Read ‘We’d be stuck’: alarm as UK’s last braille typewriter repairer ponders retirement by Matthew WeaverMatthew Weaver (the Guardian)
Thorpe is often amused by the objects he finds in the machines. “I’ve found pens, memory sticks, house keys, Lego bricks, little rubber toys, all sorts inside,” he says.
I often find things inside typewriters…

LEGO (multiple), a chicken leg from a Calico Critters playset, a tiny 70s photo of a child, the stub of a pencil, glitter, a pocket knife, a mini clothespin…

And naturally lots and lots of eraser bits, loose screws, loose springs, dust rhinoceroses, dried white out, dirt, cobwebs, even dead spiders, and even love. 

What’s the oddest thing you’ve found in a typewriter? 

Typewriter Tools Upgrade

I’ve been wrenching on enough typewriters, that it was time to up my game again and add some new typewriter tools to the proverbial tool bag. In fact it was also time for an actual tool bag! So back on August 16th, I added a portable repair person’s leather bag and some new typewriter repair tools to my collection. For those interested in improving their skills and typewriter tools, I am documenting some of these new typewriter repair and maintenance tools. If you’re getting into the space, I highly recommend you slowly build your toolbox with items only as you need them.

With some of the harder-to-find tools, do take care as they can often be dramatically overpriced in online auctions. The more cost-conscious should be on the look out for bundles of tools which are usually much less expensive than purchasing them one at a time. Additionally if you search around a bit you might find local collectives of typewriter enthusiasts who share or loan out tools.

View down from above a table full of typewriter repair and maintenance tools.
Save the containers of solvents and the bottles of cleaning agents, all of the items which appear on this table fit comfortably into the black leather tool carrying case.

Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag

The leather repair bag I picked up is similar to one that late century traveling repair people would have carried with them for on-site repairs and typewriter maintenance. It has a compartment in the bottom with space for three metal trays of replacement parts. It has a side pocket for manuals and any necessary service paperwork. The main compartment has a large open space for a variety of wrenches, screwdrivers, and various other tools for use on the job. 

Until I create a dedicated space in the garage for typewriter repair, this bag makes an exceptionally convenient storage space for keeping all my typewriter related tools in one place. I particularly love the heavy leather and patina of it as a piece and it works reasonably well as a decorative item with the rest of the collection.  Modern variations of this bag can be found at purveyors like Crawford Tool which cater to copier, fax, and electronics repair spaces. Sadly leather covered wood isn’t an option, but there are a variety of soft cover, hard cover, and even metal or military cases available, some with extensible handles and wheels. 

The bag itself is in great condition given its age and general use.  It certainly helps that it was incredibly well designed and made with some seriously sturdy materials. The thickness of the leather is truly astounding compared to any bag I’ve ever come across. There are one or two pieces of leather that need to be repaired or re-attached to the wooden internal frame and a button/snap that needs to be repaired. These should be easy fixes for a rainy day.

A black leather repair case sits on a table next to a copy of the Typewriter Repair Bible. Various card catalogs, a book case and several typewriters can be seen in the background.

The scuffed, but still very solid and functional leather repair person's bag with brass fittings and latches. The initials E L are embossed onto the front flap.

Three thin metal containers for replacement parts can be slid into a small pocket on the side of the repair bag.

View into the bottom section of a leather repair bag showing a wooden sided compartment.

The side pocket of the leather repair bag is just perfect for the Manual Typewriter Repair Bible along with any paperwork a repair person needs.

Repair bag in front of which sits three thin metal trays. One of the trays is open showing a variety of small compartments for typewriter repair parts.

Because new stock isn’t much of a reality and I prefer to keep parts in situ on parts machines for use when needed, I haven’t been using the three metal parts containers as much as I might. Instead, I tend to use them as temporary receptacles of screws, nuts, and springs while I’m taking apart machines for restoration. This helps in keeping sections separate for easier re-assembly and having three means that I could be working on three disassembled machines at a time if I wish without getting parts from different machines confused.

