Remington #8,000,000: The Inception

Remington #8,000,000 with Sholes and Glidden prototype circa March 23, 1933 via Peter Weil

Typewriter nerds, rejoice! The Typosphere is just an awesome place and this practically knocked me over when I read my email this afternoon.

A typewriter collector, Peter Weil, contacted me the long way around through uber collector and advocate Richard Polt. He came across the above image of the eight-millionth Remington, a Noiseless 8, being used alongside a Sholes and Glidden prototype that would lead to the first Remington. The plate on front is a dead giveaway. It is indeed the machine in my possession by way of a New York City ebay seller several years ago.

http://vintagetechobsessions.blogspot.com/2012/02/last-stand-at-remington-starring.html

We know from the plate on this machine that it was just a few weeks old at the time. This fills in some historical gaps. Here is more than you would probably want to read about this machine:

http://vintagetechobsessions.blogspot.com/2013/03/remington-8-number-8000000-80th-birthday.html
http://vintagetechobsessions.blogspot.com/2012/02/itam-special-report-eight-millionth.html
http://vintagetechobsessions.blogspot.com/2012/02/last-stand-at-remington-starring.html

Here is the history of this photo as told by Peter Weil. Substitute 'Remington 8' for 'Portable 1'.

"On March 23, 1933, the YWCA held an event to commemorate the 60th anniversary of there invention of the typewriter. More specifically, The focus of the celebration was “…the entrance of women into the modern business world.” I find it dumbfounding that Smithsonian would have loaned the Sholes to them, but my guess is that the YWCA had a lot of clout in Congress to succeed in bowing so important an artifact. I suspect that this specific version is a bit earlier than the one made famous by the image of Sholes’ daughter typing on iyt. Note that these keys are ceramic ones, as on the earlier prototypes, whereas the keys on the example used by the daughter are similar to the latter metrakl-ringed flat ones covered with glass that were used on the first fully marketed Sholes and Gliddens in 1874. I think it also interesting that the YWCA selected a Remington Portable, admittedly, the largest they made at the time, a Model 1, to contrast with and to indicate progress since, the Sholes machine. The # Model 1  was a borderline office machine, but it was a not a full one. Perhaps because it had just been introduced into a tighter office market created by the Depression, Remington, who probably loaned it for the event, wanted it used.

The Acme Co., a news service, printed and distributed multiple copies of the photograph, headlining it as “”How Types Have Speeded Up.” In their caption, they also draw primary attention to the contrasts in the clothing of the two women typists. Clearly, faster types, faster typists (literally and figuratively), and real progress for typewriters and women! (yes, I am being facetious)"

For context, check out Richard Polt's typewriter history highlights: http://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-history.html

Thanks Peter and Richard for helping tell the history of this machine!

Hey kids! Let's turn an Oliver #7 into a lamp!

I really, really like the reproduction Edison light bulbs. I really, really hate it when people do stupid, stupid things with them. Like impaling an Oliver #7 to make an ungainly and unattractive lamp. I saw this beast, and others, tonight at a warehouse vintage shop.

This is just wrong on so many levels. At least the other slaughtered typewriters were relatively common.

In the 'life's little ironies' department, these were illuminated with the light on my iPhone as a breaker had tripped and the second floor of the warehouse was nearly dark. I was almost afraid the Zombie Typewriters would rise from the dead.

But wait, there's more! Typewriters aren't the only logical place to put light bulbs. Obviously, old movie projectors need light. And brass microscopes. Yeah, I only obsess about those a bit. Looks so much better with a light bulb.

Let the unbridled rage of the Typosphere commence!

Recent Typewriter Sightings - Catch and Release Edition

Summer travel, garage sale season and time to browse have coincided to present some interesting typewriter sightings. As my tastes become more refined, fewer machines make the cool typeface or rarity cut that would cause me to bring them home. Hence, another round of catch and release typewriters.

This was my favorite from the weekend. The machine is electric, needs a ribbon cartridge and relatively common, but the placement with black velvet is 100% win!

More from the same antique mall...

Note the changeable key on this SCM electric.

At least this Royal would not interested key-choppers. Those are replacement keys. The carriage is huge!

This QDL was nice and overpriced.

Going back in time a bit, here are a few more interesting machines. We'll start with the uber-cool Raspberry Pi powered IBM Selectric at the Kansas City Maker Faire.

And back to normal machines...

Most of the standard machines I run across are of the Underwood and Remington variety. I was overjoyed to find a Noiseless and an early IBM electric. What a tank! This was in one of those odd, outdoor flea market zones. Given the heat and humidity in our region, these are doubtless hunks of rust by now.

