Typewriter Collection

Typewriter Resources

Some of my favorite typewriter information and resources sites:

Typewriter Database

Print Repair Manuals

Digital [.pdf] Repair Manuals

Richard Polt’s Classic Typewriter site

typewriter manuals

typewriter restoration

typewriter repair shops

Typewriter Wiki

ETCetera: The Journal of the Typewriter Collectors’ Association

Duane Jensen’s Phoenix Typewriter YouTube Channel

Joe Van Cleave’s YouTube Channel

Sarah Everett’s Typewriter 101 playlist on YouTube

Learn touch typing online

Online Typewriter Groups

Typosphere

My typecasts

Reddit: r/Typewriters

Facebooks:

Facebook Antique Typewriter Collectors

Facebook Antique Typewriter Maintenance Group

Vintage Typewriter Enthusiasts

Austin Typewriter Ink

Typewriter Discord

Typewriter Forum

Type Pals (find pen pals who use typewriters)

Typewriter Articles

Articles I’ve written about particular typewriter-related topics:

Typewriter Market

On Purchasing Typewriters: Condition is King; Context is Queen

First Time Typewriter Purchases with Specific Recommendations for Writers

Typewriter Repair Costs and Valuation: Professional Shops versus Collectors versus First Time Buyers

On the Value of Typewriters

The Typewriter You Probably Don’t Want to Buy

Typewriter Market: It may be better if you didn’t get an Olympia SM3 typewriter today

Cleaning, Repair, & Restoration

On colloquial advice for degreasing, cleaning, and oiling manual typewriters

Typewriter Repair Costs and Valuation: Professional Shops versus Collectors versus First Time Buyers

Learning Typewriter Maintenance and Repair

Adding to My Typewriter Toolset

Typewriter Tools Upgrade: A new bag and some specialty typewriter tools as well as some details on cleaning tools, solvents, and oil

Tools Acquisition: RIDGID 6 Gal. 150 PSI Portable Electric Pancake Air Compressor

Aggregated Resources and Playlist for a Crash Course on the Olympia SM3 Portable Typewriter

Using the Fold-A-Matic feature of the Remington Standard to Clean, Oil, and Adjust

Rubber Grommet Repair on Remington Super-Riters and Standards

Repairing the Drawband on an Orga Privat 5 Typewriter

1949 Smith-Corona Clipper Black Wooden Case Restoration

Typewriter Ribbon

Bulk Order of Typewriter Ribbon from Baco Ribbon & Supply Co.

Fine Line Ribbon for your Typewriter Ribbon Needs

Typewriter Accessories

Typewriter Walking and Singing: Improving Typewriter Performance with Mats, Pads, Rubber Feet, Felt, Recovered Platens, and More

Steel Desk Drawer Paper Organizer (Hunt Manufacturing Co. (Fresno, CA), Lit-Ning Products Division)

Solari #606 elite typewriter erasing shield, letter counter, line counter, 8 inch ruler by Solari Manufacturing Co., Los Angeles, California

Felted Wool Typewriter Mat

A Vintage Copy Holder

Tom Hanks’ ingenious custom typewriter covers/mats

Analog Office Accessories

Perhaps not immediately typewriter related, these pieces are about analog office accessories that would have been contemporaneous with the use of the typewriter.

Tanker Desks: McDowell & Craig and Steelcase

Vintage steel table from The General Fireproofing Co.

Card indexes (aka the 19th and 20th century paper database)

Mutual Centamatic Punch No. 250

Master Products Mfg. Co. 3 Hole Punch

Hummer 3 hole punch (Wilson Jones Co.)

Steel Desk Drawer Paper Organizer (Hunt Manufacturing Co. (Fresno, CA), Lit-Ning Products Division)

Filing Index Cards with a C-Line Document Sorter

Typewriter Collecting

Standard Typewriters versus Portable Typewriters and Ultraportable Typewriters

On the Value of Typewriters

Typewriter Market: It may be better if you didn’t get an Olympia SM3 typewriter today

Photos of Typewriters for the Typewriter Database

What typwriter-related project(s) are you working on this weekend?

