Thanks, Chris! I gotta say some of your articles and the resources you compiled deserve a LOT of credit here.

Swintec thrived on this type of government business, but sales were declining by the late 1990s. Then the company stumbled on an idea: a clear typewriter for prisons. The company's owner, Dominic Vespia, says they were inspired by other transparent products designed to prevent smuggling of contraband, from televisions to toothpaste tubes.

Though Swintec is profitable, it has slimmed down to about 10 employees from about 85 employees, Mr. Michael says. He says the company sold "thousands and thousands" of typewriters at the peak but declined to be specific. Swintec still sells about 3,000 to 5,000 typewriters a year, to customers including universities, senior centers and state and federal prisons.

Brother International Corp., a Japan-based company with U.S. headquarters in Bridgewater, N.J., still sells typewriters, although unlike Swintec its business is diverse, including everything from printers to sewing machines.

And Swintec executives found a way to save their business a decade ago with a new client: prisons.

Mister Rogers arrives with a card showing the word "typewriter" on one side and a picture of a typewriter on the other. In the kitchen, he has a real typewriter set up which he demonstrates for viewers. Mister Rogers talks about mothers and fathers who use typewriters before he sings I'd like to Be Just Like Mom and Dad. As he sings, a short film is shown about mothers and fathers.

you can adjust the strike of individual typebars by either filing or peening the ring-stop tab, file to hit harder & peen to lighten it. for your situation, you will want to file the ring-stop down a bit; make sure to tilt the machine up(or on its side) so the debris created doesn’t fall down into the pivot segment, then blow the area out with compressed air. if you go to Hobby Lobby or an RC model shop, you should be able to get a cheap set of needle files which will do the job; follow up with 600-800 grit sandpaper to remove burrs

roller pliers are for adjusting the height of individual letters(increasing the arc to lower & decreasing arc to raise, which in extreme case can then require adjustment of the slug to put it ‘square’ again relative to the platen) adjusting the strike for most models is done by either filing or peening the ring-stop tab near the base of the typebar(as is the case for OP’s smith corona)

in olden timey days, they taught more or less like this: hyphenate between syllables, in general, more than half the word should be on the first line. If the bell has gone off, then generally don’t start a long word. After the bell, there is room for 7, or 6 plus a hyphen. If your word is longer than that, save it for the next line. Use the margin release sparingly. For example, you might need a comma after the last word. ,

San Diego, California.

Fulgentin

So I’m sitting here drinking my tea about to get dressed and go pick up my latest typewriter; already got the heads up she’s arrived. Savouring the moment a little. I paid five dollars for her, no one else bid. And she does loOk kind of rough; rust spots everywhere, perhaps a dent in the top cover, dirty and grimy and probably smells like an old basement. But you know; I felt a little sorry for her. Although not top of the line she is a reputable model, as far as british typewriters go anyway. And I was sort of impressed by her slightly more extravagant sister. Wondering how bad can it really be? Some elbow grease, isopropyl, and Fulgentin will sort her out, surely? Worrying about did she survive the journey, did they pack her properly, or will she turn out to be a mangled pile of rusty parts when I open the box? So many questions. And I am wondering is this maybe the best part? But no - the best part is opening the case for the first time and seeing her in the flesh; or steel, I suppose, for the first time. That is the a moment I cherish. Better get going. See you in a bit, little darling! <3

jbird8550 0 points1 point2 points an hour ago (0 children)also, Idk where you are, I am quoting Southern California prices

If all the digital power that it takes to type up a book could be gathered into one blow, it would probably knock a hole through the Empire State Building

How to display Typewriters properly?

Near the beginning of the new Superman movie, there's a scene in Lois Lane's apartment with a typewriter in a number of shots behind her. Couldn't make out the model or make in the theatre, anyone else?

the mark says AR for Albert Rodrian, one half of RaRo. If you ever see an R inside an octagon thats the mark for the other half, Alfred Ransmayer.

Not exactly, no. Ro85 and Ro87 (Pica and Elite Cubic) are very close to OP's type sample but the W's have sloped sides and the numerals are different. It's not a copy of Sentorial either, the most apparent differences are the Capital Q and K. I could not find Ro83 in any of my catalogs either, it's a bit weird. I've seen RaRo slugs on Olympias before, it's possible this was something they only did for them. Ro87 Elite-Cubic: https://i.imgur.com/3seKddd.jpeg Olympia Senatorial: https://i.imgur.com/yuTlzQh.jpeg

Not clean enough. There is only one solution, you take the body panels off and clean it. The keys here need cleaned with a 50/50 mix Simple Green and water. The comb area gets cleaned and blown out with mineral spirits. The basket gets cleaned, carefully, with lacquer thinner. If the insulation is really bad, you take it out and glue in new. I like EVA foam. But I will wash the insulation with SG and water and rinse it in the sink and then let dry and retest if it is in good condition otherwise. Case insides can tolerate some water if you don't like soak it. I use a pet spray, scrub it fast, rinse and get it dried off fast Then out in the sun or a fan blowing on it. Once it is dry, if it still smells, I take a few paper towels, spray Glade air freshener in them, set it in a tin foil pan and into the case. Then out in the sun closed up. That will kill most anything.

it probably needs new feet too. I snagged a rubber urethane jeweler's pad off Amazon for $9 and it's enough for 4+ machines. Better than the $35 I saw online. The feet are just 1x1x1/2 in blocks. I cut them a hair big with a utility knife and many passes and sanded them to fit. Kinda messy.

Very sad to report that Jerry Wallace, my typewriter maintenance and repairman passed away last year. This news is new to me since I lost contact with him when he retired and moved to Northern California. What a loss to the typewriter community. I used to take my typewriters to Jerry to fix and polish up at his Salinas home repair shop.

That's an important question with several answers. Give it to someone as a gift. Give it to someone as a punishment. Store it in a safe place. Send it to a type pal. Give it to recycling. Rub yourself down with (mud? molasses? butter? beer? blood? snow?) and burn it in a bonfire. Throw it in the sea. Throw it in a volcano. Throw it in a hallway. Throw it in a drawer. Take a picture of it and submit it on one typed page. Type over it in another colour. Type over it in the same colour. Eat it. (The last should only be considered for very little amounts. Please use common sense.)

I'm totally prejudiced as I work at a local typewriter repair shop in Bremerton, Washington. We also have a space where we sell them. In general if the local shop has a bunch of machines that you can put on a table to try out, that is good. If they don't want you futzing with the typewriters, I'm not sure the value. Do they have a warranty? If not, then stick to the internet and local antique shops and buy as low as you can. At least that way when you need repair you have a cost buffer.

Hindsight - I wish I could have just gone to a typewriter shop and bought just two or three machines (desktop standard, portable, and ultraportable).

We recommend people come to our shop and type. We charge $5 an hour or you can look into our rental programs. We have a lot of people come in just to hang out and type. No plans on actually owning one, and that's fine with us. Come in, play, leave without the 10-30 pounds of metal with you lol. We also sell and service machine. Prices vary some. But all our machine have a 60 day guarantee from date of purchase. We do ship machines as well if you find something on our website that you like. Assuming you aren't near the Dayton Ohio area.

We use three ultrasonic cleaners in the shop. The two smaller ones we bought on eBay. One is small for screws, springs and such. The slightly larger one is for small to medium size machines, carriages and other long stuff. The large cleaner is a commercial item used mostly for Selectrics.

Yep, some times hard to tell from the listings. Look for the inside dimensions of the unit. We have a three gallon (screws and small bits), 13 gallon (carriages and dunking half a typewriter) and a gargantuan gallon for Selectric machines.

We switched to Ultra 3 detergent after using Dawn detergent for years. A quantum leap in effectiveness. When we got the new Ultra 2100 cabinet ultrasonic unit it came with a gallon of detergent. We used it ONE TIME and the parts came out so much cleaner, almost brand new. The detergent is expensive, yet we've never gone back.

