Typewritten index card in black elite typeface that reads: Hello! I'm a 1955 Royal HH. I'm what's known as a standard typewriter. Usually I would sit permanently on a desk in one space and rarely move, much like a desktop computer now. Smaller and lighter portable typewriters existed for easier use, but they didn't come close to my performance, particularly for long periods of typing. Of course this performance is the reason that writers and creators like Truman Capote, Sylvia Plath, Elia Kazan, Mario Puzo, Robert Penn Warren, Eudora Welty, Charles Bukowski, George Burns, Herb Coen, Bruce Catton, Paddy Chayefski, Don Dellilo, Alice Denham, Paul Russell, James T. Farrell, William F. Buckley, Sterling North, Robert B. Parker, William Zinzer and even Hugh Heffner used Royal HH typewriters just like this one. I've got the standard Royal elite typeface and I can lay down type at 12 characters per inch and 6 lines per vertical inch. This makes me an excellent candidate to write the next great American novel. Why don't you get some paper and give me a whirl?

I usually type up a short introduction card for the handful of typewriters sitting around the house so that visitors will have an idea of what they’re appreciating. It’s almost like having a museum card on a work of art, but usually mine have a call to type on them. Naturally there are either index cards or paper close at hand to encourage both touching and typing.

Above is the brief introduction to the 1955 Royal HH I finished repairing, cleaning out, and re-assembling today.

A large standard Royal HH typewriter on a side table next to an old fashioned glass with a Negroni in it.
Ready to type at the end of the day, a Royal HH sits next to a Negroni.

Published by

Chris Aldrich

I'm a biomedical and electrical engineer with interests in information theory, complexity, evolution, genetics, signal processing, IndieWeb, theoretical mathematics, and big history. I'm also a talent manager-producer-publisher in the entertainment industry with expertise in representation, distribution, finance, production, content delivery, and new media.

7 thoughts on “”

  1. I want to do a basic version that clips onto the front of the shelf. I will type the card out using the typewriter, and put its years, make, model and font name at a minimum.

  2. I am going to do this for my daily driver. I know it’s history, and it would be both a way to honor the past owners, as well as a friend that died some years ago.

    I even have some nice looking older card stock to type it on.

    Thank you for this idea.

  3. Apart from famous figures who were known to use the same model, I also include fun facts/trivias aligned with each typewriter’s year of manufacture…idk it just makes it easier for non-enthusiasts to gauge the historical essence of the machines.

    For instance, I own a Corona Folding typewriter. My favourite thing to tell guests is that this piece was manufactured the same year the Titanic sank. Helps them wrap their head around the age and have some reverence for it

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