Witness the King of the Ginormous Carriages. Dang.

Nice Remington. It had pretty good action.

This Underwood species is not the best typer around. Nevertheless, I have an interesting variant to show off in a future blog entry.

Bow before the huge and powerful Royal Empress! The action felt good on this machine and the price was right. I had no place to put a beast like this.

 "Recent" is a relative term. With kids in middle and high school and two working parents, time has flown by. Some of the machines below are from April and May, but that seems just like yesterday.

This brother deserves two photos. Finding a German keyboard in middle-America is an odd experience.

Yet another Galaxie. It seems to me that the age of machines appearing in thrift stores and antique malls is creeping upward. That would make sense as households are liquidated and cleaned up.

Two Royals. The white QDL was an interesting sighting. It functioned perfectly. Alas, it had a standard typeface dating back to the earliest Royal portables.

"I am Futura of Borg. Prepare to be bored to death by my color scheme."

This poor Underwood was probably harvested for its keys.

Finding any Hermes in the wild is rare in my part of the world. This one worked well and I was sorely tempted to bring it home.

I've been impressed with the light action on the Underwood standards I've found in the wild. They aren't sexy, but they appear to be good machines.

I'll leave you with a really nice Remington portable located in one of the better monthly antique stores in the Kansas City West Bottoms.

I'm pretty far behind in my blogging. The good news is that I typed almost everyday during our family vacation. The night before Tesla's birthday, I hit the 50,000 page view mark. That is a blog topic of its own, but it will have to wait. I also have two newer arrivals to show. One is a rarity and the other is an oddity. But first, I have yet more shooting to do at upcoming County Fairs and demolition derbies. Ah, summer!

Thanks for viewing!

Olivetti Lexikon 80 Production Lines

I ran across some images of the various production lines for the Lexikon 80 and thought I should share them with the Typosphere. Go to the host website for the Ivrea plant image below and you can zoom for detail.

Source (in Italian):
http://imprese.san.beniculturali.it/web/imprese/gallery/dettaglio-oggetto-digitale?pid=san.dl.SAN:IMG-00002450&titolo_origine=Galleria%20multimediale&css_tit=gallery-result-tit

And some Lexikon 80s running down conveyors in various degrees of completion:

 This image came from the same website. Find what looks like a search window and plug in "Lexikon" for more gems!

With the right Italian search phrase, more results start coming in through a Google search. This appears to be a final quality control and adjustment step in Brazil.

Source: http://www.storiaolivetti.it/upload/sanpaolo_10.jpg
Flip through the Fotogallerie for more images from this production facility. They were very proud of the architectural details. I wonder if this building still exists?

Did you know Olivettis could fly? I suppose it would help if I read Italian. This production line image comes from a wonderful group showing the diversity of Olivetti's range of products being manufactured.

Source: http://www.storiaolivetti.it/fotogallery.asp?idPercorso=633&idOrd=4#viewfotogallery



And here is a low resolution image of the body shells being mated with the rest of the machine:
http://www.imprese.san.beniculturali.it/web/imprese/gallery/dettaglio-oggetto-digitale?pid=san.dl.SAN:IMG-00001817&titolo_origine=Galleria%20multimediale&css_tit=gallery-result-tit

Thank goodness for the Internet! I didn't expect to find much about making these fine machines, but the search turned up all kinds of interesting tidbits. For example, here is the beast itself from another great collection of product images. Sure looks like Kodachrome to me.

Source: http://www.storiaolivetti.it/fotogallery.asp?idPercorso=632&idOrd=1

Also, I have a semi-rhetorical question for the Typosphere. Let's say one were to acquire a grubby Lexikon 80 in the least appealing shade of light gray. While it would be possible to strip off layers of nicotine and polish and wax the machine, would it be a Cardinal Typeratti Sin to consider painting it in another Olivetti shade or strip it to bare aluminum and polish it?

Feel free to post your opinions or throw rocks at me in the comments. They are moderated, but other than spam it all gets through.

Typewriter Pool Fashion Show Installation

Under normal circumstances, I would have no interest in fashion or fashion shows. However, at the London Fashion Week, the Orla Kiely brand got creative and put their models in a faux office setting to show off their Margot Tenanbaum inspired clothing line. Our gold plated Royal QDL, Margot, approves.

Photo credit to the Kris Atomic Blog

The blog from whence these photos came is at Kris Atomic - Orla Kiely AW'13

The typewriters appear to be Olympia SG-3 models. I love the desk lamps and telephones. Overall, the detail work is fabulous!

