My Victor adding machine

This is one of the most beautiful machines I picked up in Greensburg, Indiana recently. I already had a '60s Victor adder I'd found at the thrift store (my daughter and I had lots of fun playing store with it years ago), but I had been coveting a Deco version like this.

It's gorgeous from every angle.

The top of the machine makes me think of a temple, or a fabulous "Metropolis"-style skyscraper top.

For those who may not be familiar with operating such a machine, here are the basic instructions. This model is designed to add numbers with two decimal places up to 9999.99 (which is usually all that an individual or small business would need when dealing with money). You input numbers by pushing down the appropriate key in each column; for a zero, don't press any key at all. Then pull down the crank to enter the number into the machine's mechanical memory and print it on the paper.

When you're ready to add all the numbers, pull down the "T" switch to the right of the VICTOR logo, and pull the crank. The total is printed (with "T" next to it) and the machine is reset to zero.

You may also want to see a subtotal, which does not zero out the machine. For that, you push the same switch upwards and pull the crank, which will print a subtotal with an "S" next to it.

The switch to the left of the VICTOR logo is pushed up for subtraction, and pushed down for repeat addition. There is no direct multiplication function, but if you wanted to multiply 34 x 21 you could push down the repeat switch, enter 31, and pull the crank 21 times.

Here's the printout for the following calculation:

34.22 + 1001.88 - 87.03 = subtotal 949.07

+ 8888.55 = total 9837.62

Meanwhile, in other news, this is probably the sorriest typewriter ever donated to WordPlay.
Anyone need parts from a 1941 Woodstock?

Elgin Collegiate

At the last possible moment this morning, I switched lanes to avoid a traffic jam and found myself heading in the direction of the Ohio Valley Antique Mall.

Good decision! I found a $20 Smith-Corona Courier I'll fix up for WordPlay, and a typewriter for my own collection: this pretty Elgin Collegiate.

It was made in Japan by Nippo (website by Will Davis, courtesy of the Wayback Machine).

The Nippos essentially follow the design introduced by Halberg and then found on scads of little Royals made in Holland after Royal bought Halberg.

One difference I've noticed, though, is that the Halbergs/Royals have a carriage return lever that pivots, unusually, on a horizontal axis, whereas the Nippo lever is on a more conventional vertical axis.

The shell, while similar to the Royalite, has its own attractive shape and these eye-catching gullwing ribbon covers.

This typewriter is missing a feed roller and is a bit rough in some other ways, but I don't think I've ever run across any sort of Nippo in the flesh before, so I'm very happy that I made that split-second decision to follow The Typewriter Bone today.

Revolution in the mailbox: Power Polaroid

I didn't even know that you could just pop a Polaroid into the mailbox. Thank you, fellow insurgent!

It's also good to see Polaroid photography in action. I asked my students last week whether they knew what Polaroid was, and they all said yes, to my surprise. (We were watching "Memento," where the main character relies on Polaroids.) Polaroid survives!

Quiz: Did the typewriter in the photo type the address label? If not, what was the make of the typewriter that did? I think I know the answer.

By the way, my post on the Typospigeon has rocketed up to a thousand views in just a few days. At this rate it will soon be the most-viewed post on my entire blog. Are people around the world fascinated by pigeon post, or what? 

In case you don't know, the Typospigeon has now arrived in the great US Southwest. See the end of my post for links to the further adventures of the bird, which I'll update as they are published to the typosphere.