Type-Ins (Events)

2025-05-10 Vroman’s Bookstore Type-in [invitation]

2025-06-14 International Printing Museum (Carson, CA)

2025-11- 29 Vroman’s Bookstore Type-in [invitation]

Typewriter Use, History, and Miscellanea

The Rules for Typewriter Club

What are the “Rules of Typewriter Club”?

Typewriter 101 on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

Typewriter Use and Typewriter Maintenance for Beginning to Intermediate Typists

The Uses and Subtleties of the Line Indicator on a Typewriter

Collective Nouns for Typewriters and Typists

Mr. Typewriter, a Royal 660 Electric Typewriter, as inspiration for Stanley Kubrick’s HAL 9000?

Users of the early Henry Dreyfuss Royal Quiet De Luxe Portable Typewriters

Jim Halpert of The Office and a 1950s Royal Quiet De Luxe Typewriter

Typewriter Backing Sheets for Index Cards

Typecasting with IndieWeb Building Blocks

Typecast orientation

Typewriter Bibliography: Books, Movies, etc.

A. C. Van Sant. The Van Sant System Of Touch Typewriting For Smith Premier (Book), 1902.
Ackerman, Peter. The Lonely Typewriter. Illustrated edition. Boston: David R. Godine, Publisher, 2014.

Adler, Michael. Antique Typewriters: From Creed to QWERTY. Schiffer, 1997.

Adler, Michael H. The Writing Machine: A History of the Typewriter. George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1973.

Allan, Tony. Typewriter: The History · The Machines · The Writers. 1st ed. New York: Shelter Harbor Press, 2015.

Atkinson, Annelise. Typewriter SOS: The DIY Guide to Fixing Common Problems with Typewriters, 2014.

Auster, Paul, and Sam Messer. The Story of My Typewriter. 1st edition. New York: D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, Inc., 2002.

Beeching, Wilfred A. Century of the Typewriter. First American Edition. London: St. Martin’s Press, 1974.

California Typewriter. Documentary. Gravitas Pictures, 2016.

Casillo, Anthony, Bruce Curtis, and Tom Hanks. Typewriters: Iconic Machines from the Golden Age of Mechanical Writing. Illustrated edition. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2017.

Flint, Woz. The Distraction-Free First Draft. One Idea Press, 2023.
Hanks, Tom. Uncommon Type: Some Stories. Knopf, 2017.

House, Clifford R., and Samuel Skurow. Typewriting Style Manual with References to Century 21 Typewriting. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western Publishing Co., 1977.
Lyons, Martyn. The Typewriter Century: A Cultural History of Writing Practices. Studies in Book and Print Culture. Toronto ; Buffalo ; London: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division, 2021.

Maintenance Of Office Machines. 16 mm. Vol. MN-1513. United States Navy Training Film, 1943.
Marty (Costa Mesa). Gregg Typewriting For Colleges (Complete Course), 1964.
Monk, Theodore. “1954 Smith-Corona (SCM) Typewriter Type Styles and Keyboards Catalog.” – To Type, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth… (blog), February 3, 2023.
Pearce, H. G. Complete Instructions: How to Repair, Rebuild, and Adjust Underwood Typewriters With Handy Reference for Locating Trouble Quickly. Bridgeport, CT: Typewriter Mechanics Publishing Co., 1920.
Polt, Richard. The Typewriter Revolution: A Typist’s Companion for the 21st Century. 1st ed. Woodstock, VT: Countryman Press, 2015.

Robert, Paul, and Peter Weil. Typewriter: A Celebration of the Ultimate Writing Machine. 1st ed. New York: Union Square & Co., 2016.

Smith-Corona, Inc. Type Styles and Keyboards for Smith-Corona Office Typewriters. Syracuse, NY: Smith-Corona, Inc., 1954.
Vangool, Janine. The Typewriter: A Graphic History of the Beloved Machine. UPPERCASE publishing inc, 2015.