New Tools

Since I wrote about a variety of some of the pictured spring hooks, oilers, and pouches from Crawford back in early August, I won’t cover those again, but I’m leaving a link to that post for those who may benefit from them. 

Along with the bag I acquired wide variety of wrenches, screwdrivers, tweezers, and some new specialty typewriter repair tools. The specialty tools tend to the higher end of typewriter repair and adjustment that most hobbyists can manage without, but which can be useful from time to time. 

Below are some of the new (and other recent) acquisitions:

Typewriter Manuals

  • The Manual Typewriter Repair Bible (wirebound; digital) – While there are a lot of great repair manuals out there, many specializing in one or more very specific models or series, this is probably the general repair manual you’d want in a pinch. The fact that it’s wirebound means that you can easily have it out on the bench for reference without worrying about the binding closing and losing the page you’re working on at a given moment.

Typewriter Cleaning Tools

  • Nylon, Brass and Steel brushes – these are good for a variety of purposes. The nylon brush is great for general cleaning an maintenance. The brass brush in combination with mineral spirits is perfect for cleaning type slugs which have heavy dirt, ribbon, and grime build-up and won’t damage the slugs. The steel brushes can be good for more aggressive cleaning of various rusted parts as necessary. Some care should be exercised though to ensure that the typebars aren’t so vigorously scrubbed that they are accidentally bent.
  • Chip brush – this type of soft bristled paint brush is excellent for handling dust, cobwebs, and other large debris when doing the first round of cleaning a typewriter. They’re also nice for regular weekly dusting of machines around the house.
  • Soft bristle fingernail brush – these have been excellent soft bristle brushes for use in cleaning typewriter external panels in conjunction with scrubbing bubbles or Simple Green cleaners. Their small size is particularly nice for getting into some of the smaller spaces that my bigger brush might miss. They’re also useful for getting the grease and grime underneath your fingernails after a day of wrenching on typewriters.
  • Libman curved hand brush – this has been excellent for scrubbing the exterior body panels of typewriters, particularly those with crinkle paint. The bristles are firm enough to scrub and get into small spaces without damaging the paint and stand up to some repeated use.
  • Cotton cleaning rags – these are excellent for a variety of cleaning uses, they’re fairly ubiquitous at hardware stores (especially the paint section), and definitely beat Q-tips for ease of use as well as cost.

General Typewriter Tools

  • 4 pair of precision AA tweezers – these needle tipped tweezers are excellent for holding onto small pieces including small nuts or washers which sometimes need delicate handling while screwing screws into them. They can also be used for type slug soldering if necessary.
  • Needle nose pliers, duckbill pliers, and general purpose pliers – the bag came with duplicates of some of the sort I’d already had.
  • Screwdrivers – the bag came with a plethora of variously sized screwdrivers (mostly flathead), but I find they’re not as useful as some of my smaller precision screwdrivers which I use more frequently. 
  • Jensen 8 piece open end ignition wrench set (with 7/32, 15/64, 1/4, 9/32, 5/16, 11/32, 3/8, and 7/16 wrenches) for handling a variety of small nuts. 

Specialty Typewriter Tools

Below are some of the more specialty and harder-to-find typewriter tools I’ve acquired, most of which came with the repair bag.

  • Two T-bar benders/link benders/type bar twisters – These thin bars with slots in the bottom and a T-bar at the top are used for bending or twisting a variety of typewriter parts which may need to be gently formed (typewriter repair-speak for bent).
  • Royal S-39 Ribbon Vibrator Arm Bender – This thin metal tool has two small slots cut into it for forming the Ribbon Vibrator Arms on Royals, but can be useful for forming a variety of thin metal parts. (see p. 360 of The Manual Typewriter Repair Bible)
  • Keylever benders/typebar rollers – these are useful for adjusting typebars with respect to type alignment
  • Eyelet tool for putting small metal eyelets into typewriter ribbon. Generally I use this for Smith-Corona and other typewriters whose auto-reverse ribbon mechanisms are actuated by the metal gromets placed into the ends of typewriter ribbon spools. I picked this up when I switched from using pre-spooled ribbon to buying bulk ribbon and spooling it by hand.

