Serial Number: FPE-16-66444461
16" platen, elite typeface, in Royaltone or Pearl Light Gray smooth
I’ve been wanting to score an FP for a long time. Well shipped and in generally functional shape. My first typewriter of 2025 and the first since the Eaton Fire.
@chrisaldrich I’m not sure what year this was, I think ift was a Royal. It belonged to my grandfather, lost in the Eaton fire.
I’m sorry for the loss of your home and devastated by the loss of our lovely city. That looks like it was a special machine. The heirlooms are some of the hardest.
It’ll still be quite a while until we’re back into our house (and my little typewriter workshop), but if you’re interested in shaping up a machine to replace that one, I’m happy to help, either out of my own collection or with a careful search for as close a replacement as we can manage. Serial numbers either under the hood or the carriage, if they’re readable/available, might help give an exact year for a replacement.
Some hints in your photo make me think it may have been a 30s/40s Underwood. Possibly an Ace or maybe a DeLuxe Leader
I did a quick once over on this 1958 Royal FP typewriter and spooled on new blue/green bichrome nylon ribbon. It’s in much better shape than I initially suspected. One of the few Royals that the Magic Margins worked perfectly out of the box that I’ve ever had. I’m happy to see that it’s got an elite typeface and the overall alignment isn’t to bad to allow for daily typing right away. (This is great news since my tool kit is generally unavailable right now due to the Eaton Fire.)
The segment and key levers are generally clean and quick and this may be one of the fastest machines I’ve ever gotten directly from a seller without significant work. Most of the exterior dirt came off relatively easy, but it could still use a thorough clean, oil, and adjust. The internal padding is cheap foam that has either disintegrated or is actively disintegrating. Someone had it mounted into a desk at one point as it seems to have the desk mount screws still in the bottom.
I love the keys, though there is some odd wear on a few of them (possibly from a prior cleaning gone funny).
I’ve got a few 12 and 14 inch platens, but this 16 inch platen is definitely the widest in my collection. I can only imagine how wieldy the 24″ monsters are.
I’d love to have this machine in some of the other pastel colors, but the next target on my hit list is an Olympia SG1. 2024 was the year of the portables; 2025 is shaping up to be the year of the standards.
@chrisaldrich oh man so much wood in the house that could've been eaten, hope you settle back in and recover with the new gem on the table
Thanks for the wishes. It was delivered to the house where I did a quick unbox and photo while picking up the mail. Sadly, it’ll be a couple of months before I can take it back and use it there.
A quick typesample from the 1958 Royal FP:
