It was over a decade ago that I last saw a Grants 737 in person—a thrift-store find. Now a customer of Urban Legend Typewriters has brought in one that needs cleaning. This typewriter was made in Japan by Nakajima for Grants stores in the 1970s. (For more information, see my post on the Grants 707 electric.)
This is a good typewriter! It's smooth, snappy, precise, and solid. It is actually a pleasure to type on—unlike the far more common Smith-Corona Corsair and its ilk, which it superficially resembles. The Corsair is smaller and lighter (not necessarily an advantage), rattly, imprecise, and easily bent out of shape. There's no contest.
If you enjoy turquoise plastic—and I do, since it somehow evokes my childhood—then I advise you to hold out for one of these.
Spiffy & prolly breathtakingly uncommon. Oughta be in TWDB (:
ReplyDeleteFirst one of these I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it would call for more patience than I have to hold out for a typewriter that even Richard Polt has only seen twice in a decade. :)
ReplyDeleteHa ha ... it's only the second time I think I've encountered one in person, but they aren't impossibly hard to find online. They show up on eBay.
DeletePretty color! I only have experience with Brother models, but those Japanese manual typewriters are solid, snappy, easy to work on, and almost always have good rubber.
ReplyDeleteI just found one and bought it, I will take some pictures after it arrives.
ReplyDeleteI just found one in great shape!
ReplyDeleteCongrats!
Delete“Buy It Now” on goodwill.org plus this blog entry made for an easy decision to get one headed my way. It will arrive without a ribbon. Does anyone know which well-known machine takes the same ribbon? I’d like to order one before the Grants gets here.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to say that it takes a typical half-inch ribbon. I forget whether it needs eyelets (little grommets) on each end to activate the automatic ribbon reverse, but I think so. If you need spools, the very common Underwood-style spools will work. Enjoy!
DeleteI just stumbled upon one of these. I'm happy to hear you say it's good, now I'm excited! Do we know who makes it?
ReplyDeleteYes, it was made by Nakajima in Japan.
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