My Brief Typewriter Biography

I started out in my youth swiping a small late 60’s Royal portable from my older brother so frequently that my parents got me a cheap, plastic PETITE 400 sometime about 4th grade. It really wasn’t up to snuff, so they later picked up a used Smith-Corona Clipper around 5th or 6th grade for me to use. This was roughly the same time frame at which I began learning and using BASIC to learn computer programming.

Later on, the Smith-Corona ceded way to a carbon tape-based Panasonic word processor (an RK-T36) that got me through to early college before being superseded by a variety of computers. In my first few post-college jobs, I had occasional use of an IBM Selectric II whose primary use was for typing out envelopes, though I did retype a full draft of a book on one once.

In Spring of 2023, I recovered the old Smith-Corona Clipper from my parent’s basement and began noodling around with it again. My old touch memory for all of its functionality came flooding back, and I was hooked on typewriters again.

Since March of 2024, I’ve begun collecting and repairing a small segment of manual typewriters. I’ve got enough now that it’s probably worth having a page I can point to with a list of what’s in my collection. I’ve written about many of my machines, their cleaning, repair, and even some use along with lots of photos. I also keep a (duplicate) profile with some of my collection documented at the Typewriter Database. In 2025, despite the catastrophic Eaton Fire, my collection survived and began to shift toward standard typewriters. In 2026, I’ve now shifted toward less common typefaces as I continue to restore the machines in my collection.

I’ve now collected this page of details and resources to help other enthusiasts to discover how to buy, collect, maintain, repair, and restore their own typewriters.

My Typewriter Collection

1948 Smith-Corona Clipper

196X Smith-Corona Galaxie Deluxe

1965 Smith-Corona Classic 12 (cleaning)

1957 Remington Rand Quiet-Riter

1985 Brother Charger 11 Correction (needs parts)

196X Remington Streamliner

1949 Royal Quiet De Luxe

1955 Royal Quiet De Luxe

1949 Smith-Corona Clipper (case)

1950 Remington Rand All New

1951 Smith-Corona Skyriter

1953 Smith-Corona Silent

1948 Royal Quiet De Luxe

1958 Olympia SM3

1955 Royal HHE

Perkins Brailler (awaiting parts, but functional)

1952 Smith-Corona Silent

1958 Olympia SM3 (green; math keyset)

1940 Corona Zephyr

c1931 New Orga (Privat 5)

1968 Remington Ten Forty (TWdB)

196X Remington Streamliner

1968 Remington 666

197X Smith-Corona Electra 210 (needs a new belt and servicing)

1952 Royal Quiet De Luxe with Vogue typeface

1958 Royal Futura 800

1950 Royal KMG

196X Royal 440 (parting out?)

1956 Remington Standard

1980 Brother Charger 11

1939 Royal Aristocrat

1941 Corona Standard

1954 Smith-Corona Silent

1968 Remington 666

1946 Remington Rand Deluxe Model 5

1945 Royal KMM

Deacquisitioned

1958 Royal FP

1945 Remington 17

1964 Olympia SM9

1957 Royal FP (restoration)

1950 Royal KMG

1920 Corona 3

1929 Corona 4

1950 Royal Quiet De Luxe

1959 Royal Futura 800

1977 Olympia SG3

1951 Remington Super-Riter

1961 Royal FP (naked)

1948 Remington De Luxe Model 5 “1941 line” (Two-Tone variation) (TWdB)

1960 Smith-Corona Skyriter

1951 Royal Quiet De Luxe (Sold)

1966 Underwood Touchmaster Five (TWdB)

1949 Royal Quiet De Luxe

1958 Royal FP

1971 Olympia SG3 Basic Writing No. 67 typeface; 6 CPI (4.2 m/m), 3 lines/inch

196X Royal Parade

19XX Remington Noiseless

1953 Smith-Corona Super

1946 Royal KMM (TWdB)

1936 Royal KHM (TWdB)

1959 Royal FP (sea blue smooth)

1964 Sears Cutlass (TWdB)

1956 Olympia SG1 (TWdB) (COA 2026-03-03)

1954 Royal HHS (TWdB)

Seven of the Royal typewriters in my collection, November 2024

Some of the standard typewriters in my collection as of Spring 2025.