PART 178 Typospherians are a wonderfully eccentric lot, though they do tend to get their priorities right – that is: typewriters first, everything else next. Take, for example an event, if one could call it that, which took place just two days before Christmas 2010. A group of typewriter historians and typewriter collecting worthies, including Jim Dax, Nick Fisher in England, incoming ETCetera editor Alan Seaver, typewriter ephemera king Peter Weil, and Ned Brooks, all got involved in a lengthy online exchange on the Yahoo typewriter forum. The subject? The first ads for the coloured Corona 4 portable typewriters! Yes, folks, the typewriter gifts were all neatly wrapped and stacked away under the Christmas tree, the spare ribbons had been left out for Santa, the typewriter ephemera-decorated Yuletide cards had been sent to all corners of the globe, and all was well with the world … … Now down to some serious business. Portable typewriter colours ... Heady stuff! My all-time favourite typewriter ad The consensus, as far as I could make out, was that the first ads promoting this range of wonderfully coloured Corona 4s appeared in late 1927. I suppose, then, a Christmas Eve discussion was appropriate, 87 years after the event, since it was indeed for Christmas 1927 that L.C.Smith & Corona had launched this range of models and embarked on with a national (and international) advertising campaign. The ad second from the top of this post, for example, appeared on the inside front cover of LIFE magazine on this day (November 17) in 1927. (The famous cover is by John Held Jr). The Christmas-themed ad at the top of the post appeared the special Christmas edition of LIFE the following month. Was this cover of the August 23, 1928, LIFE, by Eldon Kelley inspired by the multi-coloured Corona 4s? Or by the Royal portables which were also launched in 1927? Oops … it’s almost Christmas! Might get another online portable typewriter colours huddle going here … This one, which I won in an auction held in Chicago, was once on my (cluttered) shelf was now belongs to Richard Amery in Sydney. This also once belonged to me; goodness knows where it is now. Corona 4s that are still with me ... Drab in plain black, maybe, but the original Corona 4 (without the panels but with the word "Four" written under the front decal) is still highly efficient. I once almost bought one of these that was especially painted for Syracuse University. Stylish in black with the gold panels, too:
Commercial Visible Typewriter Co. of New York: This beautiful typewriter types from a type wheel, that is easy to remove, allowing for a quick change of font. To make an impression, a spring loaded hammer behind the carriage swings forward, striking the paper and ribbon against the type wheel. Learn more about the Commercial Visible typewriter and see the rest of my collection. The Martin Howard Collection www.antiquetypewriters.com
David Mamet once observed that writers are obsessed with office supply stores. The things these stores contain — pens, pencils, inks, paper — are the only visible proof of what we do. I thought of Mamet’s remark after seeing California Typewriter, a fascinating new documentary about the titular shop in Berkeley, California. Computers may rule the day (these words are […]
Who would blame me for wanting to revisit the Groma Kolibri, so soon after my previous post on this ultraslim portable typewriter? (I must admit it feels a little like Duelling Banjos with Georg Sommeregger, with Georg plucking those strings a lot better than I can!). I also confess it is a little frustrating, as I dearly love all of these small, low-profile post-war European typewriters, but language barriers restrict what I can dig out about their development. Still, I struggle on in my researches, such is my abiding fascination with this range of portables. I mentioned in my previous Groma post that I had another Kolibri, and here it is. Also, some more close-ups of my other two Kolibris, and a comparison with a normal-size matchbox and an average-size credit-business-library card. The Kolibri is 6.5 centimetres high, or just over two-and-a-half inches (2.559). I think the original Gossen Tippa is about the same height, but I will check that out when I post on the full range of Tippas, from the Gossen through the Adler to the Litton, all of which are in my collection But getting back to the Groma: the brand name comes from combining the original company name, Maschinenfabrik G.F.Grosser, with its home town, Markersdorf, on