Mark Twain Wrote the First Book Ever Written With a Typewriter<br /> by [[Josh Jones]] in Open Culture<br /> accessed on 2025-10-13T23:01:35

reply to u/EdmundDante718 at https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1o5x527/missing_carriage_releases_on_scm/

It's incredibly common for these 6 series Smith-Coronas to have broken plastic carriage release levers (a major design flaw). You can call around to shops with parts machines for original replacements. https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-repair.html

There are numerous YouTube repair videos and ideas including these few I've bookmarked before, though there are surely others: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNcQvfUk23s - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb9VlrKcXcM

I've not seen anyone 3-D print a version (yet), but designs for one might be floating around out there.

I've also seen people jury rig all sorts of plastic replacements which is an option as well.

In practice, you generally only need one working one for your dominant hand.

Adler, Mortimer J. 1940. “How to Mark a Book.” Saturday Review of Literature 6: 250–52. https://www.unz.com/print/SaturdayRev-1940jul06-00011/ (January 11, 2023).

Annotations: https://via.hypothes.is/https://docdrop.org/download_annotation_doc/Adler---1940---How-to-Mark-a-Book-fehef.pdf

Annotations alternate: https://jonudell.info/h/facet/?user=chrisaldrich&max=100&exactTagSearch=true&expanded=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocdrop.org%2Fdownload_annotation_doc%2FAdler---1940---How-to-Mark-a-Book-fehef.pdf

Prior [.pdf copy]9https://stevenson.ucsc.edu/academics/stevenson-college-core-courses/how-to-mark-a-book-1.pdf): - Annotations https://hypothes.is/users/chrisaldrich?q=url%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fstevenson.ucsc.edu%2Facademics%2Fstevenson-college-core-courses%2Fhow-to-mark-a-book-1.pdf<br /> - Alternate annotation link https://jonudell.info/h/facet/?user=chrisaldrich&max=100&exactTagSearch=true&expanded=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstevenson.ucsc.edu%2Facademics%2Fstevenson-college-core-courses%2Fhow-to-mark-a-book-1.pdf

Summary

• Marking a book helps in increasing "the most efficient kind of reading."
• The marked (pun intended) difference between physical vs. intellectual ownership of books
• 3 types of book owners:
  • 1. collector of wood pulp and ink
  • 1. one whose read most and dipped into some
  • 1. one who's annotated and sucked the marrow out of them
• Active reading (annotating and staying awake) and engaging deeply, arguing with, and questioning the author is the point of reading.
• A historical record of your active reading allows you to continue the conversation you've had with the author and yourself. (p12)
• Adler's method of reading and marking:
  1. Underlining major points of importance
  2. Vertical lines for emphasis
  3. Marginal marks (stars, asterisks, etc.) (10-20 per book) to indicate the most important statements in conjunction with dogearing these pages for making it easier to find them subsequently
  4. Numbers in the margin to sequence arguments
  5. Page numbers in the margin for linking ideas across pages, ostensibly for juxtaposing them later
  6. Circling key words or phrases (unsaid here, but this is helpful for indexing as well as helping one to come to terms with the author)
  7. Marginal writing for synopsis of sections as well as questions raised by the text; use of endpapers for a personal index of ideas presented chronologically throughout the book
• Objections to marking books:
  • Using scratch pad (or index cards, which he doesn't mention specifically, but which could be implied) so as not to destroy a precious or rare physical copy (this is a repetition from earlier in the article)
  • Marking slows you down. This is part of the point! Slowing down makes you engage with the author and get more out of the text.
  • You can't loan books because they contain your important thoughts which you don't want to give away (and lose the historical record of your thinking). Solution: Simply require friends to buy their own copy.

This practice is not too dissimilar to that used by zettelkasten practitioners (including Niklas Luhmann) who broadly used his bibliographic cards this way.

By separating his index and ideas from the book and putting them into a physical index, it makes them easier to juxtapose with other ideas over time rather than having them anchored directly to the book itself. For academics and researchers, this will tend to help save time from having to constantly retrieve these portions from individual books.

This poke at "fancy" bookplates is a rhetorical call back to those who would attempt to weakly show only physical and not intellectual ownership by "pasting his bookplate inside the cover."

