Journey of the IKEA Shark

Around Christmas time, my Younger Spawn became enamored and obsessed with stuffed sharks from IKEA. For the record, they are cuddly and adorable!

As time went on, I realized the the lack of IKEA sharks would haunt her. Worse yet, she would haunt me. Holding a grudge is a genetic predisposition. The depth of obsession went to the point where she stated that winning Powerball would mean being able to acquire the IKEA sharks. As in all of the IKEA sharks, anywhere in the world.

Wants ALL of the freaking IKEA sharks. This is the look of madness.

 
Obsession - coupled with eternal grudging - is not a good combination. Besides, all she has to do is make bunny eyes at me and I am utterly defenseless. I am a weak parental unit.

I remedied the situation last weekend and adopted a shark to surprise her. This is the journey of the IKEA shark.

Checkout time.

Once liberated, the shark took care of a seafood craving.

And found an exit. Did you know IKEA sharks can read? 36 in language on the ACT, but not so good with math.

Sharks love conveyors. Just sayin'.

And technology. IKEA sharks love technology!

Goodbye, IKEA store!

The poor Costco shoppers just had no idea ;-)

Um, pizza guy? Or perhaps 'Land Shark'.

The fifteen-year-olds' face lit up like Christmas morning when she found the shark patiently stalking waiting in the back of the Volt. She'll have to find another excuse to make me miserable ;-)

IBM Electromatic Sighting

I had to share this beast seen in the wilds of an antique mall. Other than a stuck "z", it appears to work fine and badly needs a new power cord. It wheezes and chugs and smells vaguely of ozone with its open armature motor design. Unfortunately, I could not find a serial number to accurately date it.

The typeface is a simplified sans in all caps. It didn't appear to be a Ham mill. Such an interesting machine, but I have no space for it.

I keep seeing silly descriptions for old machines. They are all steampunk. I would be interested in seeing this with all of the sheet metal removed. Below is the closest thing I could find to a serial number. The motor was serviced in the 1950s. Again, such an interesting critter. Must resist...

Oliver 2 Project Machine

After a long absence, I am trying to get this blog moving along while burning vacation time on various projects around the house and spending time with my family. Perfection has been the enemy of content as of late. Imperfect photos from my phone might streamline things a bit.

Here is a find from a recent journey to a First Friday weekend warehouse antique mall. I was shocked to spot an early Oliver in the wild. I was even more surprised when it was priced reasonably enough to carry it two blocks to the car and bring it home  :-)

This machine is really grubby, but probably cleaner than I would be after sitting around for over a hundred years. It appears to be complete. There is a serial number somewhere under all that dirt and grime. Either way, Ted Munk's database shows an 1897-1901 production run for this model.

Time is a precious commodity and one I have been short of in a flurry of work, business travel, Senior year college visits, and various band, orchestra, theater, and cross country events. I'll keep it covered in a safe place until one of those PowerBall tickets comes up a winner  ;-)

What do Remingtons and Harleys have in common?

 Try finding a modern 1/4" x 24 pitch screw if you would like to know 🔩

This weird beast is from a foot on the Remington Noiseless. I bought a parts machine to get various bits I wanted.

On the bench...

A Remington Noiseless, on its way to functionality. Vacation time is a good thing.

Google Product Sans = Royal Vogue

The G is a bit off, but otherwise the resemblance is remarkable!

SSSSS... So Shiny is the Gold Smith Corona 5S Silent

Most of the typewriter afflicted are aware of the amazing chrome and gold plated creations offered by Kasbah Mod (now Trillionaire Vintage). One of their best tricks was turning the homely, crinkle finished Smith Coronas into works of art. The world is a random place, and every once in a while a vintage plated machine appears in the netherworld of digital commerce. Thus fell a 5S - one of the best machines ever made - into my hands by way of an ebay seller who posted pretty poor photos.

Thanks to Ted Munk's relentless research, we know this machine was made in 1951. When it was plated is anyone's guess, but it is consistent through the machine and includes screws. The sound deadening material is applied perfectly as is the 'Silent' decal on tab adjustment cover.

The Typewriter Database is pretty much awesome. Smith Corona Serial Numbers on the Typewriter Database 
Sadly, the database is prone to Gmail spam and I live wholeheartedly in Google land. Even the photos in the post were uploaded first to the new Google Photos platform.

I didn't include the case, just imagine old-school wood with factory black covering. The best part was that the machine and case escaped the must and rust of poor storage for all these years. I did a middling tarnish removal followed with an application of a tried and true Teflon spiked automotive wax. It worked well on my gold plated Royal portable.

As seen above, the ribbon cover has some kind of a clear coat. Given the thin plating, I am not going to attempt removal. The small piece at the top of the keyboard was covered in dried gunk that cleaned easily with soapy water. The rest of the machine had varying degrees of wax and/or tarnish. Perfect it is not, but look so good I should at age 64. The only significant pitting is on the high touch points behind the paper table.

Unlike the Royal, major wear points are still in factory chrome. Sixty years of skin oil were not good for the Royal.

I still need to create a type sample. However, Spawn the Younger and my Spousal Unit often leave the house just after 6:00 AM. They do not abide by late night typewriter clatter. We are still adjusting to school year schedules.

My regrets to all for not posting to this blog more often. My few free hours tend to be absorbed by everything photographic. We have three cars constantly in motion (and an airplane now and then) to support the schedules of two working parents, a Senior in college search and application mode, a Sophomore in marching band, and various other things including orchestra, theater, and my sustainable building related travel.

Over the past five months, we had extended visits at three colleges and have several more in the wings between now and the end of the year. Come January and February, we have scholar days and weekend events to look forward to. Anyway, thanks for reading this far and not kicking me out of the Typosphere during the long, dry spells  :)