Welcome to the typewriter club, and congratulations on your Royal HH.

Preceded by the Royal KMM and the Royal KMG, the Royal HH was manufactured from 1952 to 1957 when it was replaced by the Royal FP, though it continued to sell well, even on the used market with newspaper advertising until the early 1980s.

Here's a copy of the original manual from 1952: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/royalhh.pdf

The Royal HH was offered in Charcoal Grey smooth, Nile Green smooth, Horizon Blue smooth, Coral Rose, Gray Frieze, Royaltone Dark Gray wrinkle, Royaltone Light Gray wrinkle but far and away, the standard brown with green plastic keys was the most ubiquitous.

Well known users of the Royal HH typewriter included: William F. Buckley, Jr., Charles Bukowski, George Burns, Herb Caen, Truman Capote, Bruce Catton, Patty Chayefsky, Don DeLillo, Alice Denham, James T. Farrell, Paul Fussell, Hugh Hefner, Elia Kazan, Sterling North, Robert B. Parker, Sylvia Plath, Mario Puzo, Robert Penn Warren, Eudora Welty, and William Zinsser. You can find photos of most of these writers with their machines at https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/typers.html.

The Royal HH has appeared in movies including:

• All the President's Men (Warner Bros., 1976)
• Fletch (Universal Pictures, 1985)

These typewriters were especially appreciated by journalists:

Newsroom at The Masters featuring dozens of Royal HH typewriters.

Spools and Ribbon:<br /> The spools for the standard Royal typewriters (Ten, H, KH, KHM, KMM, KMG, RP, HH, FP, Empress, 440, 660, etc.) have a custom metal mechanism for their auto-reverse. The spools are known as the T1 (which is the same as General Ribbon part # T1-77B , T1-77BR, and Nu-Kote B64.) If winding on universal ribbon onto them, remove the eyelette which isn't needed and may interfere with the auto reverse.

If you're missing the original spools, Ribbons Unlimited carries them: https://www.ribbonsunlimited.com/6N064-Royal-Standard-Electric-Ribbon-64-p/6n064.htm or you might source an original metal pair from a local repair shop.

Duane of Phoenix Typewriter has a video about how to change and spool up your Royal standard.

Collector Sarah Everett can show you most of the functions on her YouTube Channel for Just My Typewriter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0Zvc1m-8aI.

Some additional history can be found here: https://oztypewriter.blogspot.com/2012/11/on-this-day-in-typewriter-history_9.html.

For additional resources on typewriters, collecting, repairing, and using them see: https://boffosocko.com/research/typewriter-collection/.

Happy typing!

Reply to u/MertwithYert at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1swf5pn/ive_got_two_type_writers_id_greatly_appreciate/

Christopher Buckley: “Steaming to Bamboola” and Other Journeys

Bill Buckley's Royal HH from the National Review.

Almost hilarious that a gloved assistant brings it out and then removes it once they're done discussing it. Something so effete-ist about this that would be befitting Buckley himself.

1952+ Newsroom at The Masters featuring dozens of Royal HH typewriters.

via https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1205955487563562&set=a.527768838715567

Royal KMM FPE HH KH 10 T1 B64 Typewriter Ribbon Install Rewind Respool Replace by [[Phoenix Typewriter]]

The spools for the standard Royal typewriters (Ten, H, KH, KHM, KMM, KMG, RP, HH, FP, Empress, 440, 660, etc.) have a custom metal mechanism for their auto-reverse. The spools are known as the T1 (which is the same as General Ribbon part # T1-77B , T1-77BR, and Nu-Kote B64.) If winding on universal ribbon onto them, remove the eyelette which isn't needed and may interfere with the auto reverse.

The function of the mechanism is fairly similar to that of the Remington, but the mechanism is on the spool itself rather than on the spindle.

If necessary, Ribbons Unlimited carries these metal spools: https://www.ribbonsunlimited.com/6N064-Royal-Standard-Electric-Ribbon-64-p/6n064.htm

https://www.facebook.com/groups/TypewriterCollectors/posts/10162194238069678/

Alice Denham, novelist and 1956 Playboy Playmate. She eventually wrote a memoir called “Sleeping With Bad Boys” about her life in the 50s/60s NYC literary scene.

https://clickamericana.com/topics/science-technology/vintage-portable-manual-typewriters

The Smith-Coronas were offered in 4 different colors.

The Remington Quiet-Riter was eventually offered in white sand, desert sage, mist green, and French gray,

The Royal HH was offered in 6 colors including green, pink, and blue. Brown was the most ubiquitous.