Was "fancy thinking" used in a pejorative sense prior to this article? Are subsequent uses of it poking fun of the parallelism (to fancy bookplates) which Adler sets up here?

The making of a personal index is a first step in building a mesh of knowledge. In just a few years, Vannevar Bush will speak of "associative trails" a phrase he uses twice in "As We May Think" (The Atlantic, July 1945), but of potentially more import is his phrase "associative indexing" which lays way to either juxtaposing or linking two ideas (either similar or disjoint) together. It bears asking the question of of whether it's more valuable to index and juxtapose similar ideas or disjoint ideas which may more frequently lead to better, more useful, and more relevant and rich future ideas.

It affords an immediate step, however, to associative indexing, the basic idea of which is a provision whereby any item may be caused at will to select immediately and automatically another. This is the essential feature of the memex. The process of tying two items together is the important thing. Bush, Vannevar. 1945. “As We May Think.” The Atlantic 176: 101–8. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1945/07/as-we-may-think/303881/ (October 22, 2022). #

Adler creates a very specific and subtle definition of ownership as it applies to books.

It's not too dissimilar to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's idea of ownership or love of people. "Unique to me in all the world"

Many have spoken of "books as wallpaper" or "intellectual furniture", but here Mortimer J. Adler goes beyond owning them solely as material culture, but turning them into intellectual and personal culture.

When they sit upon the shelf after being intellectually owned, they can serve as a mnemonic touchstone, which is a method of supercharging their value as lowly "decorative wallpaper", and instead making them living active, intellectual wallpaper.

See also the precursor of personal indexing which Mortimer J. Adler mentions in 1940: https://hypothes.is/a/cPcoAqhVEfC0rJOZ0Pm-8Q

What’s Going On With Marjorie Taylor Greene?<br /> by [[Will Gottsegen]] - The Atlantic<br /> accessed on 2025-10-12T16:47:40

Cleaning Type Slugs Fast ! Removing Clogged Dirty Ink Typewriter Service How to Shine Those Faces by [[Phoenix Typewriter]]

Duane cleans type slugs by draping the typewriter with cloths and then using a metal bristle brush and lacquer thinner. Small picks or an X-Acto knife can help to remove gunk from the interiors of the closed letters.

He also uses tape to cover up the red paint on the word "De Luxe" so that the lacquer thinner doesn't damage it.

He finishes off with a small shot of Nu-trol, which is a degreaser with some lubrication, and then follows up with a shot of compressed air to thin it out.

The slugs are the metal pieces at the ends of the assemblies that start at the tops of the keys and go through the key levers attach to the segment (the semi-circular metal comb-like part in the "basket") via the typebars. The slugs are the ones that have the backward characters on them and when they hit the ribbon cause the letters to be applied to the paper. Over time the small loops of the characters can get filled with dust, dirt, ink, and bits of ribbon and as a result the type on your page isn't as crisp and good looking as you'd like.

Here's a handful of videos with a variety of methods for cleaning one's slugs: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s8tE6P0YMQ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgSAS45WGI0 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKGipBLA5Eo

You'll notice that for the day-to-day cleaning that people are using kneadable erasers, silly putty, or products like Bergeon Rodico 6033-1 as cleaning compounds for pulling ink and dust out quickly.

There are some good basics and a great glossary in Hints for a Happy Typewriter: https://typewriterdatabase.com/1983-Hints4HappyTypewriter.index.manual

I've also collected some great mid-century short films on use and basic maintenance here: https://boffosocko.com/2025/06/06/typewriter-use-and-maintenance-for-beginning-to-intermediate-typists/

Other resources you might find interesting: https://boffosocko.com/research/typewriter-collection/

reply to u/DatLonerGirl at https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1o33p7n/when_was_the_last_time_you_cleaned_your_slugs/

Hart, Keith, Jean-Louis Laville, and Antonio David Cattani, eds. 2010. The Human Economy: A Citizen’s Guide. 1st ed. Malden, MA; Cambridge, UK: Polity. https://amzn.to/4q7hwTi (October 11, 2025).

