9 Matching Annotations
  1. Aug 2025
    1. It's an Olivetti Valentine. An iconic piece of design with mechanicals almost identical to the Lettera 32. Its designer, Ettore Sotsass, was apparently not fond of it ("I worked as an architect for sixty years of my life and all people know is this fucking plastic machine" - or something to that effect) and its first production run was not particularly popular.

      source for this?? interesting, if true

      https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1mxxqkl/dieter_rams_typewriter_model/

  2. Jul 2025
    1. Sottsass, Ettore, and Perry King. Valentine Portable Typewriter. 1968. Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) plastic, synthetic chloroprene rubber, metal, 2017.169a- typewriter: 3 7/8 × 12 3/4 × 13 1/2 in., 9.3 lb. (9.8 × 32.4 × 34.3 cm, 4.2 kg)2017.169b- cover: 4 3/8 × 13 1/2 × 13 7/8 in., 2.4 lb. (11.1 × 34.3 × 35.2 cm, 1.1 kg). https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/739409.

  3. May 2025
  4. Oct 2024
    1. I consider Valentines 'designer' typewriters, and generally overrated. If you want to write on an Olivetti, I'd go for the Lettera 22/32/DL. The Valentine is based on the Lettera 32, so the mechanical part is solid, but the Valentine is not as well-balanced as the 32. And about ten times more expensive.

      Me starts thinking about cornering the market in Lettera 32s and 3D printing Valentine cases to put onto them...