Focus on a pouch of typewriter tools featuring pockets for a variety of screwdrivers, some hemostat, a pair of wire cutters and some plastic brushes. A portion of the table of typewriter repair tools featuring four pair of pliers, some spring hooks, a plastic packet of small c-wrenches, some cotton wiping cloths, a pair of typebar pliers and two T-benders Focus on three black pouches of tools with screwdrivers, hemostats, plastic brushes, a variety of metal tweezers, an adjustable wrench, a bar bender, several tooth brushes and a large red plastic pouch full of a variety of increasingly larger screwdrivers. In the back corner is a copy of the 400+ page The Manual Typewriter Repair Bible

Solvents, Cleaners, and Oil

I’ve written a bit in the past about some of the products and methods for cleaning and oiling typewriters. Below is a list of the solvents, cleaners and oils I use in my typewriter repair and maintenance practice.

A table top arrayed with

Solvents

I primarily use these to clean out the internals of most of my machines. Obviously care should be used to protect paint, plastic, and non-metal portions from these caustic solvents.

In cases where spattering or soaking issues may occur, I’ll use vaseline or other grease to cover up painted surfaces or decals so they’re not damaged, or I’ll cover things up (like keyboards with plastic or glass keys with paper legends) with thicker towels for brief exposures where soaking through isn’t a big concern. In some quick cases, like the painted logos on segments, I’ll just cover them with small pieces of packing tape which are easily removable without causing damage.

To help cut down on excessive use of these caustic chemicals, I make use of small plastic oilers with a long thin spouts to better limit and control the amounts of solvent I’m using. These are also useful for more accurately dispensing solvents onto small and specific parts. 

Remember that these solvents should only be used in very well ventilated spaces and away from open flames or sparks which can easily ignite them and cause fires. Repeated exposure to the fumes of these materials can damage your lungs.

  • Mineral spirits
  • Lacquer Thinner
  • Acetone
  • PB B’laster – this is great, but has a more pungent, lingering smell than some of the other solvents

Cleaners

  • Scrubbing Bubbles – this is great for typewriter exteriors including crinkle paint and plastic of most sorts
  • Simple Green – a great cleaner and degreaser for removing decades of dirt, grime, and nicotine from the metal exterior of a wide variety of machines

Oil

  • Premium Sewing Machine Oil – this is great in sparing quantities for typewriter carriages and linkages which require lubrication. The pull-out extended spout is excellent for accessing the hard-to-reach interior parts of typewriters, particularly if they’re fully assembled.
  • Rem Oil – This aerosol-based oil is excellent for cleaning, lubricating, and providing corrosion protection for difficult to reach typewriter internals, particularly when you don’t have need to strip an entire machine down.

As ever, following up oil applications with compressed air can assist in thinning down oil on parts so that over-oiling and dramatic oil build-up doesn’t occur. 

WD-40

Most will know of the regular caveats and admonitions about not using WD-40 to lubricate a typewriter, especially the segment. (Hint, it’s for Water Displacement—thus the abbreviation WD—and isn’t a lubricant.) However, WD-40 does work pretty well on crinkle paint finishes to provide both some protection as well as shine. 

The clean front panel of a 1950 Royal KMG in gray frieze paint contrasted with the dust covers one of which is covered in 70 years of dust, dirt, tar, and hair and the other cleaned and sparkling after a treatment with WD-40.

Future

I’m still on the lookout for some keyring pliers for both round and tombstone keys as well as a variety of peening wrenches, but my general need for these has been relatively low for most of the work I’ve done thus far. It’s also a somewhat larger investment, but I really want a nice air compressor for more easily cleaning out machines. I’m also curious to do some research on durometer gauges for testing platen hardness and creating some guidelines about when to replace hardened platens. I’d love guidance on anyone who has researched this area before.

