Just curious, are there any typewriter enthusiasts here on TZ-UK?
I have a Royal Model 10 which dates to 1919, and I’ve been thinking about attempting a thorough cleaning and restoration project.
Anyway it seems as if there are a lot of similarities between typewriter and watch enthusiasts. See this note someone else recently submitted to the blog One Typed Page at https://onetypedpage.wordpress.com/2...-july-29-2020/.
If you have a typewriter, I’d love to see photos.
Cheers!
This is my wife's, an ebay purchase last week.
It came with a bag of coloured key covers and dates from 1966.
We have a receipt which shows that it formed part of a typing course that cost £2.10shillings per month.
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Crikey that 1919 one brings back memories! Used to play with one quite similar as a child in the late 1970s, had the same 'see through' keyboard and two exposed reel holders (excuse my wording!).
I believe the Royal was used by Hemingway and Fleming.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Great stuff - break out the Tippex!
In my teens I had an Olivetti portable which I loved. I wanted to do typing classes at my Secondary Modern but like domestic science these were for girls only.
In the early 80's I bought an electric typewriter - I cant quite recall but I think that it was an Olivetti too.
The admin departments of the first hospitals I worked in had rows of secretaries banging away at their desks.
I sometimes wish it was still like that.
Sorry, I've momentarily lost my train of thought.Originally Posted by Velorum
IBM Golfballs and HP XY plotters. Happy days.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
I am wondering if picking up something like this would be easier than trying to restore my Royal Model 10. Not sure I have adequate time or space at the moment.This is my wife's, an ebay purchase last week.
It came with a bag of coloured key covers and dates from 1966.
We have a receipt which shows that it formed part of a typing course that cost £2.10shillings per month.
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[mention]tvralan [/mention]what does your wife plan on doing with her new acquisition?
I hated using a typewriter because I made so many mistakes. If it wasn't for the advent of word-processing, I would never have attempted a master's degree. The opportunity to correct and move text around opened up the possibility of getting something drafted that was error free(ish) and made sense (sort of).
But I love the mechanical feel of typewriters and as a slow typist at best, the idea that the layout of the keys was intended to slow the operator down so the mechanism could cope is wonderful.
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She's using it as a kind of label maker
She has been keeping a Covid diary.
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That's awesome. Seems like quite a lot of people are using manual typewriters for journaling, crafts, and art.She's using it as a kind of label maker
She has been keeping a Covid diary.
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Your wife may have already seen these, but these two techniques are clever:
My masters was completely online, but was writing intensive. All of the discussions were in written format. I could not have done that using a typewriter, even if it had Internet access.
For my BA I used two Brother word processors. The first device had memory, so I could type one page or so before printing, but it only had a tiny LCD screen that would display one line of type at a time. Seems ridiculous now, and even then it was maddening.
My upgraded Brother had a huge monitor, like a PC, so I could compose a whole document on screen before printing it out.
I used a regular typewriter in high school to type papers, probably an electric model, and remember the frustration of nearly completing a page and then ruining it in the last couple of sentences, and having to start over.
Started my first job as a school leaver fixing typewriters, was an interesting job!
Last edited by omega steve; 1st August 2020 at 18:45.
Ouch!
Haha, just seen my error!
I wish my senior management were as entertaining as yours. It looks like it would be a laugh a minute.
"It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights........"
TT, welcome back!
I think we share a senior management team.
Do let us know how things have been going. I can imagine you've been fairly stoic as the world around you becomes a tad more pressured.
Welcome back TT.
Much, much smaller company here, and therefore part of senior management. But if I was to find a decent analogy it would be...
Not sure which character I would be given, though
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I still have a 1960s Adler with extra long platen, it's done a lot of work.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
My dad had one and growing up I used to love playing with it, even though the ribbon was well worn out and so it didn’t actually type anything visible. I deeply regret that it’s long gone now. I do remember how sore my fingers got after even minimal typing. It required some effort to type on it!
In my first job all of our 'paperwork' was completed using very ageing/old typewriters. I was a 'one finger typist' and the machines were well used and needed a hefty 'thump' of each key. We had to complete everything in triplicate so the carbon paper was also well used and the keys needed an extra 'thwack' to make sure the bottom copy was legible.
AAaahh ............ they were the days!
Very interesting...
My first 'proper' job was a typewriter mechanic, loved that job although not great money. My first company car to!
I used to service, repair and refurbish all sorts including the old Imperials (there were a lot of them in the small rural schools and communities) Adler, Olympia, Olivetti, Brother, IBM and more.
I was never short of a bit of 'moonlighting' as it seemed everyone has a typewriter for me to look at at one point.
The advent of the PC was the death knoll for typewriters though so I ended up repairing fruit machines and video games etc. in pubs for a while until moving on altogether.
Ive forgotten most of the stuff I knew but will always have a place in my heart for these lovely old machines, they had personality!
I used to use my dad's Olivetti manual typewriter for home work, he still has it. Would love to have it out on display, maybe with a glass case to avoid the dust settling.
After that I used an electric typewriter with a single line short screen and limited memory, you could type into it then it 'printed' out.
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If you want to resurface it a bit, give it a good rubbing with some smooth emery paper before giving it another rough wiping down with methylated spirit. It will bring it back up lovely to a nice matt finish, but won't soften it up enough to make up for years of hardening and compaction on the surface from type head strikes. That can cause the letters to puncture the paper sometimes and although there are adjustments to be made ultimately a new platen is usually required to sort that.
Last edited by Orange Peel; 22nd October 2020 at 08:18.
My Royal KHM from the late 1930s. This one is in good working order, but needs a light cleaning, especially the type heads.
It's only fitting that these old typewriters are being shown here as they are basically a clockwork mechanism with an escapement etc!
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