the river Chemnitz. The company started making typewriters after Max Paul Pfau (born March 31, 1872, Saxony, Germany) returned to Chemnitz in 1924 from the US, with almost 30 years' experience in typewriter design and manufacturing under his belt. Pfau had immigrated with his family to the US in 1884, aged 12, and later worked for Remington in New York and Underwood in Hartford, as well as spending time in Woodstock, Illinois, where in 1911-12 he designed typewriters for Emerson. This was soon after Emerson's factory opened in Woodstock. During his time in the US, Pfau remained a citizen of Saxony. Richard Polt Collection, Richard Uhlig design. Pfau patented improvements. Back in Germany, Pfau applied his US-gained design expertise to Wanderer typewriters, producing this portable: The collection of the late Tilman Elster, ex the European Typewriter Project, with Will Davis Pfau then joined Gustav Friedrich Grosser's sewing machine company (founded 1872). Maschinenfabrik G.F.Grosser GmbH started its production of typewriters in 1924. In 1934 Pfau was headhunted by Torpedo typewriters. Richard Polt Collection, Pfau design Pfau was succeeded as head of design at Groma by Leopold Ferdinand Pascher. Georg tells us Pascher was a Viennese engineer. In October 1936 Pascher, based in Schweizertal, was issued with a German patent for what would become the first of the Groma ultraslim typewriters, the Gromina. Thomas Furtig Collection Pascher's application specifications describe in detail his intention to produce a typewriter "which can be carried in a small envelope". Pascher made an application for a US patent for the same design in November 1940, 13 months before the US entered the war. The patent was issued on March 7, 1944, but because of the hostilities, it was vested in the Alien Property Custodian. Thomas Furtig Collection. Note the gull-wing ribbon covers, similar to the Hermes Baby and Beaucourt Message During the war, Pascher's design for the Gromina remained on hold. With Groma's manufacturing restructure in 1951, it was finally made. Richard Polt Collection: This was the last model of the Gromina, made in 1954 Four years later, the Gromina was followed by the Kolibri. This later work was apparently taken up by Karl Ronneberger, with VEB Mechanik Groma. Following the war, as the company was in East Germany, it became known as VEB Mechanik Groma (VEB=Volkseigenen Betrieb, or "state-owned enterprise" of the German Democratic Republic [East Germany]). I mentioned the Pascher patent in my detailed look at the Rooy ultraslim typewriter in September, which is at http://oztypewriter.blogspot.com/2011/09/on-this-day-in-typewriter-history-cxiii.html But, being none the wiser then, I speculated that the design may have been for the Kolibri. As Richard Polt rightly pointed out at the time, it was for the Gromina. "The Kolibri used a different system, not involving geared typebars such as these," said Richard. This was possibly the "advance" on Pascher's work made by Ronneberger. Elsewhere, Richard questioned the accuracy in using the Kolibri in the film The Lives of Others. After all, the Kolibri was made in East Germany. Georg points out, however, that until Kolibri production ended in 1962, one of the largest customers for Groma was the West German mail-order firm and department store Neckermann. And Adwoa adds that these Groma Kolibris were relabelled as Neckermann Brilliant Juniors. Given, in the film, the typewriter has no ribbon cover (so we can see the all-red ribbon, presumably) it might well have been a Neckermann!? Adwoa Bagalini Collection Gromina, Christian Hamman Collection
The Martin Howard collection of antique typewriters shows the remarkable designs of the world's first typewriters which flourished in the 1880s and 1890s.
Duplex Typewriter Co., Des Moines, Iowa: This Jewett is an understrike typewriter, in order to see what you had typed you would lift up the carriage to look underneath. With no shift key in the design and each type-bar printing only one character, a double-keyboard was required. This typewriter sold for about $100.00. Learn more about the Jewett typewriter and see the rest of my collection. The Martin Howard Collection www.antiquetypewriters.com
AMP is a pretty engaging sci-fi short written and directed by Adam Marisett for Triton Films. It's set in a world where giant robots can be your best
The Martin Howard collection of antique typewriters shows the remarkable designs of the world's first typewriters which flourished in the 1880s and 1890s.
