To be clear, I know what this is. (It’s a typewriter I’m most of the way through cleaning and restoring.)
Just for fun for the regulars and the collectors, let’s see who can come closest to a make, model and year for this lovely machine I recently acquired for restoration. Please, no more than two guesses per player.
Answer to be posted Saturday.
Well that’s gotta be a Royal FP, and if I may guess further, an FPE with a 13” carriage in standard coloring.
Edit:
Tiebreaker: Year? 1957 Serial No? 6222222
Mr Waffles
I must admit, I don’t know.
I’m going with Royal FP
Kevin
Royal FP, the touch control gave it away. I’m honestly surprised it wasn’t the magic margins that did it.
The last time I guessed a typewriter, I simply used the user flair as my answer. It failed me once, but surely it won’t fail me again. So let me guess on this machine… Probably a “organizing a type-in in May” model? Year: 2025?
I’m available to accept my prize anytime.
Royal Quiet deluxe
1957 Royal.Quiet Deluxe
Looks like a Royal to me
FP by the body remaining – curious, I thought the frame mounting body thing had been left with the HH. But I’ve owned an example of every Royal standard but a 10 and an FP. Empress, there’s not a single panel left – it’s all separate from the frame.
FP by the body remaining – curious, I thought the frame mounting body thing had been left with the HH. But I’ve owned an example of every Royal standard but a 10 and an FP. Empress, there’s not a single panel left – it’s all separate from the frame.
ANSWER: It’s a 1961 Royal FP in Yellow with a 16″ wide carriage and an elite typeface.
Most got that it was at least a Royal (Magic Margins on the left hands side and the placement of the touch control helped here).
Some incorrectly gauged the size as a portable, but it’s definitely a standard (here, the dead give-away was the massive frame and maybe secondarily the ice cream scoop of a return lever, and the ability to see through the machine to the table with the missing right side panel.)
The body color generally marks it as not a KMG or HH which typically would have been either brown or darker gray crinkle paint. Subtleties in the return lever and the right side of the carriage for removing the platen suggest FP as does the “cross” above the keyboard which is the mechanism that allows pushing the Royal emblem on the body panel to open the hood.
No one caught that the right “Magic Margins” lever had been shorn off. (Anyone have a parts machine for this part?)
I’ve almost finished cleaning, oiling, and adjusting it. Should be done with it and ready to pull it into regular rotation before the weekend is out. I’m debating switching out the rubber though the feet are in pretty solid condition, and the platen could stand to be recovered.
Closest: u/Jonny_Swanny with make/model/typesize (missed the carriage length by 3″ and the year by 4 years)
Runners up: u/Affectionate-Dog8414 (only a year off on the date) u/slowclapcitizenkane u/Accomplished-Ice1682
Honorable mentions: u/LogInternational2253 u/SnooDingos2237 u/miguelgonzal
Nice try: u/Ancient-String-9658 u/Remarkable_Dust_1464 u/flarguss
Thanks for playing and better luck next time: u/andrebartels1977
Congratulations! All participants have won a two free pairs of tickets to the Type-in at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, CA on May 10, 2025, where you should be able to try this finished machine out in person: https://boffosocko.com/2025/03/25/youre-invited-to-a-southern-california-type-in/
Stay tuned next week for another round of
Name that naked typewriter
@chrisaldrich I was going to say Royal FP because it looks a lot like my 1960 model. Then I saw you had that in the hashtag.
I added it after the answer was released in the comments yesterday. Most of the participants were on r/typewriters.