We are often asked what ultrasonic cleaners we use in the shop. We have three. The large cabinet model that holds large typewriters such as Selectrics, a medium sized 12"X20", and a smaller cleaner 10"X12". The medium and smaller ones you can buy on eBay all day. The models change, and the sizes are all similar. The medium sized cleaner is used for small to medium sized typewriters and the small machine is mostly for nuts, screws and other tiny stuff.

At our shop we know that we'll age out. Everyone does. To seed the typewriter field we have a 12 week apprentice training program. Hopefully a few get the repair mojo and open up their own shop. Or just become more adept at the hobby. I can only hope once the time comes we have someone willing.

Reese Electronics on Westwood Blvd in Los Angeles. Helmut was a mechanical engineer for Olivetti.

(1) EVERYTHING WAS HANDWRITTEN—WE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE TYPEWRITERS.

Ken Alexander worked for 20 years at California Typewriter as the shop’s principal technician on manual typewriters. But these days he’s working three days a week at Berkeley Typewriter, “though that number will likely go up,” he said.

Tom Furrier, who owns the Cambridge Typewriter Company in Massachusetts, has sold several typewriters to Mr. Cidoni and said that high school and college students have become a staple of his business.

Edward Derbes earned his B.A. in Rhetoric from UC Berkeley last year. He still resides in Berkeley, and can often be found on the front steps of his apartment building reading Kierkegaard and Nelson Algren.

Joe Banuelos, its third owner, has run the shop for nearly twenty years. Joe’s brother, Jesse Banuelos, who works as a typewriter technician at the store

Herbert Permillion, who runs California Typewriter Company on San Pablo Avenue, said he was also at a loss to explain the trend.  “I’m almost in awe to some extent, but then I can sort of understand that some people tend to reach back and some people want things a little simpler.”

California Typewriter Company was opened as California Typewriter on Shattuck Avenue by  Glenn Tuttle in 1949. Permillion bought the shop in 1981 from its second owner, Joseph Mundy, at its second location on University and moved it to its current location on San Pablo in 1986.

Jesse said that he sold a typewriter for $350 just minutes before this reporter’s arrival. Most of the restored typewriters in the store sell from between $295 to $400.

A fascination with vintage typewriters also accounts for the recent rise in sales, said Joe. In particular, people in Japan are buying typewriters built in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. The store will charge $250 to repair a classic Olivetti, but that machine can be resold for $1,000 in Japan, said Joe. “They buy them because they are antique. There’s a big demand because they are part of American history.”

La Machine à écrire is a three-act play written by French dramatist Jean Cocteau, premiered on 29 April 1941 at the Théâtre Hébertot in Paris. It has been translated into English as The Typewriter by Ronald Duncan.[

Which keys are those? It's possible that they slow down keys which would otherwise risk penetrating the page. If they're on period, comma etc then this is likely the case.

The destroyed typewriter was recovered from the Jackson Park Lagoon on June 7.

when 17:54 I'm looking to add to my collection now 17:56 I want something a little bit different 17:58 and this this remette is that it's not a 18:01 portable it's not an ultra portable it's 18:03 really loud it doesn't have all of its 18:06 parts the top cover doesn't belong to it 18:08 and is Rusty there's a lot not going for 18:11 this machine but that's what I like 18:13 about it

Gerren HotRod TypewriterCoThey are tough to install. It's not the taking things apart that gets you, it's putting it back together. I recommend not pulling a Royal carriage unless it's broken to the point there is no other option. If you like the color you can buy another $25 QDL and put the body on the new one. There is almost no reason to remove the carriage on these unless you need to replace it with another or swap out the main escapement

My filmmaking crew is working on the script for a new typewriter documentary. The most prominent so far, California typewriter, was made in 2016 and much has changed.

I saw one last week at Gary’s Typewriters in Long Beach, Ca. - someone just gave it to him as a joke or something - his review: “They ought to be ashamed of themselves!” I tried it, and he was being generous. It’s a piece of garbage. For the money you can get a nice restored machine. Or you could just light your money on fire. Either way it’d be a better experience.

Olympia SG1 service manual: text, illustrations Olympia SG1 parts catalog and price list (1961)

Olympia SG1 Olympia SG1 (Dutch)