I’m also hovering on the border of doing professional typewriter repair part time on the side. I only have so much space to store repaired and restored machines of my own, and I feel guilty about restored machines sitting around unused. But I also enjoy tearing them down, repairing them, and restoring them back to their former glory. Why not turn my hobby into a part time gig for helping out others and carrying along the craft of typewriter maintenance, repair and restoration? It would also allow me the ability to work on a broader variety of machines.

What typewriter tools are in your collection, and, most importantly, how are you using them?

I always love hearing ideas, tips, and suggestions for making the work of typewriter maintenance and repair easier and more accessible for the home mechanic.


Editor’s note: This is another article in a recuring series of typewriter articles about typewriter use, collecting, repair, restoration, and maintenance. If the subject is of interest, feel free to delve into more of that collection.

Acquired 100% New Zealand Felted Wool Typewriter Mat by ZOMONETI (Amazon)
MOHOM 17" x 13.5" Wool Pressing Mat 100% New Zealand Felted Wool Ironing Mat Pad Blanket for Quilter, Sewing, Quilting Supplies and Notions
I’ve been looking for a reasonable and inexpensive typewriter mat for a while. There are lots of wool options out there and even some with thin rubber layers to prevent your typewriter from walking across your desk. 

I had appreciated the ones I’ve seen in Gerren Balch’s YouTube repair videos for The HotRod Typewriter Co. which he also uses on his workbench, so I asked him his preference. His reply was these 100% wool ironing pads in 17 x 13.5 x 1/2″ form factor for about $15 on Amazon. He said “it’s soaked up 5 years of everything I do and it still looks like the day I bought it.”

The company has some square 13.5 x 13.5 options, which might be better for smaller portables, but I figured that the slightly larger version for both my workbench as well as for my larger standards would be more flexible. Since the price was half of what I’d seen from other vendors, I jumped on it and bought two: one for my workbench and another for my typing desk.

They’re definitely thick and high-quality. On my noisiest table, they definitely make a difference. They prevent some of the typewriter walking my worst rubber-footed typewriters have, but I’ve also got thin sheets of rug pad gripper that I’ve used before if things get out of hand. 

Brown frieze Royal HH standard typewriter on a gray wool typewriter mat sitting on a wooden table.

Fine Line Ribbon for your Typewriter Ribbon Needs

I’ve yet to find a bulk dealer in typewriter ribbon that has a significant website with listings of their offerings and options. (Let’s hear it for analog!) Baco Ribbon certainly didn’t, so I called a few times and made some orders and pieced together most of what Baco Ribbon & Supply Co. offers

Fine Line Ribbon also has some excellent bulk offerings and an almost non-existent website. I thought I’d make a similar post with their current offerings so that those who have typewriter collections that go past 5 machines or who are scaffolding their way to opening typewriter repair shops might have an easier time of selecting and ordering the appropriate ribbon. 12-15 cents per yard of ribbon in bulk is so much better than paying almost a dollar per yard otherwise. It pays for itself pretty quickly. 

They offer ribbon in both nylon and silk in partial and full reels. (Sorry, no cotton ribbon offerings at the moment.)

Silk Typewriter Ribbon

For silk, Fine Line Ribbon only offers black/red or black ribbon color options at $0.33 per yard. A full reel of silk is 545 yards.

Nylon Typewriter Ribbon

For nylon, whose full reels are 660 yards, Fine Line Ribbon can ink in any of the following single color options or your choice of any two colors as a bichrome option:

  • Black
  • Blue
  • Brown
  • Green
  • Orange
  • Pink
  • Purple
  • Red

They often have partial reels of most colors available. Black or Black/Red nylon is $0.12 per yard and other colors or color combinations are $0.15 per yard.