Annotations: urn:x-pdf:c0c4b707a9de803a95b50ebebe19c70c

Alternate annotation link: urn:x-pdf:c0c4b707a9de803a95b50ebebe19c70c

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

Tools of the typewriter trade by [[Retrotype]]

Excellent overview of many of the basic tools for typewriter repair. Didn't have the strongest grasp of all the tools' specific names, but good enough for describing their general use cases.

Example of a typewriter toolset including a case made for telephone company repair, but which works with typewriters.

• Shore A durometer gauge 2:22
• nylon fishing/picture hanging wire spec to 25kg (for drawband replacement)
• thick waxed string/yarn for repairing fishing nets (for drawbands)
• nitrile gloves (to prevent staining, issues with mineral spirits, and other caustic chemicals)
• XPower pressure blower for blowing out dust/dirt and mineral spirits. (smaller than an air compressor)
• nail grooming set with tweezers, picks, etc. (not technically necessary, but sometimes useful)
• dental tools (for use as spring hooks)
• Renaissance micro-crystalline wax (non-corrosive, made for British Museum, good on marble, wood, leather, etc. Good on bare metal for treating previously rusted metal. (It's recommended to use an abrasive polish for improving the shine of glossy paint however)
• Pouch and set of precision screwdrivers (he only uses the flatheads though the set includes other) Prefer hollow ground tips which are squared off rather than wedges.
• Chapman bit set of screwdrivers (with hollow ground tips) He prefers these for hard to remove screws. Issue that it's a bit thicker at the tip.
• Liquid wrench penetrating oil for helping to loosen screws (he likes this better than WD-40)
• brash wire brushes
• steel wire brushes (uses less frequently as they're more abrasive)
• pouch of precision wrenches (imperial and metric) his are bladed, Moody tools wrenches (mfg.) prefer the thinnest tips
• microfiber cloths
• jig for soldering typeslugs on typearms
• pouch with various typewriter specific pliers:
  • 3 prong pliers (total of 9 prongs) for making bends/forming typebars (especially making bends in the middle of bars rather than the end.;
  • peening bend pliers;
  • bending pliers for sideways bends esp. with thinner typebars;
  • vertical adjustment pliers (with rollers) not good for making adjustments of 3mm or more;
  • forming pliers with screws on the end to rotate heads for bending, peening and cutting;
  • peening pliers (bending by metal displacement)
• Magnetized screwdrivers
• forceps
• screw grabber (active capture)
• spring hooks (push/pull)
• nylon brushes for dusting
• needle nose pliers
• t-bender with slotted head for forming metal
• small bottles for mineral spirits and sewing machine oil. They have small metal tips for precision application.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZNKLmIg2dc

Ron's Reviews - YouTube<br /> by [[Parks and Recreation]] <br /> accessed on 2025-10-06T22:21:10

Ron's Typewriter - YouTube<br /> by [[Parks and Recreation]] <br /> accessed on 2025-10-06T22:09:41

Someone who indicates that they use both "commonplace book" and "zettelkasten" systems. I'm curious how they differentiate the two, particularly because they seem to both be done on index cards.

Sort of sounds like zettles are her own ideas vs. commonplace for the ideas of others.

At 4:40 she seems to use linear numbering on her zettels and not Luhmann-artig numbering.

No. 113 New Feature! The ZIS: Zettelkasten Information Superhighway • Buttondown<br /> by [[Bob Doto]]<br /> accessed on 2025-10-06T16:40:32

Bachman, George, and Lawrence Narici. Functional Analysis. Academic Press, 1966. Reprint: Dover Publications, 2000.

https://github.com/alangrainger/obsidian-air-quotes

An Obsidian plugin that can pull quotes from digital files into specific notes.

Found via: https://forum.obsidian.md/t/using-hypothes-is-to-quickly-place-notes-into-my-digital-notebook/5010/29

https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1nyozfk/what_are_these/

Smith-Corona Electra users:<br /> - Joyce Carol Oates - Electra 220<br /> - William Styron - Electra 210 - Robert Caro - Electra 210 (New York Times) - Allen Ginsberg - Electra - Truman Capote - Electra 110

Standard Typewriter Ribbon Notes for the US:

Here's a handful of places: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-faq.html#q1 I've really liked ribbons from either Baco or Fine Line, but you can also get them from your local repair shop, who'll appreciate the business more than Amazon will, and it'll help keep them around for when you may need a full overhaul.

