It is true that they seldom have formal training in the intricacies of the cataloguer’s art: they are not necessarily up on the elaborate Anglo-American cataloguing rules, nor are they current concerning the periodic “Rrs, or Rule Interpretations, issued by the Library of Congress, which—like hermeneutical dispatches from the I.R.S. or the Financial Accounting Standards perplexing cases in classification as they emerge. Most operators have had no library-school courses in the Dewey Decimal system (still thriving, by the way, and very big in Europe), or the “Sears List of Subject Headings,” or Cutter numbers, or the abbreviational niceties of the International Standard Bibliographic Description (I.S.B.D.) format—but they do apparently pick up a great deal as they go.
- Jul 2026
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www.newyorker.com www.newyorker.comDiscards1
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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my Halda P in a Sears electric typewriter case (made in Japan)
https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1uow243/just_in_case/
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oztypewriter.blogspot.com oztypewriter.blogspot.com
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oz.Typewriter: Portuguese Typewriter<br /> by [[Robert Messenger]]<br /> accessed on 2026-07-02T23:54:38
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- Jun 2026
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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For the Sears Holiday Petite Child’s toy typewriter. Spools are 4cm in diameter, and 1 cm width. Uses a fabric 0.6mm ribbon.
https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1u4gbul/its_working/
I suspect they meant 6mm width on the fabric ribbon?
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- May 2026
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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Repyy to u/bluestemgrass at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1thup7q/reink_ribbon/ RE: Ribbon for a toy Sears Holiday typewriter.
Before you go too deeply here, is the ribbon made of cloth material (nylon, silk, or cotton) or is it a plastic film/carbon type?
If it's the latter, is it a proprietary cartridge or typewriter spools? What width is the ribbon? Cartridges with carbon can be difficult if not impossible to find for these models.
It looks like it may be a Sears rebranded version of some of the Byron Jardine/PETITE toy typewriters. https://typewriterdatabase.com/no_info.525.typewriter-serial-number-database There may be an imprint of the manufacturer on the bottom which would help to identify the original manufacturer.
Most Petite typewriters use T4430 or T4431 ribbon (1/4" wide or 6.50mm) which can sometimes be found on eBay and other sites. It generally requires original spools. These were generally carbon/plastic based ribbon.
If you have the original spools, you might find someone who still manufactures carbon-based ribbon and you can cannibalize it to spool onto your Sears Holiday. Look around for some of the 80s/90s film-based cartridges meant for word processors.
If it did originally have cloth ribbon you might be able to re-ink it, but the process typically tends to be very messy. Generally some glycerine and ink meant for metal stamps (not rubber) will get you where you'd like to go. Some have also soaked their old ribbon in WD-40 as a means of rejuvenation, but this is also time consuming and messy.
More detail/photos of the manufacturing details on the bottom and photos and measurements of the spools and the original type of "ribbon" will help immensely.
If you get the chance, add your example to the typewriter database and include photos of the spools as well as measurements of their width and diameter to help others with these questions/problems in the future.
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typewriterdatabase.com typewriterdatabase.com
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You could sew two different ribbons together and set a grommet in the seam. That's basically how the original 4-color ribbon is. Even with the original ribbon you had to wind the ribbon to the middle and undo the ribbon from the vibrator and swap the side the middle grommet is on to change the color.
Via Ted Munk at https://typewriterdatabase.com/1969-sears-medalist-power-12.24661.typewriter
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This was an easy service with the ribbon drive belt being the only issue. I used a 2 1/2 in O ring (link). The original V-belts are ok, so I am living with a little bit of hop in the motor belt.
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- Mar 2026
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shopgoodwill.com shopgoodwill.com
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Vintage Sears Celebrity Portable Typewriter Manual With Hard Case & Instructions<br /> by [[ShopGoodwill.com]]<br /> accessed on 2026-03-13T10:33:18
2026-03-12: 9 bids total with last minute bidding going from $82 (5 bids) to $128 with 4 additional bids for a Sears Celebrity typewriter with an obvious (photo of typebasket) double gothic typeface.
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- Feb 2026
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www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
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www.404media.co www.404media.co
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Swift also sold an “All Too Well” typewriter Christmas ornament at the craft store Michaels.
via https://www.404media.co/taylor-swift-typewriter-tortured-poets-department/
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- Dec 2025
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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TypewriterMinutes - Typewriter Review: 1963 Sears Cutlass - YouTube<br /> by [[TypewriterMinutes]]<br /> accessed on 2025-12-26T01:20:57
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- Oct 2025
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christmas.musetechnical.com christmas.musetechnical.com
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https://christmas.musetechnical.com/
Catalogs & Wishbooks from Sears, Montgomery Ward, and JC Penny
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- Dec 2024
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1h4b3aw/is_there_a_source_that_exists_that_sells_or/
If you need them for basic functionality, often you can find the manuals of the original manufacturers' models for rebrands (example: the Sears Tower machines which were really just rebrandings of the Smith-Corona 5 series).
Additionally, after the 1930s there really wasn't a lot of new functionality, so almost any manual will help you to get you where you need to go, though there are some small differences in locations of things like carriage locks which can be helpful to know about and whose placement moved around on various machines.
You might also notice that as typewriters were more ubiquitous in the 60s and 70s their manuals got thinner and thinner with less detail. If you do find a specific manual, you're unlikely to find very much in it.
The Davis Brothers have some history on the Commodore line which was related to some of the Sears Chevron line. Polt does have two Commodore manuals which may be close to your machine: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-manuals.html
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- Sep 2024
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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Sears on many of the SC rebadges have 1 1/2 line spacing. One day I’m going to get a beater Citation for the parts and put the 1 1/2 parts in a nice SC.
On some of the Sears rebranded Smith-Coronas in the 6 series (Citation, in particular) there are 1 1/2 line spacing options.
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- Jul 2024
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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Taylor Swift uses a Sears Cutlass in All Too Well: The Short Film.
The Sears Cutlass is very similar to the Sears Citation.
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- May 2024
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typewriterdatabase.com typewriterdatabase.com
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https://typewriterdatabase.com/sears.615.typewriter-serial-number-database
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New 1964 Sears Cutlass Model advertised in February 1965. The faceplate of existing examples exactly matches other machines only offered between 1964-65 (Citation, Constellation), so it is presumed to be exactly contemporary. Manufactured by Smith-Corona and similar to Smith-Corona "New 5-Series", with custom shell.
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- Apr 2024
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/375385572993
Sold, presumably for $600 on 2024-04-20 with free shipping. This had previously been listed and relisted for 1000 reducing 100 every few weeks until now.
Taylor Swift effect with her new album drop perhaps?
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- Mar 2024
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shopgoodwill.com shopgoodwill.com
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Sears Malibu
https://shopgoodwill.com/item/192251351<br /> 2024-03-02 sold<br /> $18.00<br /> 5 bids
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- Nov 2023
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oztypewriter.blogspot.com oztypewriter.blogspot.com
- Dec 2022
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backdoorbroadcasting.net backdoorbroadcasting.net
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Reading room at the Warburg Institute, via Elizabeth Sears.
Is this part of Aby Warburg's zettelkasten?
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- Jul 2018
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money.cnn.com money.cnn.com
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The Six Corners store, like more than 100 other Sears locations, is owned by Seritage Growth Properties, a real estate company controlled by Sears Holdings CEO Eddie Lampert. Seritage, which is publicly traded, has a market value nearly 10 times greater than Sears Holdings.
Interesting to see the interaction between Sears Holdings and Seritage. The value is apparently all in the real estate.
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