Contact information

Fine Line Ribbon, Inc.
Theresa Strunc

2405 N. Preston Street
Ennis, TX 75119 United States

theresa@finelineribbon.net
+1 (972) 875-8681
+1 (800) 527-0354

https://finelineribbon.net/


† At present, Fine Line Ribbon only offers pink as a standalone color and not as a bichrome option with other colors.

A dark wooden table with a thin cardboard and taped package on it. Sitting on top of it is a pair of blue handled scissors. Nearby in the background is a lazy susan with a plate and several small decorative pumpkins on it.

An opened corrugated cardboard package with a large almost 12 inch diameter reel of typewriter ribbon wrapped in a plastic bag.  The reel sits next to two tiny 2 inch diameter plastic spools and a pair of scissors for scale. Behind the reel of ribbon is a green crinkle painted 1958 Olympia SM3 with green keys. The reel appears that it is even larger in base surface area than the typewriter is.

White index card in a green Olympia SM3 typewriter spooled up with a blue and green ribbon. Typed on the card in alternating colors of blue and green are the words: Blue & Green typewriter ribbon #FTW

Typewriter ribbon unboxing! I bought a full reel of 660 yards of blue/green bichrome 1/2″ nylon typewriter ribbon from Fine Line Ribbon in Ennis, TX. It arrived yesterday, just in time for some use over the weekend. I’ve now got enough for more than 41 universal 2″ diameter (16 yard) spools, so I should be able to ribbon up my entire collection and have some left over. 

A heavily ink smudged paper towel sitting on the keyboard of a green Olympia typewriter. Spooling a full reel of ribbon was obviously a very messy business as seen by the black, red, blue, and green smudging.
Latex gloves and a good rag are necessary when spooling up from a 660 yard reel of nylon ribbon.
I was cleaning and doing some restoration work on a new card index and realized that this Fred Macey Company cabinet body was the perfect size to hold up to 8 typewriters inside for a mix of both storage and display! 

A Fred Macey Company 20-drawer card index filing cabinet with the drawers and hardware removed. In their place we see four typewriters peeking out from each of four shelves inside and an additional typewriter on top.  Next to the filing cabinet is a Gaylord library card catalog with a black typewriter on top along with some additional decorations.

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

Maybe you’re:

Let us know what you’re doing in the comments…

A Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Orga Typewriter in my backyard

I was casually browsing vintage typewriters yesterday (as one does) and came across something which immediately jumped out at me.

It was a Weimar era Orga typewriter which looked surprisingly like the 1/2 typewriter Orga Modell 10 (1947) which appears in the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Paramount Pictures, 1971). These typewriters were manufactured in Germany  from 1923-1950 and some were distributed in Britain, typically under the brand name A.M.C.  Given that the film was shot primarily in Germany, this shouldn’t be too surprising.

I’ve yet to see an Orga for sale in the United States much less a Modell 10. Buying and shipping any Orga from Europe is generally quite expensive, and I wouldn’t trust that it would arrive intact. This one was a short drive from me at a fantastic price, so naturally I couldn’t pass it up. It appears to be an older Orga-Privat Model 5 (circa 1928-1933) which is labeled in English as a “New Orga”. (It also reminds me a bit of Francis Bacon’s Novum Organum too.) Rather than the typical German QWERTZ keyboard, this one has an English QWERTY keyboard and appears to be in great condition. Sadly it won’t come with the original case. From what I can see in the typewriter database, it’s one of the few that has English badging with the name Orga on it. This  leads me to believe that it was originally sold in the British market, so it could easily have been the sort of machine that Grandpa Joe might have used.

I’ll be able to pick it up later this week and can’t wait to clean it up. The tougher portion: how to cut it precisely in half!?

I remember chuckling when I saw Tom Hanks’ tags on his typewriters. Now that I’m over 15 of my own which are constantly out and about the house, I realize the benefit of matching tags on machines and their cases. I don’t have an issue with identification and matching (yet), but if nothing else, less interested family members can properly store them out of the way if they need to without causing issues. Interested visitors can also get a quick précis of machines they run across.