Users of the Royal HH typewriter included: William Buckley, Charles Bukowski, George Burns, Herb Caen, Truman Capote, Bruce Catton, Patty Chayefsky, Don DeLillo, Alice Denham, James T. Farrell, Paul Fussell, Hugh Hefner, Elia Kazan, Sterling North, Robert B. Parker, Sylvia Plath, Mario Puzo, Robert Penn Warren, Eudora Welty, and William Zinsser.

including photos via https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/typers.html

https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1kg820b/just_bought_this_typewriter_for_10_at_a_charity/

For a second, I thought perhaps the "88" in the serial number was a designator for the palm tabulator, but one of the other two in the database doesn't have that option (visually), though the single picture (of 5853) looks like it may have broken off or been removed on that example: - https://typewriterdatabase.com/1960-royal-fp.1241.typewriter - https://typewriterdatabase.com/1961-royal-fp.5853.typewriter

If you upload some additional photos of yours to the database, perhaps we can puzzle out what the "88" designator means if it's not the palm tabulator functionality?

The E on FPE means "elite" or 12 characters per inch. The "13" indicates a 13 inch wide platen. The raw serial number seems to indicate it was made in 1960: https://typewriterdatabase.com/royal.72.typewriter-serial-number-database

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074119/

On This Day in Typewriter History: Royal’s HH - 'The Greatest New Typewriter of All Time' by [[Robert Messenger]]

Royal HH Typewriter Ribbon Spindle Shaft Frozen, Analysis and Repair Procedure by [[Phoenix Typewriter]]

Troubleshooting a frozen spindle. Discovered that the spindle was frozen internally. Flushed with lacquer thinner and then blown out.

worn-out 1950s Royal HH typewriter, lubricating mechanism and replace ribbon by Rinoa's Auspicious Travails

very meh... wouldn't recommend for over-reliance on sewing machine oil to get a typewriter "working" again. The ribbon swap part wasn't bad.

Royal HH & FP typewriter shipping help by [[Typewriter Justice]]

Advice for how to package a heavy standard typewriter for shipping. Two heavy rubberbands to hold the margin release buttons to protect the escapement. Then plastic wrap to keep the carriage from moving during shipment. Then protection for the knobs and carriage return levers put into a first box. Then packing peanuts in a second box, fill to completely full and tape closed.

Royal HHE Typewriter Demo of Features and Functions by [[Cincinnati Typewriter]]

Orange and black typewriter painted when they thought Bengals were going to Super Bowl.

Sadly didn't get the purpose of the numbered guides... presupposed they were in millimeters, but knew it wasn't that.

Very shaky video... nauseating.

Didn't differentiate between permanent and temporary variable line levels. Didn't get the way these work at all.

Missed subtleties of Magic Margin, but did well enough.

"strikers" instead of slugs or hammers

Painted the colors on the bichrome wrong.

Only partially understands touch control. Definitely doesn't know how to adjust them.

Definitely don't use this as an example.

Seems like an amateur painting and (maybe) cleaning up typewriters from home. I don't think I'd trust him based on this video.

1954 Royal HH, repainted | Typewriter Tutorial by [[Jot & Tittle Vintage Typewriters]]

Pseudo-professional explaining the functionality of a Royal HH (sales video)

took her two tries to get the proper ribbon reversal... <br /> didn't get/understand the touch control function<br /> Not original spools<br /> Doesn't understand card fingers<br /> At least knew "stencil", but didn't explain it beyond "it won't type"<br /> Didn't have a specific size for the large carriage<br /> Had issue with ribbon tension<br /> Couldn't get the hood button several times

"I wouldn't write a long book on here." What the hell is she talking about? This was the entire purpose of this machine.

1952 HH Royal #Typewriter Overview by [[T4Vista]] Wilson Trivino

Another sales video showing features of a typewriter when they have no idea what any of the parts are or how they're actually working... sigh...

How to use all functions on a 1952 Royal HHE vintage desktop typewriter by [[Brooksaw Antiques]]

"sales video" but it does go through a list of most functionality, though missing a few of the finer typing points. Obviously they're not typewriter aficionados.

Video could be better, particularly a traditional horizontal rather than vertical layout.

The Royal HH: my FAVORITE desk typewriter by [[Just My Typewriter]]

Good basic intro, and overview, but doesn't get into deep functionality review. Short list of some writers who used it from Richard Polt's site, though not complete.