Oliver typewriter company, Chicago, IL: Canadian born Reverend Thomas Oliver, living in Ohio, invented the Oliver and patented it in 1894. The type-bars swing down to the platen from the two type-bar towers, allowing the typist to see what they are typing, or as it was called "visible typing". Oliver typewriters were solidly built and typed smoothly, selling very well for many years, however early nickel plated examples, like this one, are scarse. Learn more about the Oliver typewriter and see the rest of my collection. The Martin Howard Collection www.antiquetypewriters.com
From the Virtual Typewriter Collection of Richard Polt: 188X Crandall New Model | Not in the best shape, but -- c'mon -- it's a...
The Martin Howard collection of antique typewriters shows the remarkable designs of the world's first typewriters which flourished in the 1880s and 1890s.
Pink Biser typewriter made in Yugoslavia. Fully serviced and painted by professional. Good working condition. Comes with original case.
Image from Leaping Lemming of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho In a comment on my post about the Underwood Master Model, Donald Lampert asked if I knew who designed it. At the time I didn't and, with apologies to Donald, I should have checked that out before posting. But I would have guessed Willie Dobson, and as it turns out I would have guessed right. Dobson's April 1937 mask design. The Master Model did not appear until 1939. Dobson continued to work on the Master in January 1938 (above and below). But the basic inner frame for the Underwood standard, used on the Master, was designed in March 1919 by another great Underwood design engineer, Prussian-born William Ferdinand Helmond (August 1871-). From November 1929 to the end of 1934, Underwood Noiseless standards were made by Remington, but in May 1933 Helmond began to design Underwood's own Noiseless model, which was made until 1946 (the Noiseless portable came from George Gould Going at Remington). A Remington-made Underwood Noiseless: Image from myTypewriter.com The mechanics of the Underwood-made Noiseless were designed by Dobson in December 1934, just before production at Hartford, Connecticut, began: Dobson is possibly best known (at least by me) as the designer of the Underwood Universal-Champion portable, starting in March 1936, but this model was just one of many typewriters he designed for Underwood. Others include the gorgeous version of the earlier four-bank portable, with the indented front sections (March 1931). Bear in mind that Dobson did not just design masks for Underwood, but all the mechanics as well Image from myTypewriter.com Alan Seaver Collection William Albert Dobson was born in Tolland, Connecticut, in November 1870. He started working in Hartford as a toolmaker, then as an automobile engineer. Dobson went to work for Underwood as a toolmaker after World War I and rose through the ranks to become Underwood's factory superintendent in the late 1920s. In his later days he remained with the company as a typewriter engineer. He died in 1958 and is buried at the Walnut Grove Cemetery Meriden, New Haven, Connecticut. "Jake" Neahr (centre) Getting off the subject of typewriters themselves, I just love this stand designed in 1921 by Jacob Eugene Neahr (1862-1935), Underwood's long-serving general sales manager, for the Underwood 3 portable. Has anyone ever seen one?
When the Olympia arrived in the mail, I immediately wanted one for myself. I began the process of looking for a light blue SM3. Surprisingly, I was able to to find one here in Phoenix in an identical color. It really is a very attractive typewriter. I thought this was, perhaps one of the most beautiful typewriters in the world. The color is blue like a summer sky. The chrome shines even on the grayest of days. The gentle lines are at once playful and very serious. It is a joy to look at. The Most Beautiful Typewriter Source: Machines of Loving Grace But as lovely as the Olympia is, there's only one typewriter that I think truly deserves the moniker of "The Most Beautiful Typewriter" and that is the Olivetti Studio 42 designed in 1935. I know many will disagree with me. I would love to hear the disagreements. I do not have an Olivetti Studio 42, but I dream of owning one. If I found this machine (in good condition) I would stop collecting. It's that special. To assist in proving that the Olivetti Studio 42 is "The Most Beautiful Typewriter" I will