Thank goodness I’ve got a card catalog big enough to log and cross-file a couple hundred models. I’m thinking of categorizing by manufacturer, by decade, and including typeface samples, which I’ve already been doing as I add them to the typewriter database.

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

I got a 1958 Olympia SM3 De Luxe typewriter in a gray crinkle finish for my birthday. Naturally I’ve been doing some research and working on cleaning it up for regular use.

Along the way I’ve been aggregating some related Olympia SM3 (and other SM family) resources and videos which include several on use, a few comparing them to other machines (for those considering buying them), and a variety on taking them apart and adjusting them to peak performance including doing rack, ring & cylinder, on feet, motion, silent return spring, trip timing, and spacebar adjustments. 

The only significant piece missing is for cleaning them, but that’s remedied with an endless variety of videos (including one of my favorites) and advice from Richard Polt on restoration. I’ve also aggregated a large amount of advice on cleaning and oiling typewriters.

I’ve tried to place the videos in rough order of introductory to more advanced as well as in order of adjustments. They’re now available as as Olympia SM3 playlist:

Special thanks should go to Duane Jensen of Phoenix Typewriter and Gerren Balch of The HotRod Typewriter Co. for the bulk of the work in creating and generating most of these videos. 

Surely there are other excellent videos out there, but this list makes a pretty solid crash course which can be used as a jumping off point.

And of course, if you’ve just purchased your first SM3 or SM4, you’ll want to be aware of the number 1 most common issue these machines have: the rubber bushings on the bottom have been compressed after years of pressure and will need to be replaced. Visually looking at them is usually enough to diagnose the issue, but the problem usually presents as the carriage sitting noticeably lower than it should so that it rubs against the body of the typewriter and/or doesn’t move freely. Some people will notice that typing in lower case is troublesome, but that typing in uppercase doesn’t present any issues. Often these rubber spacers have been compressed and have hardened. In less lucky cases, (usually only) the rear bushings have turned into black tar, so you’ll want to take care to keep this tar off of anything nearby as it’s incredibly sticky and difficult to clean. It can definitely stain the case and/or the machine itself. Fortunately the repair only requires some readily available generic rubber washers and a screwdriver to replace them. This is one of the quickest and easiest typewriter repairs to start off with and can be a good confidence booster. Incidentally appropriate washers should be approximately 1/4″ thick, large enough in diameter to provide some cushion and with a hole big enough to fit the screw that holds the frame on. Your plumbers’ section at the local hardware store likely sells something appropriate. I’ve used Everbilt 1/4″ thick flat bibb washers with 1/2″ or 9/16″ OD. Others have reported good luck with Danco 1/2 rubber washer Universal (item #198804, model #88569) — 00 trade size with 1/2″ OD and 3/16″ ID.

Along with other typewriter manuals collected by Richard Polt, he’s got manuals for the Olympia SM3 in both English and German.

And for the completist, you’ll naturally want copies of the repair manuals via Theodore Munk: [paperback] [digital]. There are also downloadable versions of a 1955 repair manual and a 1959 Spare Parts and Price List Catalog available.

Hopefully this aggregated list of resources will help the next Olympia typewriter enthusiast who finds one in grandma’s basement or who wants to kick off a writing career following in the footsteps of fellow SM3 typists including John Updike, Woody Allen, Frank Herbert, Patricia Highsmith, Robert Penn Warren, Harlan Ellison, Carson McCullers, John Hughes, Louis L’ Amour, William Gaddis, Stan Laurel, Ryan Adams, Ruskin Bond, Evan S. Connell, Kevin McGowin, or Anaïs Nin.

If I’ve missed any truly important resources, please do let me know. 

Cheers!

A light gray Olympia SM3 De Luxe typewriter on a wooden table next to a highball glass of Penderyn whisky. In the background we can see a library card catalog.