You'll want the Universal spools of 2" in diameter with 1/2" wide ribbon (in Nylon, Silk, or Cotton), but honestly, if you've got original metal spools on your machine, those usually work best, so spool your new ribbon from the cheap plastic spools onto your originals.

Reply to u/PatriotMike1 at https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1nya3bb/looking_for_ribbon_for_this_typewriter/

Nebula<br /> accessed on 2025-10-04T09:27:37

Nebula is smart, thoughtful videos, podcasts, and classes from your favorite creators.

Why bother with dozens of big standards in your office when you can have a portable or two that you can move and which are always in demand?

100% The Practical Magazine of Efficient Management, November 1916, Volume 7, No. 45, p49. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Management/hqj2SD6khL4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=corona&pg=RA4-PA49&printsec=frontcover

"Use Work-Organizers" advertisement, Bookseller & Stationer and Office Equipment Journal, Toronto, October 1920, Vol XXXVI, No. 10, p70.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Bookseller_Stationer_and_Office_Equipmen/toZQAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=dictaform%20meilicke&pg=RA9-PA70&printsec=frontcover

Photo of a work organizer for indexing/filing on both a desktop as well as within the desk drawer.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PKMS/comments/1nst6fc/found_a_pkms_method_from_1916_that_im_shocked_i/

Office Appliances, August 1916 p115.

reply to u/Ag_2402 at https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1nwl0jb/brother_charger_11/

Remove the ribbon and compare what's happening bilaterally. Use the mirror symmetry of the two sides and the ribbon reverse functionality to puzzle out what's wrong. Is something stuck? Broken? Bent? Missing? Comparing the broken side to the working side should help to solve the puzzle.

Look closely at the mechanics of what's going on. Are the gears turning at all? Is there a pawl that holds the forward motion properly? Does something need to be bent back into place? Is there a missing spring perhaps?

Beyond this doing searches for ribbon advancement on YouTube (especially Phoenix Typewriter's channel) may unearth some illustrative help.

Some of the advice here may be helpful: https://typewriterdatabase.com/RD-Typewriter-Tips.index.manual

reply to u/peachaphrodite at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1nwu77s/sears_scholar_specific_letters_are_faint/

Issue with light imprints on a, w, q, etc.

Are you a touch typist or a two finger hunt-and-peck typist?

Solely based on the letters, I'll guess there's nothing wrong with the machine and that you're a newer touch typist whose two weakest fingers on your non-dominant hand just need some exercise to get a better imprint. I'd guess the same happens to your z and x as well, but you use them less. Practice typing about your "qwaze axes and saws" a few times a day for a week to improve your finger strength and technique.

If you're a hunt-and-peck person, then your typebars may need some gentle forming/fine adjustment using some specialist tools to give better imprints. Those letters on the ends of the segment more often go out of alignment than others. If this is the case, try: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-repair.html

Several people here recommend the Dixon DX005 (plastic) as a good mid-price starter whistle in the $50 range.

https://reddit.com/r/tinwhistle/comments/1nsape6/thin_whistle_for_learning/

https://www.reddit.com/r/tinwhistle/comments/179avhc/a_request_for_a_pinned_thread_of_all_whistle/

https://www.susato.com/

Five Books

mentioned by ES @ DABC<br /> Five books recommended by experts in particular areas.

Wilhelmshaven: The Emperor's beloved city destroyed in the war<br /> by [[NDR.de]]<br /> accessed on 2025-09-30T15:02:51

I found a video about Wilhelmshaven in 1965 in the vintage section of a German broadcast service. The video is all German. It was made in 1965 and shows how the city developed through the decades. It is 17 minutes long, and the time from 6:30 to 8:30 is dedicated to Olympia Typewriters. You'll see a breathtaking amount of SG1s, workers correcting the letter alignment, workers taking measures on machines, and workers assembling machines in a huge workshop with a deafening typewriter rattle going on. <br /> via r/typewriters u/andrebartels1977 at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1nun0is/olympia_nerds/

Is he pro or anti-eugenics here? esp. with respect to his time?

de Vries, Hugo. Die Mutationstheorie. Versuche und Beobachtungen über die Entstehung von Arten im Pflanzenreich, Leipzig, Veit & Comp., 1901-03.

compare with Galton:<br /> Galton, F. (1886). "Regression towards mediocrity in hereditary stature". The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 15: 246–263. doi:10.2307/2841583. JSTOR 2841583.