be using Dieter Rams' 10 Principles of Good Design. I really connect with Rams' aesthetic and think that the principles he created can really help prove my assertion. Fig. 2 Source: Machines of Loving Grace Good Design is Innovative. I cannot think of a typewriter made in the mid-30s that looks a beautiful as the OS42. The only exception is the Royal Deluxe of a similar vintage. While very nice looking, as you can see from the photo (labeled Fig. 2), the use of chrome on this machine is not subtle or discrete. The Quiet (not DeLuxe) is further adorned with three vertical lines on the frame in front of the spacebar. While each of these machines are highly styled and modern (for their time) they are not as restrained as the Olivetti. There is chrome on the OS42, but it accents the curve of the ribbon cover and the frame of the gray insert. Good design makes a product useful. There are no unnecessary buttons or levers on the OS42 This isn't unique to this Olivetti. It seems as if typewriters of this vintage are, usually, immune to the stupid gadgetry of typewriters in the 1960s. Good design is aesthetic. The aesthetic quality of a device is integral to it's usefulness because people use these devices every day to shape their lives. If you use it every day, then it must be beautiful. The Olivetti Studio 42 is a beautiful machine. Good design makes a product understandable. This is an attribute common to typewriters as a whole. There is (usually) no mystery in how to use the most basic functions of a typewriter; press a button and print out a letter. Where typewriters become incomprehensible is when features are hidden. A perfect example of this is the Remington Travel-Riter. The carriage locks with a small, almost completely unnoticeable lever on the right-hand side of the spool cover. If you were unaware of this stupid little button you would, perhaps, think that the machine is broken when, in fact, the designers were merely idiots. A carriage lock should be on the carriage. That would make sense. The OS42 makes sense. Source: Machines of Loving Grace Good design is unobtrusive. The Olivetti Studio 42 visually is an English butler; there when you need it. When you don't need it retreats into the background. It does not assault you with chrome or shiny paint. The SC Sterling of 1936 is a perfect example of shiny distracting paint. The OS42 is neutral and unostentatious. Good design is honest. When style overrides design you get products that cannot live up to our physical expectations. The perfect illustrative would be the Underwood Deluxe. The influence of automobile styling instantaneously makes this typewriter seem outdated. This, however, was the goal of the American automobile industry in the 1950s; they wanted to Source: Machines of Loving Grace sell more cars year after year by making the previous year's style outdated and unfashionable. When you are inspired by this kind of mentality you get bulbous curves that serve no purpose but to appear as if they are designed. This Underwood is dishonest. It promises an experience of driving an automobile. Is typing like driving a car? No. It's typing. The Olivetti does not promise what it cannot keep. It's a sober typewriter and that's it. Curves are present where they are needed. when they are not, they are left off. Take, for example, the curved frame at the front of the machine. No one would want a sharp point near where your hands are working. So, the designers introduced a curve with a pleasant radius. There's no need for curves higher on the machine, so strait lines would be appropriate. Source: Apple Computer Good design is long-lasting. The Olivetti Studio 42 is the only typewriter that looks at-place in any decade. The design and taste of this machine transcends decades. In-fact this OS42 reminds me of a rather modern product; the iPad. Good design is thorough down to the last detail. Who hasn't been annoyed by a poorly designed latch, catch, or lever. Nothing on the OS42 seems to be left to chance. Look at the red tabulator button. Genius! Good design is environmentally friendly. If a product is meant to last decades rather than years it is innately friendly to the environment. When something is meant to be thrown away when it is no longer fashionable, that is poor design. Just look at it. It's gorgeous. I hope you would agree with me that the Olivetti Studio 42 is "The Most Beautiful Typewriter." I would love to hear other opinions.