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

Now that I’ve got exemplars of both the 1948 and 1949 Henry Dreyfuss designed Royal Quiet De Luxe (QDL) typewriters, I’ve been delving into others who would have used these iconic machines.

The 1948 obviously has a very distinctive black frame with dark gray hood and highlights with the black stripe across the front where the badge is. The QDL’s were distinguished from their less expensive Arrow model brothers by the presence of a tabulator and the attendant tab key in the top right of the keyboard. 

The 1949 and early 1950 version of the QDL were given lighter gray bodies and the black band across the front was replaced by a chrome strip which encircled the ribbon control levers on either side.

According to the Typewriter Database and exemplars there, the Quiet De Luxe had a re-design of the shell near the end of 1950, somewhere around serial number 2,000,000 (between 1974816 and 2064139). The hole in the hood/ribbon cover was enlarged, the chrome strip across the front was removed in lieu of chrome “wing” inserts for the ribbon control levers “except on special-order and some foreign keyboards.”

Based on the photos of Royal QDL and portable users collected by Richard Polt on his website at https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/typers.html, we can now separate out some Royal portable users to more closely specify which models from which years they were using. 

I started with Vladimir and Vera Nabokov. The two photos [1] [2] taken at different angles by Carl Mydans for LIFE magazine in September 1958 clearly show a light gray machine with a tabulator, the iconic hood, and the distinctive chrome strip of the 1949/early 1950 Dreyfuss Royal Quiet De Luxe. It would be nice if Vera’s hands weren’t covering up the distinctive space bar at the front of the machine’s frame, but the look and style of the case bottom the typewriter is sitting in are also consistent with the 1949 model. Incidentally, the Mydans photoshoot was just weeks after the American release of Lolita in August 1958. It was the first novel since Gone with the Wind to sell 100,000 copies in its first three weeks.

Similarly because of the distinctive features/colors of the 1948 vs 1949/early 50 models, we can put both Alistair Cooke and James Michener down as 1949/early 1950 QDL owners. Their machines also have the distinctive all gray bodies with black spacebars integral to the frame, chrome strip on front, and definitely have tab keys.

Of those in the Polt’s list, only Theodore Sturgeon has the original Dreyfuss redesigned 1948 Royal Quiet De Luxe. This photo isn’t as clear and a museum card is covering up the black space bar. We also don’t see the cutout on the hood because of the angle of the photo, but the overall coloring, the black stripe on the front, and the chrome ovals of the ribbon controls are definitely there as is the tab key in the top right of the keyboard. Better pictures could help solidify the identification, but other QDLs were different enough in shape that I’m reasonably confident here.

Of the other Royal portables Polt has listed, Marlon Brando‘s photo will need more research, but his machine doesn’t appear to have have a tabulator based on the bare silver bar on the back where the tabulator stops would have been attached, so it’s currently misidentified as a QDL. (Edit: Some later 50’s models hid their tabulator functionality underneath the paper table, so perhaps it could have been a QDL.) It could also possibly be an Arrow, a Companion (no tabulator), the related ‘F’ model, or an Aristocrat which was also manufactured with a tabulator. Stephen King’s photos [1] [2] aren’t clear or detailed enough for me to make an easy determination other than to say they’re not from 1948-early 1950. Anne Sexton’s definitely looks like a Royal portable from the later 1950s but needs more research. It’s definitely not from 1948-early 1950 either. A possible determining factor is that hers doesn’t appear to have the typical margin release key on the right hand side which was typically placed 1/2 way between banks 2 and 3. 

For other Royal fans out there, I’m curious to hear what you think about these identifications? Which is your favorite: the 1948 or the 1949/early 1950 version? Or do you prefer those from the later 1950’s?

