Tag: typefaces

Acquired 1971 Olympia SG-3 Standard Typewriter with a Story Book Typeface (Olympia Werke AG)
Body serial number: 7-2663226
Carriage serial number: 8-2710434
Custom Basic Writing No. 67 typeface; 6 CPI (4.2 m/m), 3 lines/inch
Body cover in Saturn White with Slate Gray bottom shell.
An observant friend knew I was looking for either an Olympia SG-1 or an SG-3 typewriter and got an SG-3 for me for my birthday on July 8th. It arrived on Friday the 11th.  Naturally I was excited to open it up, but I was even more surprised to discover that it was hiding a relatively rare typeface, particularly for an Olympia. (The sender confirmed they had no idea about the typeface, they were just trying to snag an SG-3 for me.)

Basic Writing No. 67 Typeface

None of the Olympia typeface catalogs I’ve ever seen include this particular typeface. The closest I’ve seen to a match for it is the Basic Writing No. 67 (6 CPI) which was available as a custom order for Smith-Corona machines in the 60s onward. The 1964 NOMDA Blue Book includes it as does the Smith-Corona Typestyles catalog from 1968. Slug/foundry marks I’ve seen for the Smith-Coronas have a “29” on them while mine reads “2985”. I’m suspecting the 29s have something in common via the foundry while the 85 might be indicative of the length of the rule on the carriage.

In comparing exemplars, I’m reasonably certain that they’re identical due to the nature of the distinctive numbers 4, 9, the letter t and the sharply angled connectors on the u and the n.

White 4x6 inch index card with a typesemple from a 1971 Olympia SG-3 standard typewriter with a large 6 CPI Basic Writing No. 67 typeface

While it was surely a custom order, Olympia apparently did it often enough that they bothered to have Perspex carriage rules custom made for the size. The rule on the back of this one has a “42” in the left rear corner which was surely an internal indicator for a  4.2m/m typeface. (4.2 m/m = 25.4 mm/inch x 1 inch/6 characters). It’s common on most Olympias for their rules to be either stamped or marked with the rule size like this most likely to ensure the correct rules were put onto the appropriate typewriters during manufacturing and assembly.

Close up of the number 42 on a Perspex rule on the carriage of a 6 CPI 1971 Olympia SG-3 standard typewriter

This particular machine has a very wide 15 inch platen and the rule only measures up to 85 characters! For type this large, you’re sure to want wider paper to actually fit something on it. As a comparison, my 1977 Olympia SG-3 with a shorter 13″ platen has a rule that measures up to 145 characters. That machine is also marked with a 21 in the left corner to indicate that it’s 2.1 m/m or 12 pitch (elite) machine.

Close up view of the 15" wide platen and carriage of a 1971 Olympia SG-3 standard typewriter. Of note, the Perspex ruler only measures up to 85 characters. On the left hand side is the number 42 indicating the internal Olympia rule number.

Because of the large format typeface, this machine does not accommodate bichrome ribbon like most SG-3s. As a result, the ribbon color selector on the left side of the keyboard which would typically be labeled blue, white, red (from top to bottom) is labeled white, white, blue. I’ve spooled it up with a new monochrome black ribbon on universal spools. Though it’s from the early 70s when it was more common, this machine also has a 1/! key to better differentiate the numeral 1 and the lower case letter L.

Close up of the left side of a 1971 Olympia SG-3 standard typewriter with a 6 CPI Basic Writing No. 67 typeface. We notice that the ribbon selector only has color on the "blue" slot and the other two slots are both white. (Typically the top one would be red.)
The custom modified ribbon color selector on the SG-3 keyboard.

To show just how large this typeface really is, I’m including a sample of it along side of the standard Royal pica and elite typefaces.

Typing samples of Basic Writing No. 67, Royal pica typeface, and Royal elite typeface which are progressively smaller on the page

Condition

The typewriter itself is in reasonable condition for its age. Someone has obviously left it in a somewhat humid environment where it was neglected for a few decades. The spacious area underneath the carriage had the cobwebs and skeletons of at least four nice sized spiders. Some of the metal pieces inside have some surface rust that will need to be mitigated. I’ve wiped off the exterior shell and given the interior a preliminary blow out with the air compressor. I’ve oiled the carriage rails lightly, and I’ve put a new ribbon into it and the alignment seems reasonable, though I’m sure to make an adjustment or two when I get to giving it a full clean, oil, and adjust. The carriage has something slightly out of alignment as it binds at about the midpoint, but I’m sure I’ll find it when I’ve stripped it down for a full clean.

In the meanwhile, it’s in good enough condition for general use.

Photo Gallery

Hero shot of a 1971 Olympia SG-3 standard typewriter sitting on a library card catalog.

Angle on the left side of a white 1971 Olympia SG-3 standard typewriter

View down onto a 1971 Olympia SG-3 standard typewriter with the white main body shell removed. We see lots of dirt, dust, and some rust spots on various components.

Close up of some of the rusted controls on the ribbon reverse of a 1971 Olympia SG-3 standard typewriter

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

I’m not out to shame people for their purchases, just to caution uninitiated typewriter purchasers and budding collectors who aren’t carefully watching the market.

Olympia SM3s are well-touted and excellent typewriters. They’ve recently been selling on ShopGoodwill in unknown condition for $120-150 based only on photos.

Earlier today, an Olympia SM3 sold for $334! So what gives? Why did this go for over twice as much as the average? To the uninitiated, the seasoned collector can look at this machine carefully and realize that even without seeing a type sample or a close up photo of the slugs that this machine is quietly hiding a script typeface of some kind. This means that two bidders would have paid an almost $200 premium for a script typeface, and one of them managed to snipe it for $1 with minutes left. Generally I see script machines going for $100-150 over similar machines without script.

Sadly, the high price on this machine earlier in the day may have suckered others into thinking these machines are significantly more valuable as it seems two other Olympia SM3s right after it both went for:

  • $202.03 https://shopgoodwill.com/item/222707079
  • $202.03 https://shopgoodwill.com/item/222546519

And they were bid over 200 by the same two people while the “smarter” money stopped with bids at $137 on both.

Of course, neither of these later two machines have a script face, but at least two bidders were potentially reeled in by the much higher sales price of the script machine earlier in the day. This means that they’ve overpaid at least $50 above market for each, possibly thinking that they may have gotten a great deal. Sadly they didn’t, they just overpaid the market average. The person who was sniped on both managed to save themselves $100+ today because I imagine they’ll be able to get equivalent machines in the coming month for closer to under $150.

Incidentally another later Olympia portable (usually in the $75-120 range) earlier in the day went for a more reasonable $232 with a stated/photographed cursive typeface. This one was a stronger deal in the current market as they only paid about $110 above average for that machine to get the script typeface. The tough part is that because the description stated “cursive”, they didn’t have the benefit of possibly picking up a script machine with less competition.

While this is an interesting microcosm example of the current (overheated?) typewriter market (at least in the US), I hope all the buyers of these machines enjoy their purchases. If they’re your first Olympias, and they need some work to get back to fighting shape, I’ve put together a guide.