But about forty years ago the Dutchman de Vries discovered

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_de_Vries

from where does he draw the idea "code-script"? Is it from the developing information theory of the time? Somewhere else?

There is definitely the idea of a code running in the sense of programming, which was likely not a common conceptualization at the time.

On p. 22 he uses the phrase "law-code" which is likely the closer meaning of code he's using and not the sense of genetic code as understood much later when DNA and the underlying protein coding sequences were unraveled.

Morse code may also be a tangential underlying meaning of his sense of "code" as something unknown but potentially revealable.

Jeremy.Olsen — 9/16/25, 8:21 AM Opening question for 9/16 - Regarding Schrödinger's description of thought on p.9 (Canto Classics edition):

"...what we call thought (1) is itself an orderly thing, and (2) can only be applied to material, i.e. to perceptions or experiences, which have a certain degree of orderliness."

My question is as follows: What exactly is the material of thought for Schrödinger, which he calls "perceptions or experiences"? What are examples of this material for him? What is excluded from this category?

the fusion of two cells, or of their nuclei, in reproduction.

essentially similar to fertilization

You have to love the analogy of General Montgomery to chromosomes here and the duplication of information.

Everyone knows the general direction they're moving, though the information in soldiers is different in form and function versus chromosomes which aren't conscious.

What happens when a soldier is captured and questioned though? How does that effect strategy and does it outweigh the effects of a commander dying and their next in command being able to quickly take over? or of the individual soldier presented by a difficulty, but able to make a decision because they know where the general might direct them for the outcome the general desired?

How might we apply ontogeny vs. phylogeny in the political sphere within @Lanier2013s framing Who Owns the Future or in the personbyte/firmbyte framing of @Hidalgo2015?

What a great conceptualization of considering organisms in time and space... something we don't do now as well as we ought to almost 80+ years later

One might presume as a physicist he's taking advantage of Einstein's conceptualization of spacetime, but here within biology.

While an apology to professionals, it also stands as an apology to the reasonably well-educated and non specialist decades later as well.

Translation:

Being is eternal; for there are laws to conserve the treasures of life on which the Universe draws for beauty.

This reminds me of the equivalence relational quote by Eddington

square root of n law

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curie%27s_law

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Langevin

Is he getting at the idea of consciousness? An organism must have a "large enough" machinery to be considered conscious at some level? How many physical moving parts and what links between them?

an attempt is better than nothing at all

"If at first you don't suck seed, keep on sucking until you do succeed." - Curly of the Three Stooges while eating a peach

here he's outlining the idea of scientific method

compare this with crystalized information as expounded in: Hidalgo, César A. Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies. Basic Books, 2015, https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/cesar-hidalgo/why-information-grows/9780465048991/.

the question on which he'll be focusing the book

Come back when we're done to see how well he may have answered it.

It wouldn't be until almost a decade later that Delbruck, Golomb, et al. would be using math on the topic.

was this possibly the inspiration of Cathy O'Neill's book title?

Introduction to Metric Spaces <br /> by [[Paige Bright]] via | Mathematics | MIT OpenCourseWare<br /> accessed on 2025-09-27T16:42:53

Adler J3 Typewriter - YouTube<br /> by [[Joe Van Cleave]]<br /> accessed on 2025-09-27T15:42:43

The rubber gromets/bushings of the Adler J3 are often an issue with their cases when they've aged.

Joe also compares this with the Olympia SM3 and an Optima Super typewriter (poorly designed)

John Lewis is closing his typewriter shop in Arizona soon.

