Remington 16 typewriter instructions / user's manual

Here's a Remington 16, manufactured in February 1934. It's an old-fashioned typewriter for its time; it's still essentially the same as the no. 10, Remington's first visible model, introduced in 1908. The no. 16 was first manufactured in September 1931. The completely new, basket-shifted model 17 was introduced in January 1939, and production of the no. 16 slowed to a trickle in April of that year. But it continued to be made until production stopped during the war in April 1942—"except occasional machine for export fanfold," according to company records. The no. 17 went on to become the basis of the KMC and all later Remington standards.

This particular no. 16 was badly beaten up when it got to me. Many functions didn't work, and the poor thing was dirty, rusty, and chipped. I've gotten it to the point where it doesn't look new, and not everything works, but it does type, and it's pretty handsome. A few techniques came in handy:

• Use black paint marker pens for quick, easy, and effective touch-up.

• A yellow paint marker pen can be applied over silver decals to restore them, more or less, to their original gold appearance. Getting the paint even is tricky, and the result is not perfect.

• Red and white paint marker pens, along with the black, helped restore the ribbon color indicator.

• To clean flat black paint, rub Turtle Wax hard shell wax onto the paint with a soft rag, again and again and again, until the rag doesn't come back looking brown. As a final touch, you can try smearing some Pledge onto the paint, letting it dry, and buffing—or spraying with a little Endust and wiping until it's not slick. (I did both.)

• When some mechanical functions just aren't working, consider where you can add a little spring or a little rubber piece that will nudge parts into place.

I don't know where to find an original user's manual for the no. 16. This is often the case for standard typewriters, even if they're common models. Remington made 247,083 no. 16 typewriters, and must have printed at least that many copies of the manual, but nearly all of them must have been discarded, lost, or ruined over the years. So here is my attempt to explain all the functions. If you have questions or corrections, please bring them on, so that I can improve this user's guide and add it to my online collection.