage. I had to duck under the half-raised door and we haggled in the half dark amid piles of other ephemera that was stacked on shelves a la a thrift store. I paid $5 more than the thing was worth just to get out of there sooner.

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  10. That is such a great looking typeface. It certainly does look like something professional in print. Very cool!

    I've not come to any shady place via CL, just some weird birds. Its always an adventure!

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  11. What a find! I own an Executive D, that cost around $16 USD, and is now receiving its first professional service in at least 20 years, according to a label I found inside the cover. I was also lucky to find a batch of new ribbons for it; if you're still looking for one, drop me a line.

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