Nakajima Daisywheel Typewriter Part 2 - YouTube<br /> by [[Joe Van Cleave]]<br /> accessed on 2025-09-27T15:15:18

The Nakamima WPT-150 is manufactured by Mitsunami Asia(S)Pte Ltd. in Indonesia and is sold in other countries as the model AX-150, which may help in finding supplies, print wheels, etc. for it.

nadist.com has repair manuals and parts lists as well as specifications

They sell six different models of which the WPT-150 is the least expensive.

Joe is a little more cognizant of the typing delay time of the Brother and it's seemingly non-existent for the Nakajima.

JVC tested the words per minute speed for the Nakajima using polar opposite characters on the daisy wheel.

Securing Your Typewriter Case - YouTube<br /> by [[Joe Van Cleave]]<br /> accessed on 2025-09-27T15:06:35

ebooks versus physical books

this sort of remixing of information was NOT new with this group

what is really going on here?

are we seeing patterns? who/what are the big influencers?

Alternately, where is the value in a slip box?

what general patterns do siren servers follow? are they all the same within some set of metrics?

Is this an over-simplification of what Marx wanted?

is this true in all cases?

definition of scalable

reply to u/GrandRevolutionary99 at https://reddit.com/r/stationery/comments/1nrkuqf/i_need_help_to_create_my_own_letterhead_for_my/

Typewriter enthusiasts often use 100% cotton or high linen content papers with weights in the 32 pound range for 8.5x11. This gives you some nice tactile feel, but will also feed into most typewriters, even with a solid backing sheet. If you want to do thicker card stocks, then you might opt for a bigger standard typewriter which generally have larger diameter platens and more easily handle much thicker paper (they were meant for doing carbon packs up up to 10 sheets or more.)

When it comes to the look of your letters, you can generally choose between silk (clean, crisp imprints), nylon (almost as clean as silk, but with more "grain"), and cotton typewriter ribbon (which leaves a very grainy/old timey and "typewriter-y" imprint). Comparisons here.

I've got a small fleet of typewriters and prefer to use the pica sizes for personal correspondence. I also tend toward the cursive or Vogue typefaces for those as well.

In the US, a lot of stationers have pre-cut paper and envelopes for 6-3/8" x 8-1/2" paper which is a good size sheet for quick notes. My typewriter pen pal Tom Hanks' most recent letter to me was on a custom page of 7.125 x 10.25" and had space for design at the top and bottom with some reasonable space in the middle. If you do custom designs, be sure to order a box or two of plain stock to use as second, third, etc. pages behind your first page if you tend to write over your first page.

Naturally custom designing your own can be fun as well, but get a few samples of the size and weight you want and try them out before ordering in quantity.

Lenore Fenton can give you tips on making carbon copies of your letters if you want to keep them for your own files while sending out the originals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUJfCfqgsX0

Searching r/typewriters for stationery, letterhead, paper, etc. might give you some ideas as well.

reply to u/firefox2061 at https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1nqpvbk/i_ended_up_with_a_1957_olympia_sm3_trying_to_sell/

Take a close look at the online shops that are selling restored machines to see how they're signaling cleaned and restored machines. Professional photos, videos, and type samples will help significantly. The market picks up closer to the holidays and will help you realize greater value.

As you surely know, the bottom of the market for these in unknown condition and potentially shaky/iffy shipping is $120 and professionally cleaned, oiled, and adjusted is in the $550 range (without a new platen).

Shops actively servicing machines and putting on new platens are going to quote in the range of $150-180 for the roughly $100 recovering + their labor. It's rare in the market that buyers truly appreciate the value of a new platen. (Most don't even appreciate the value of a serviced typewriter either.) You're much likelier to get someone paying better rates when they can see and test the machine in person to appreciate how clean and well aligned it is.

You statement about the typeface is off (presuming I found the right listing) as this is very definitely not a Congress face. Try again using: https://typecast.munk.org/2011/04/23/1964-nomda-blue-book-olympia-font-styles/

You should also specifically mention that you've replaced the rubber body gaskets that commonly have compression problems on these SM3s.

