One Man's Bizarre Obsession With Very Old Writing Machines.
Monday, August 29, 2011
A Little Trouble
My scanner software isn't working with Windows 7. I was able to get by using a trial version of a program to scan pages in, but that's expired...so there won't be any more typecasts until I can reinstall everything. Might take a week or so...so I'm still here, and I'll be back as soon as I can get things to work.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Sigmund's issues.
The Hermes Rocket won't accept paper. I'm not really sure what's wrong with it, if there's a certain lever I'm missing or if it's blocked somehow, but for the life of me I can't get it to take paper. After struggling with it for a while, I got it to take one sheet at an angle, and when I typed a line and hit the return lever, it wouldn't go up by itself...I had to pull the paper up myself. It's weird, and reading the manual didn't enlighten me any. So I'll probably tinker with it some more and see if I can get it to work somehow...very strange.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Go Ahead...Make My Day.
Dirty Harry, late-1950s Royal Heritage typewriter.
Dirty Harry, early-1970s renegade cop.
The $15 thrift store typewriter was operational but dirty, the key tops were all covered in gunk. I gave them a good scrubbing, cleaned up the outside of the machine, and then gave it a light oiling. It still had the square Roytype Twin-Pak ribbons in it. I have no idea when those were last made. Luckily it also takes a standard ribbon, so I gave it a new one. Works fine as far as I can tell.
Keys look much better than before. These old typewriters just need a little love.
The Royal Heritage was sold exclusively by Montgomery-Ward stores beginning in about 1958. It's basically a Royal Futura 800 without touch control or pop-up paper supports. It's a weird brownish-gray, which seems to be the only color these came in. The Futura, however, was available in numerous color schemes. My favorite feature so far: push the "Royal" emblem on the front and the ribbon cover pops open. Outstanding.
Dirty Harry, early-1970s renegade cop.
The $15 thrift store typewriter was operational but dirty, the key tops were all covered in gunk. I gave them a good scrubbing, cleaned up the outside of the machine, and then gave it a light oiling. It still had the square Roytype Twin-Pak ribbons in it. I have no idea when those were last made. Luckily it also takes a standard ribbon, so I gave it a new one. Works fine as far as I can tell.
Keys look much better than before. These old typewriters just need a little love.
The Royal Heritage was sold exclusively by Montgomery-Ward stores beginning in about 1958. It's basically a Royal Futura 800 without touch control or pop-up paper supports. It's a weird brownish-gray, which seems to be the only color these came in. The Futura, however, was available in numerous color schemes. My favorite feature so far: push the "Royal" emblem on the front and the ribbon cover pops open. Outstanding.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Sigmund, the 1950s Hermes Rocket
Hermes Rocket, 1950s green typewriter.
Sigmund, 1970s green sea monster.
This is the newest addition to my family, the Hermes Rocket. These were made in Switzerland for several decades, this particular one in the mid-late 1950s. It's an excellent machine and I'm very happy to have gotten it for $25. It was destiny. About 10 pounds and very portable, this is the machine I'd take if I was traveling. Suffered from a few stuck keys when I got it, but there's nothing that a little 3-in-1 oil can't fix. I had an open call for names on Twitter and Facebook, the only stipulation being that it could not be called Kermit. Eventually I thought of a name myself. Cause you got to have friends...
Sigmund, 1970s green sea monster.
This is the newest addition to my family, the Hermes Rocket. These were made in Switzerland for several decades, this particular one in the mid-late 1950s. It's an excellent machine and I'm very happy to have gotten it for $25. It was destiny. About 10 pounds and very portable, this is the machine I'd take if I was traveling. Suffered from a few stuck keys when I got it, but there's nothing that a little 3-in-1 oil can't fix. I had an open call for names on Twitter and Facebook, the only stipulation being that it could not be called Kermit. Eventually I thought of a name myself. Cause you got to have friends...
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
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