Collective Nouns for Typewriters and Typists

The traditional collective noun for a group of typists is a “pool”, but this just doesn’t seem as creative or entertaining as many collective nouns can potentially be. As a typewriter collector it would be more fun to have a clever collective noun for a group of typists at a type-in. Similarly it would be nice to have a name for a collection of typewriters themselves. 

So toward this end I thought I’d brainstorm for a moment to make a few lists of potential ideas for both. If you’ve got ideas, please add them to the comments. There’s no need to try to come up with an “official” collective noun as use in daily life, writing, and throughout the typosphere will ultimately determine a winner through actual usage. Some words are double-listed as they could refer to either.

What do you call your collection?

Potential Collective Nouns for Typewriters

  • Radiance
  • Tabulation
  • Segment (no one’s every done collecting, are they?)
  • Sheaf
  • Clatter
  • Flourish
  • Sounder
  • Chatter
  • Ream
  • Basket
  • Font
  • Aureole (for the Smith-Corona enthusiasts)
  • Roost (especially when stored and displayed on shelves)
  • Parenthesis
  • Return 

Potential Collective Nouns for Typists

  • Pool (traditional)
  • Claque
  • Vibration
  • Riot
  • Mayhem
  • Commotion
  • Symphony
  • Exclamation
  • Shift
  • Chattering
  • Touch
  • Drumming
  • Sonority
  • Tumult
  • Thriving
  • Applause
  • Manual
  • Carriage
  • Clatter

What could we be? Are we a vibration of typists? Maybe we’re a thriving of typists? A Touch of Typewriter Collectors? Please add your ideas to the list below…

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

Having surpassed the 10 typewriter mark in my collection, I felt it was time to invest in some more serious typewriter ribbon for the “fleet”. There are some purveyors charging in the range of $10-20 for typewriter ribbon (and yes! people do still sell and buy typewriter ribbon!)  I’m pretty sure by buying from closer to the source that I could drop the price down significantly and potentially save the money toward repairs, new platens, or even other machines. 

Naturally the first stop was Richard Polt’s site, where he lists a handful of purveyors. I’ve heard good things in general about Baco both from Richard and Joe Van Cleave as well as others in the past few months, so I took the plunge and ordered a full reel of 660 yards of nylon black/red typewriter ribbon for $65. It should keep all my machines inked for quite a while. 

Given that the typical standard/universal spool will accommodate 16 yards, this should be 41.25 spools. This also brings the price down to a far more economical $1.60 per spool versus the much higher level others are charging, particularly since I generally self-wind my own ribbon onto original metal spools and don’t need the additional plastic waste. It also has the added benefit of supporting the efforts of Charlene Oesch until she decides to retire. 

If you’re in the market, here are the basic details to call and place an order (she specifically doesn’t have and doesn’t want a website), but she’s definitely still in business, carrying on in the tradition of her father since at least 1949:

Baco Ribbon & Supply Co.
Charlene Oesch

1521 Carman Road
Ballwin, MO  63021 United States

bacoribbon@sbcglobal.net
+1 (314) 835-9300
+1 (536) 394-5475 (fax)

 

Baco takes both credit card and PayPal and ships within about a day via USPS in the United States. 

Current offerings/pricing (subject to change):

  • 660 yards (full reel) of nylon ribbon in black or black/red for $65
  • 330 yards (half reel) of nylon ribbon in black or black/red for $45
  • 550 yards of silk ribbon in black or black/red for $220
  • 295 yards of cotton in black or black/red for $75

With some lead time, she can do other colors if necessary, though she typically doesn’t keep those in stock all the time according to our conversation today. She has the option to pretty easily do blue, green, and purple in single colored reels. 

I could be in for some blue/green or purple/green ribbon, which I imagine she could pull off if anyone wanted to go in on a reel or so to make it worth the time and effort to set it up. Let me know if you’re interested. Similarly if someone wanted to split an order for silk, I could be game for that too. 

Have you tried other manufacturers? Who is your favorite bulk ribbon supplier? 

Now I’m off to find some grommets and a custom pair of pliers for them…