Sorry Ron, but that is more likely a late 40s Underwood SS than an Underwood 5. But I too want to type up every word I know.
Tag: Underwood typewriters
Serial Number: 13-9707863
Distinctive elite typeface, 12 CPI, 6 lines/inch, standard, bichrome, segment shift, tabulator, American keyboard, 44 keys
Body: light gray in steel; Keys: dark gray with white letters in plastic
Manufactured in the U.S.A
Acquired used at a second hand store for the As-Seen-On-TV price of $19.99 and in stunning condition. It’ll need a clean, but this is in almost perfect cosmetic condition. It’s my first Underwood and technically also my first Olivetti as it was manufactured after the merger. The touch and speed are truly stunning and may be the best in my collection even before being cleaned, oiled, and adjusted.
As William Forrester admonished Jamal to do on his Touch-Master Five, I’ll “Punch the keys, for God’s sake!”
“I’m always trying to get back to the 20s a little bit.”
—John Dickerson, in Field Notes interview (2016)
Perhaps lamenting too much technology, Dickerson says he’s got two screens on the computer in his office as well as an iPad and a phone. But he’s also got “a notebook [that] does only one thing”. He’s also got an old black lacquer Underwood standard typewriter (No. 4, 5, or 6?) on his office desk. Typewriters only do one thing too.
Wonder if he still uses it?