Month: July 2025

My commute patterns changed dramatically last year and the Eaton Fire catastrophe has decimated the first half of 2025 for me, so I’m trying to get back to my old Huffduffer habits for more focused content consumption versus doomscrolling. Sadly, it seems the tagging system has been disabled/disappeared? It was one of my favorite discovery features…
How do you keep track of your typewriter collection?

What data do you keep on them? 

How big was your collection before you decided you needed to do something?

1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter Restoration

During my evacuation from the Eaton Fires, I picked up this 1957 Royal FPP on March 5, 2025, for $31.00. Apparently it had been previously owned by Luke Legg. While it was in somewhat workable shape, it needed a massive clean out. It may be one of the dirtiest machines I’ve cleaned up so far. I definitely wished I had an ultrasonic cleaner in my arsenal to help speed this one along. Research on that front has already begun in earnest. 

To help this machine along to recovery, I did use a similar 1958 Royal FPP with the cameo pink smooth colorway which may end up being a parts machine due to a broken portion of frame and what I’m suspecting to be some serious escapement issues. I pulled off a few pieces including the colored body panels, some e-clips, a few springs, and the carriage return assembly which was in better condition on the donor machine.

After a day and a half of clean up work, a light oiling, and some fine tuning adjustments, this can now enter my regular rotation of restored machines. Since I’ve got a few Royal platens and this one’s is too hard, I’m planning on sending it out for recovery. The rubber gaskets and feet are in excellent condition, so I don’t need to swap them out. 

The internal felt was desiccated and crumbling to dust, so I’ve removed it completely. I’m considering whether or not I should replace it with some felt.

I’ve got two other Royal FPs including two in elite, one of which has a Clarion double gothic typeface. This one is obviously in pica and I’ve temporarily spooled it up with some pink ribbon. Given that I’ve got about fifteen standard machines now, I may be rehoming a few of the restored machines soon. While this one is solid, the fact that it’s pica and my favorites tend to be elite may mean this is one of them…

Medium hero shot of a cameo pink 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter on a library card catalog with a small vase of pink flowers

Typeface sample in pink in for a 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter

Frontal view of a cameo pink 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter next to a blue vase of pink and purple flowers.

Left front oblique angle on a pink 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter

Close up view of the left side of the carriage and mechanisms on a 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter

Left profile view of a 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter

Left rear oblique angle on the carriage of a 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter

View from the left rear of a 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter with the paper table opened up and showing the metal interior rails of the Magic Margin system.

Rear of a 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter featuring an embossed Royal logo on the pink top portion above a darker gray body.

Right rear oblique angle on a 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter

Oblique angle on the right side of a 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter featuring the carriage with an index card ready to type

Right side profile view of a pink 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter with a dark gray body frame

Close up of the slugs on a 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter

Straight view under the hood of a 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter

View from the left into the basket of a 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter with it's hood open and featuring bright pink typewriter ribbon

Close up of the keyboard on a pink 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter

View of the serial number next to the left ribbon cup on a 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter

The top left corner of a pink 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter showing the alignment of the zeros on the carriage rule, the bail rule, and the paper alignment rule on the paper table

Close up of the typing point of a pink 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter with pink ribbon

Close up view of a white index card typed in pink ink which reads "Pink is Perfect" in the carriage of a 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter.

Acquired Hummer 3 hole punch (Wilson Jones Co., Chicago, IL)
Heavy steel punch in gray enamel with chromed handle
Anna Havron recently mentioned that she had a Bates Hummer punch from years back, so it only took a second’s thought to pick up this $3.99 purchase at the local Acts Thrift store when I ran across it on June 28th

It was in pretty solid shape with some heavy dust, light pitting on some of the steel, and some hints of rust on one of the bars. A quick cleaning today with some degreasers and anti-rust solution along with a brass bristle brush has brought it back to its original life. It really is stunning how solid this piece of office equipment still is all these years later.

Wilson Jones Co., one of the largest office supply manufacturers in the United States, was purchased by Swingline Inc. in 1959 and is now a part of ACCO brands who boldly state that Wilson Jones was the inventor of the 3 ring binder, though evidence indicates its origin predates this. The “Hummer” was one of their original and storied punches.

I’m unsure of the date of manufacture of my punch, though it was made in their Chicago, IL plant. 

With the grey enamel and shiny chrome, I’m thinking this 4 pound 13 ounce punch will match nicely with my 1949 Henry Dreyfuss-designed Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter.