And now for something more pleasant ...
I'm reducing my typewriter collection. [Right, Polt.] But sometimes destiny [or lust] strikes like lightning. That happened a couple of weeks ago, when a lovely blue Aztec 600 was going begging on eBay. How could I resist?
It arrived safely (double-boxed, thanks!). It's missing its case, but the typewriter itself is in great shape. I spent a happy couple of hours removing eraser crumbs and old grease, installing a new ribbon, and polishing until there was nothing left to polish. Here it is!
Turns out that the brown one and my new blue one are less than 200 serial numbers apart! Both were made in 1962, the last year of production for this great model (and if you had to pick a final year for the golden age of typewriter manufacturing, 1962 would be a good candidate).
These typewriters are relabeled Rheinmetall KsTs. (The name Aztec was used for East German typewriters from various state-controlled factories when they were exported to the US. Aztec 500 = Erika 10 without tabulator, Aztec 600 = Rheinmetall KsT, Aztec 700 = Erika 10 with tabulator, Aztec 800 = Erika 20 or Groma Combina, Aztec 900 = Rheinmetall GS, Aztec 14 = Erika 14, Aztec 15 = Erika 15.)
I've had the opportunity to enjoy several Rheinmetalls in my collecting history (just portables, no standards). The portable is an ingenious invention based on the 1926-1930 Stoewer KsM portable. Under the Rheinmetall name, production lasted from 1931 to 1962. That's quite a successful run! You can see examples of Rheinmetall portables and KsTs on the Typewriter Database, and here is a history of postwar KsTs.
The carriage comes off with a flip of two levers and a little jiggling—no tools required. This makes cleaning and service a cinch. The platen of the KsT is also easy to remove (unscrew the knobs). It has a light carriage shift, a quiet return, a pretty slim profile, and nice styling.
Congratulations on a fine looking typewriter.
ReplyDeleteI got to type on one of these a couple of years ago at a type-in. Truly a pleasurable experience.
Beautiful! A work friend's mom knows my enthusiasms, and she returned from a family trip last week with three old machines in tow for me. (Well, two old machines; the third was an early-nineties electric with a huge spellcheck feature, but not the little digital window to proofread each sentence before Enter clatters it onto a page. That one works perfectly and reminds me what was lost haptically in the long long decline of the electric into the word processor. ) But: a 1935(?) Corona S that needed cleaning and a new drawband came into the fold as well--and a 1960 SC Sterling, with international characters, in a fetching italic! Sometimes they fall like manna from the heavens.
ReplyDeleteNeat! Once you're known as "the typewriter guy," people do start adding to your collection.
DeleteMy blue Rheinmetall KsT (identical to your Aztec) was, for a long time, my very most favorite typewriter to type on. Then an Adler J3 entered my life, and I go back and forth between the two.
ReplyDeleteTwo good ones from East and West!
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