Acquired 1956 Olympia SG1 Standard Typewriter by Olympia Werke AG (Wilhelmshave, Germany)

Serial number: 7-139497 (body), 8-178336 (carriage);
Congress Elite No. 84 typeface, 11CPI, 2.3m/m pitch, 46 keys, 92 characters
bichrome+, tabulator, paper injector, line spacing: 1, 1 1/2, 2, 2 1/2, 3; spaced typing;

2026-01-31 Acquired at thrift for a very reasonable $70. I was really hoping to get a Modern Elite No. 66 or an Elite No. 8 as my first SG1, but finding this with a Congress Elite No. 84 typeface was a reasonably acceptable alternative, particularly in usable condition.

Initial condition assessment

This 70 year old standard typewriter is in reasonable condition, but will require a full clean/oil/adjust as well as the following repairs:

left shift key broken off and key lever bent

blow out old desiccated foam

5-6 sticky keys; remainder are slower than they ought to be

broken paper support (surprise!)

de-rust some of the internals

replace ribbon and poorly matched spools

recover platen

carriage grinding on return

new feet (old, hard, chipping)

replace foam with new felt

the aligning scales for the Perspex card holders aren’t functioning properly (broken or missing a spring?)

polish keys and spacebar

brights all need attention and polishing

Repairs on 2026-02-02

With some of the quick repairs listed below, I’ve got this machine up to the level of pretty good acceptable daily use condition. It’ll definitely be a serious member of the rotation once the C/O/A is finished. If it had a more standard typeface it might have a shot at replacing my elite Royal KMG.

basic wipe down of dirt, dust, etc.

fixed carriage grinding on return

replaced spools and ribbon with nylon blue/green

blew out old foam as well as other internal dust and cobwebs

basic cleanout of segment to get keys unstuck and working well enough

basic oiling of carriage rails and one or two additional spots

Typesample and Slugs

Olympia SG1 Typewriter Manual

My machine didn’t come with a manual—standard typewriters without protective cases rarely ever do. If you happen to need one for yours, Richard Polt has one in his collection: Olympia SG1 Super De Luxe Operating Instructions

General Comments

As someone who uses a lot of index cards, this seems a spectacular machine. My one immediate issue is that I wish the paper injector went down a few more notches as I have to roll it back up a few lines to get to an acceptable starting line on my index card.