ettore, what have you wrought? PART 164 It was on this day (November 3) in 1969 that Ettore Sottsass Jr, of 14 Via Manzoni, 20121 Milan, Italy, filed his US patent for the Olivetti Valentine. The typewriter had, of course, when launched by Olivetti almost nine months earlier, in Barcelona, Spain, on St Valentine's Day, February 14, 1969. An application had been made in Italy on May 3. Sottsass cited four previous designs, three of them from Remington typewriter designer Carl Sundberg, from 1960-63. These were for the Monarch and the Envoy II and Envoy III portables. He also referred to a typewriter he had seen on June 18, 1963, in a Singer Sewing Centers folder, No NA 4285, for a Singer Graduate T-31 (which looks very much like the Remington Monarch): As well, Sottsass referred to a suitcase designed by Illinois pair Kendrick T.Parsell and Harold Brickman in 1965. But what Sottsass really had in mind, it turns out, was something like this: Sottsass had long since disowned the Valentine. But as Olivetti had gone ahead with producing it in Barcelona, and it was clearly going to be a success, Sottsass thought he should at least put his name to the design. He might have been altruistic in outlook, but he wasn't stupid. Sottsass told the Los Angeles Weekly arts section in a March 2006 interview ("In the Realm of the Senses") how much he disliked the machine. It was, he said, "too obvious, a bit like a girl wearing a very short skirt and too much make-up". He hated being remembered for it before his other great typewriter designs, such as the Praxis 48. “I worked 60 years of my life," said Sottsass, "and it seems the only thing I did is this ****ing red machine. And it came out a mistake. It was supposed to be a very inexpensive portable, to sell in the market, like pens. It didn’t have capital letters, it didn’t have a bell. I wanted the case to be inexpensive. "Then the people at Olivetti said you cannot sell this kind of cheap Chinese thing. So, everything was put back: the capital letters, the bell, even the expensive plastic, which I was thinking would be this horrible, cheap plastic. So, it was a mistake.” Ettore hugs his 'mistake' Sottsass, an Olivetti consultant, had come up with an “anti-machine machine” concept, for the typewriter equivalent of the Bic biro, a disposable typewriter. When Olivetti disagreed with the idea, Sottsass walked from the project. Under the supervision of the Canadian Albert Leclerc, it was completed by an English designer, Perry A.King. Olivetti ensured Sottsass’s name was attached to the design work, to enhance the machine’s desirability. But the company was careful with its choice of wording, preferring “devised”, for example, to “designed”.
Three-year-old Alberta Cardinal types on her Corona 3 portable typewriter in 1922. Alberta was the daughter of Queens, New York, factory machinist, printer and painter Albert Cardinal and his wife Helen. The Corona 3 was bought from the Queens Typewriter Company at 430 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City. According to Typewriter Topics, little Alberta could type "really well". All I know of what became of Alberta is that she was still living with her parents in Queens in 1940, and was a sales clerk for a jewelry retailer. In October 1922, just eight months after the death of its president and founder Benn Conger, the Corona Typewriter Company of Groton, New York, launched a "new" improved Corona 3. This revamp was no doubt in response to the arrival on the market in October 1920 of the Remington portable and to renewed, heavy marketing of the Underwood 3, which had been launched in 1919. Four-bank Corona and Underwood portables were still four years away. The arrival of the improved Corona 3 was accompanied by a vigorous marketing campaign, which included all sorts of stunts by agents across the world. As well, notable among full-page advertisements taken out by Corona in Typewriter Topics were stories from Corona 3 users which emphasised the toughness and durability of the little machine. (Bearing mind this was a year before Firpo knocked Jack Dempsey on to a Corona 3 at the Polo Grounds, covered elsewhere on this blog.) Some of these adverts have been posted earlier, but this one particularly took my fancy: Thad Talmadge Taylor, born at Taylor Ridge, Rock Island, Illinois, on September 15, 1892, was one tough tottin' Great Dane-lovin' US Marine - he was known as "Tough Tommy Taylor". And for him to describe the Corona 3 as "dependable" was really saying something: 1944 Major Taylor once took delight in telling a San Francisco police luncheon (yes, people were eating at the time) about how he was able to identify a friend by his teeth after the Marines captain "was blown to pieces in an explosion". That same year, 1936, Taylor told incoming marine Charles Hanson, 20, that he wasn't acceptable because he had a naked lady tattooed on his right arm. Hanson had to go back to