1954 Smith-Corona Silent typewriter in brown with green keys and a gray spacebar sitting on a wooden table next to a green coffee mug and a small winter skating scene built of LEGO.
Acquired 1954 Smith-Corona Silent Typewriter by Smith Corona, Inc. (Goodwill)
Serial Number: 5A 458864
Pica No. 1 typeface; 6 lines/vertical inch
American No. 20A keyboard
Fifteen minutes of tinkering and this machine is imminently usable. It’ll take about a half day to clean up properly, but this is well on its way to its former glory. I should be able to turn this $25 find into a proper $350 work-a-day typewriter.

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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.

9 thoughts on “”

  1. The good part of 50 mile per hour sustained winds in Southern California today is that I don’t need to break out the compressed air to blow it out. ️

  2. @chrisaldrich $25 !? What a steal. This is on my list of wants with a QDL. Right now I have a Corona Classic 12, Brother AX-18, and the first I ever got, a Royal Epoch that has a broken gear. Its been a while since I've written on one.

    1. I have been seeing some of these go in the $75-200 range lately based only on pictures!!! I’m hoping that in the post-gift giving season prices will come down quite a bit to the $25-50 they were about 6 months ago.

      I regularly see QDLs and Epochs on ShopGoodwill.com for $10-30. Which QDL era are you looking for? I’ve got a ’39 (technically an Aristocrat), ’48, ’49, ’52, and a ’55. Love ’em all…

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  • 💬 Jeff Miller (orange hatband)

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