Including a facsimile copy of the manual may also be helpful: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-manuals.html

See also: https://boffosocko.com/2025/06/23/typewriter-repair-costs-and-valuation-professional-shops-versus-collectors-versus-first-time-buyers/

reply to u/Alchemic-Web at https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1mtx90h/got_a_1940s_underwood_whats_best_way_to_clean_it/

Congratulations and welcome to the club.

For some basic typewriter 101 including a short intro to cleaning, try: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJtHauPh529XYHI5QNj5w9PUdi89pOXsS

More cleaning and restoration: - https://boffosocko.com/2024/08/09/on-colloquial-advice-for-degreasing-cleaning-and-oiling-manual-typewriters/ - https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-restoration.html

For use and maintenance: https://boffosocko.com/2025/06/06/typewriter-use-and-maintenance-for-beginning-to-intermediate-typists/

Additional resources: https://boffosocko.com/research/typewriter-collection/

VINTAGE 1958 COMMERCIAL - REMINGTON RAND - QUIET WRITER TYPEWRITER w/FABULOUS FOUR

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_folk_songs_by_Roud_number

RE: poor type quality on the "!" via u/TheGuyAtThePlace265 at https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1no1whe/poor_definition_on/

Lots of things can cause this in rough order, check:

Clean the slugs

Ribbon can have an effect. Silk is generally crisper than nylon which is crisper than cotton.

The paper can have an effect depending on the thickness and general grain.

Typing technique can play a part. Often you'll see issues including ghosting and other problems, particularly if you bottom out a key while typing.

Are you using a backing sheet?

Is your platen rock hard or has it been re-covered?

Is your ring and cylinder adjustment properly done?

The most frequently abused slugs are often the ones at the the ends of the segment and 1/! definitely qualifies. Sometimes a small bit of forming can clear things up.

https://vulcanstev.blog/2025/05/17/nitpicking-the-roku-2025-screensaver/

https://imgur.com/gallery/roku-screensaver-easter-eggs-february-2025-fZlIRmu

https://reddit.com/r/Roku/comments/1iv4sxe/help_with_current_screensaver_easter_eggs/

https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1no7d47/customizing_a_machine/

Hot Rod Typewriter has done some lovely paint jobs on typewriters. Check out Gerren's YouTube, Insta, and other socials for examples. You'll see examples of his work float by on the typewriter database from time to time as well.

Richard Polt's book Typewriter Revolution (2015) book has a whole chapter with photos on custom machines including a Twolympia which puts the internals of an SM9 into the body of an SM3.

I've seen gold, nickel, and chrome plated typewriters which are always fun. I'd love to do a nickel plate of my own one day.

Sadly, the most involved I've done so far is when my daughter loved my Clarion double gothic Royal FP, but wanted to have it in the pearlescent gray, so I swapped all the Sandstone (yellow) body panels from a another one I picked up just for the swap.

u/BlindAssassin111 had some cool custom made leather handles he showed off the other day: https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1nm8eit/made_my_own_leather_handle_for_a_carrying_case/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_Heresies_(Irenaeus) Against Heresies by Irenaeus

Archive / online catalogue - Typewritermuseum<br /> accessed on 2025-09-22T15:36:11

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaron_Lanier

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhard_Seminars_Training <br /> Erhard Seminars Training aka est, Est, and EST

Swan Song<br /> https://vimeo.com/665734692

mentioned by TVW

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyndale_Bible

Sharlet, Jeff. The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power. Harper, 2008, https://www.amazon.com/Family-Secret-Fundamentalism-Heart-American/dp/B001Q3KM4O/.

The Family (TV Miniseries, 2019, Netflix) 5 episodes<br /> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10715148/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roku_City

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnyRieYfbY8

This Is What Proves Trump’s Dementia: Psychologist<br /> by [[Catherine Bouris]], The Daily Beast Podcast<br /> accessed on 2025-09-21T13:43:51

https://typewriterdatabase.com/show.26500.typewriter

Lynch, David J. The World’s Worst Bet: How the Globalization Gamble Went Wrong. PublicAffairs, 2025. https://amzn.to/46sSxRh

Suggested by PM

Reddit Search for typewriter uses:<br /> https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/search/?q=typewriter+uses

https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1gnblbm/what_do_you_do_with_typewriters_im_planning_to/lwbcs1c/

reply to u/todddiskin at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1nlodr0/how_do_you_use_your_machines/