You can find a video of the installation here Independent UK Video - Orla Kiely Typewriter Pool

I especially enjoy seeing the press pool shooting away from the glassed in mezzanine. They were probably relieved to have something different than a runway shoot to keep them interested. Of course, the whole installation looks vaguely like something from a zoo; but isn't that more intellectually honest than a runway?

Credit goes to the UPPERCASE Magazine blog for pointing to this bit of awesome. We finally subscribed and might even chip in for the typewriter book project.
Uppercase Magazine Blog

Remington 8 Number 8,000,000 80th Birthday!

On March 1, 1933, Remington manufactured its eight-millionth machine. Unlike most typewriters, we know exactly when this one was made since they affixed an engraved nameplate.

A proper birthday celebration might have featured party hats, party favors, a Deco style layer cake, lots of sugared up portable typewriters, a bouncy castle, dancing bears, mimes, jugglers, fire-eaters and a Polka band. However, it's Friday and we are just getting over the latest blizzard and the school/work week. MEK of the House Full of Nerds baked banana bread today. I'll take fresh banana bread over a store bought cake any day!

As I was taking these photos, my Spousal Unit, MEK, commented that "This has to be the Nerdiest thing we've ever done!" Well, I beg to differ. We went one step further and sang "Happy Birthday" to the typewriter. Extreme Nerds have no limits!

You can read about this lovely machine in excruciating/loving detail at ITAM Special Report: The Eight Millionth Remington

If you dare, read all about this machine's acting debut at "Last Stand at the Remington"  Godzilla loves the attention!

This was all Teeritz's fault. That and an impulse control issue on my part.

Happy Birthday, Remington!

The Dread Copyright Notice: All words and images are copyright Dwayne F. of vintagetechobsessions. Beyond penalties allowed under law, we have a legion of barely controlled robots and giant monsters at our command. You don't really want to meet them in the middle of the night. Share the love and link back to this site. I'm good with non-commercial use with attribution. See, I can be totally reasonable.

Green Machines: A Royal Signet and Portable of 1932

It occurred to me that I have never shown our Depression era Royal Signet.  This machine stands in stark contrast to its more expensive sibling, the Royal Portable.

We like the Signet quite a bit.  It is light enough for MEK to carry and has a style of its own.  I love the gold keys and the clean symmetry of the stripped down keyboard.

I outbid a key chopper on ebay to get this machine.  It had been used by at least two generations in a family and came clean and well kept.  I love it when a typewriter has spent its entire life in living areas.  No basement funk!

You may have read elsewhere that the Signet is very basic.  Take a look at the margin setting system and you will find out what "basic" means.  Example:  the back of the paper table and space bar are not painted.

Not much to see here.  However, it seems elegant compared to the long spring that runs the carriage on a stripped Olympia from the same era.

These 1932 Royals have one thing in common besides the family name:  sans serif typefaces.  Keylime sports the optional Vogue typeface.  The Signet is equipped with a specially designed italic typeface in caps only.  The latter is quite good for typing on aluminum foil sandwiched between sheets of paper.  Who needs a shift mechanism, anyway?

Thanks to Ted at Munk.org, I finally have an original ad that shows both machines.  The Signet is the result of some dramatic cost cutting with an original price of $23.50 as compared to $45.00 for the Portable.  I've never seen any information on the topic of the price of Vogue as an option.  Did it cost more?  Who knows.  They still appear to be scarce.  Adjusted for inflation, $45 in 1932 would have the value of $750 today.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting our green Royals.  They have been enjoying a long turn outside their cases.  Before you leave, be sure to pull up a seat and have a slice of Keylime's pie!

Yes, the pie MEK picked up from Sweet Perfection Bakery was far better than that sorry pun.  Rumor has it that the proprietor's son is sweet on the gingercat.

Yet another word about the dread COPYRIGHT:  The images and words on this blog (minus the ad borrowed from Ted) are the sole intellectual property of Dwayne F.  Use must be attributed and no commercial use is allowed without express written permission.  Yeah, these photos aren't that special.  They should be easy enough for you to take after you bake a keylime pie from scratch.  I won't bother with repeating the vague threats involving mutant, flying Oliver 99 typewriters doling out revenge on copyright infringers.  No, that would be immature.  However, I feel it necessary to remind the reader that the official mascot of the Typosphere is the mighty Rhino.  We haz us a bigun, and I ain't sure whether the copyright theft induced rage can be put back in the bottle of mean that is our typing companion.

Fresh from the backyard studio!  More to come on this wild beast in the month of October...