the tattooist and have an ankle-length dress drawn on the offending young lady. Tough Tommy drove home drunk one night in the summer of 1940 and caused a car crash on the Carson Highway in Reno which almost killed him and five other unfortunate road users, including a 12-year-old boy. Not so tough, eh? All he got was a 30-day suspension of his license. Anyway, Taylor, who had enlisted in 1912, survived a fractured skull in the collision he caused and then a bush fire at his ranch in 1941 to be recalled to the Marines in 1942, after three years' retirement. Taylor died on July 11, 1945. Other stories about the sturdiness of the Corona 3 appeared in Typewriter Topics in 1922: Another favourite for me was the tale of the Corona 3 and the banderillero. I think the line is, "Only the Corona knows the secret behind the triumph of Sánchez Mejías": This advertising card featuring Ignacio Sánchez Mejías was produced by F.Armida & Co, agents in Mexico for the Corona 3. Ignacio Sánchez Mejías (June 6, 1891, Seville-August 13, 1934, Madrid) was a famous Spanish bullfighter. He was also a writer - obviously getting good use out of his Corona 3. When he died after a goring in the Plaza of Manzanares, he was memorialised by Miguel Hernández, Rafael Alberti and other famous poets, but probably the best of these works is Federico García Lorca's "Llanto por la muerte de Ignacio Sánchez Mejías" ("Weeping for the Death of Ignacio Sánchez Mejías"), for many the best Spanish elegy since the Coplas of Jorge Manrique. In this famous photo by José Vázquez Demaria, Sánchez Mejías mourns his friend Joselito in the infirmary of the bullring in Talavera de la Reina (Toledo) on May 16, 1920. Sánchez Mejías' childhood friend was José Gómez, later called Joselito, the greatest bullfighter of all time. At 17 Sánchez Mejías stowed away to New York, where he mistaken for an anarchist. His brother Aurelio got him to Mexico, where he made his debut in the ring as a banderillero in Morelia in 1910. He later returned to Spain As a writer Sánchez Mejías produced several theatre works, including Sinrazón. He was also a movie actor, a polo player, an auto-racer, a novelist and a poet. Another Corona 3 news item in 1922 came with the Trans-Atlantic flight from Portugal to Brazil of Portuguese aviators Artur de Sacadura Freire Cabral and Carlos Viegas Gago Coutinho. The pilots were presented with Corona 3s (seen in the window display above) to mark their achievement. Any room for a couple of Corona 3s, Artur? (Artur is left in this shot.) How about this neat trick to pull in Corona 3 customers in Manchester, England: I've always fancied a pure white Corona 3: Darryl Rehr Collection Peter Bernard Kyne (1880-1957) was a San Francisco novelist. Many of his works were adapted into screenplays, starting in the silent era, particularly his first novel, The Three Godfathers. He was credited in 110 films between 1914 and 1952. The Typewriter Topics heading here, and the reference to a vase, is in connection with Kyne's most famous work, The Go-Getter: A Story That Tells You How to Be One, first published by William Randolph Hearst in 1921. The story centres around disabled World War I veteran Bill Peck, a worker who must overcome many obstacles in order to build a successful life for himself. At every turn he is thwarted by life's circumstances and must rely on his own tenacity and wits to see him through. Bill is given a final test, to "deliver the blue vase." Bill shows his resourcefulness and refusal to quit in fulfilling this quest. I hate to spoil a good yard, but despite Corona's tribute, Kyne was actually nailed solid to Remington portables: But here's another clever Corona 3 stunt, this time from Milan, Italy: The insert shows the "Crown Prince of Italy" (Umberto II?) and his staff visiting the exhibit. Appropriate, I suppose, for a crown prince to want a Corona. Denmark, where there are still crown princes (one is married to a Tasmanian), also got a mention: Finally, back home for Christmas in the good old' US of A:
Typewriter Swissa Junior with English keyboard layout. Swissa Junior Typewriter in excellent collector's item. Swiss engineering produced by the Swiss Company – Aug. Birchmeier & Son in Murgenthal in the late 1950s – early 1960s. Size of suitcase is about 35 х 35 х 13 cm. External condition is good vintage. Buttons work. Typewriter has working condition. It can be a perfect decor for your home, shop, cafe or photo studio ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Delivery usually takes about 7-35 days. PLEASE ASK ALL THAT YOU WANT TO REFINE BEFORE PURCHASE. I will be happy to answer any questions! Best wishes, Kate
This is a custom display cabinet that I had built to display some of the 19th century typewriters in my collection. I love it when the lights are on! Please enlarge this photo to see clearly into the cabinet. You can see my entire collection at www.antiquetypewriters.com