Some various recent uses:

• I've got writing projects sitting in two different machines.
• I use one on my primary desk for typing up notes on index cards, recipes, my commonplace "book", letters, and other personal correspondence.
• I use a few of my portables on the porch in the mornings/evenings for journaling.
• One machine in the hallway is for impromptu ideas and poetry and an occasional bit of typewriter art.
• One machine near the kitchen is always gamed up for adding to the ever-growing shopping list.
• I'll often get one out for scoring baseball games.
• Participating in One Typed Page and One Typed Quote
• Typing up notes in zoom calls - I've got a camera mount over a Royal KMG that has its own Zoom account so people can watch the notes typed in real time.
• Labels for folders, index card dividers, and sticky labels.
• Addressing envelopes.
• Writing out checks.
• Typecasting
• Hiding a flask or two of bourbon (the Fold-A-Matic Remingtons are great for this)
• Supplementing the nose of my bourbon and whisky collection.

At the end of the day though, unless you're Paul Sheldon, typewriters are unitaskers and are designed to do one thing well: put text on paper. All the rest are just variations on the theme. 😁🤪☠️

see also: https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/search/?q=typewriter+uses

George Willeman, at Home with (Old, Highly Flammable) Movies<br /> by [[Neely Tucker]] for Timeless<br /> accessed on 2025-09-19T19:58:46

Known historical users of the Remington Quiet-Riter:

• Hermann Hesse
• Halldór Laxness
• Martha Gellhorn
• Jack Lemmon's character in Bell, Book, and Candle (1958)

https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1nlbgj9/finally_got_a_cabinet_to_keep_a_few_of_my/

https://www.ribbonsunlimited.com/1-2-Replacement-Uninked-Typewriter-Ribbon-s/12848.htm

Uninked typewriter ribbon in silk, nylon, and cotton.

https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1ifi095/ribbon_comparison/

https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1kjam1u/ribbon_material_makes_a_big_difference/

Cotton versus nylon on an Olympia SM9

Top 10 Worst typewriters<br /> by [[Walid Saad]]<br /> accessed on 2025-09-18T23:49:39

Finding a Typewriter's Serial Number<br /> by [[Robert Messenger]]<br /> accessed on 2025-09-18T20:48:00

<br /> page from Wilf Beeching's Century of the Typewriter (1974 edition)

Tom Hanks delivers autographed typewriter to Portland shop<br /> by [[Devon Haskins]]<br /> accessed on 2025-09-18T20:31:03h

reply to u/Educational-Big-7383 at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1nkb6ga/why_olympia/

It probably doesn't hurt that Olympia was manufacturing some of the best machines at the height of typewriter manufacturing including the use of great materials (strength, durability), design, and general craftsmanship in the 20th century.

Many of these also tended to be late models which were sold in cases, so they tend to be younger, cleaner, and in much nicer condition that the majority of other typewriters out there, and condition really matters a lot when attempting to compare models. As an extreme, but illustrative comparison, a 1930s Royal portable that was pounded out and left in a barn isn't going to hold a candle to an SM3 that was lightly used and lovingly kept in a closet.

reply to u/BudgetSprinkles3689 at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1nkbw85/serial_number_location/

What is the purpose of a serial number? What does it do for you? There are serial numbers on things all around you; do you know where all of those are? The VIN number on your vehicle maybe?

People now are only using them to approximate manufacturing dates for fun, but they were generally only used by the factory or repair people to identify specific machines and/or tie issues after manufacture back to production line problems. Do they need to be easily accessed or visible for these purposes? The people who really need them generally know exactly where they are and how to find them.

Sometimes they're used to create inventories for owners or in cases of theft, but these generally aren't common uses that need high visibility. Because they can be removed or defaced, should they be put in easily findable and accessible places?

Generally they're stamped in at the factory during production on integral parts of the machine during assembly. As a result, they can often be hidden or covered up by parts (especially exterior panels and body styling) added later. If it's on an exterior, easy-to-remove part, what good is it?

If it helps, here's a diagram of some common locations: