The quest for an Adler Universal

Postscript: Since writing this post, I have actually acquired two Adler Universals! So I am no longer in search of one. You can read about mine here.

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As some of my regular readers may recall, I have developed an obsession with getting an Adler Universal. Some other typospherians have one, why oh why can't I?

(This October post shows my Adler Special -- good typewriter, but definitely not a Universal.)

I thought my ship had come in when I spotted an eBay listing for a Universal in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, only about half an hour away. I contacted the seller to make sure it would be OK to pick it up in person. But the next time I checked, the auction had mysteriously ended because the item was "no longer available"!

A followup message to the seller, expressing my disappointment, got no answer. Now, some of the other photos on the auction were at a tiny thumbnail size, which raised my suspicions. Could it be that the seller had copied photos from elsewhere, knew that her typewriter did not match the photos, and withdrew her auction in embarrassment? Do any of you recognize this photo from some other source?

Be that as it may, this morning I was glumly wishing I could find another for sale -- when what do I see on the local craigslist but this?

Yahoo!

I called the seller and found out that she lives just a couple of miles away. I have an appointment to see the machine at 4 pm today.

But ... take a look at that photo: it's the same one as the one on eBay! Even the date, 1961, is the same. It's obvious that this seller got her information from eBay and did not take a picture of her actual machine.

I asked the seller whether the photo is the model on offer, and she said yes. But I am bracing myself to discover that it's in fact a completely different Adler model.

This post is a cliffhanger. I will update it as soon as I can, either with a triumphant picture of my new Universal or with a sad disappointment. To be continued in about 5 hours after the asterisks ...

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OK, the story has ended sooner than I expected. The "seller" called back to say she doesn't even have the typewriter (whatever it was) anymore! She thought that it hadn't sold when they auctioned off most of their property, but in fact it did.

So my quest continues.

This is a typical craigslist story -- the sellers are even flakier than on eBay. Sometimes, though, I've found very nice things on craigslist, like this and this.

Diamant 28 typewriter

... The most eye-catching part of the Diamant 28 is its slotted segment -- a high, substantial piece.




The designers of the machine seem to have been obsessed with stability and security. On each side of the machine there's a rotating metal piece (A) and together they immobilize the carriage. Furthermore, the more conventional carriage lock (B) stops the carriage, prevents shifting, and locks the keyboard. The typewriter is definitely designed to be used on its base; in order to remove it from the base you have to unscrew the 4 feet from the bottom, and unscrew a further tab (C) on each side.



DSF stands for Diamant-Schreibmaschinenfabrik. The company was based in Frankfurt.



The earlier Diamant (model 1) was a three-bank portable reminiscent of the Corona, but not folding. Here's an example (not mine, but seen on eBay a few years ago). Some of these were exported to England and named "Diamond."



According to Leonhard Dingwerth's history of German typewriter manufacturers, Diamant was bought out by Kappel in 1930. The factory then produced a few Diamant-style portables with the Kappel name, but these are also hard to find. The example below is from Herman Price's collection.



I'd be interested in hearing from anyone else who has a Diamant 28. My serial number is 16545.

The generous typosphere

My generous readers have given great gifts to WordPlay Cincy, the typingest place in Cincinnati, Ohio.

First, thanks to Nicole for her cash gift to the organization! (You can donate too.)

Thanks to Ton for donating his Jetson-y Olivetti Studio 46! It's a sturdy and bold typewriter from the '70s, busily typing away in green here under the skilled fingers of a WordPlay volunteer. (You can also see the Smith-Corona I donated, and if you look closely, the Underwood no. 5 I cleaned up.)

Thanks to Nat of natslaptaps for donating this bright blue Royal Sahara! I may have to get one of these myself -- it's light, smooth, and precise. This young man's eyes lit up as soon as I brought it in the door, and right away he was taking a look under the hood. (Nat is Australian, but the typewriter did not travel all the way from Australia; she paid for an American-to-American transaction via US eBay.)

Thank you, donors!

Here are three more views of the activity at WordPlay today.

Typewriters and smartphones in symbiosis. We can all get along!

Typewriters are for everyone: here's a grownup at an Underwood Junior and a not-so-grown-up at an Underwood Noiseless Portable.

Even electronic wedges can get some love:

And here are some pictures I think you'll enjoy from WordPlay's Facebook page.