Typing on a Smith-Corona GT Ghia

Another typing video, this time on this sports car typewriter.

Oiled up

Some of my typewriters require some oil i think, they sound a bit thirsty anyway. After an extensive online search (well i asked on Reddit anyway) i purchased this Singer oil, although Singer makes sewing machines they claim their oil is good for typewriters too. To be honest the oil i use for my model railways would probably have done anyway.

Showcase (6) : Brother Deluxe 1350

This is the most important typewriter in the collection, because it was the first one! Without this one there might not be a collection. A lovely typewriter it is too from the late 1960s or early 1970s with fake wood effect styling. It certainly is very brown!

Unlike a lot of later typewriters which had a rigid case which snapped over the top of the machine, the Deluxe 1350 has a nice fully enclosing case with zip. The typewriter works pretty well though it seldom gets used much these days, maybe it's time to change that.

Touch typing lesson 1

As i said late last year, i want to learn how to properly touch type. I bought a book which teaches the Ben'Ary method and have finally gotten around to beginning my lessons. There are ten lessons and i plan to spend a month on each one so i hopefully will master it! Lesson one involves the middle row of the typewriter from A to ;. I have been typing plenty of gibberish using my Silver-Reed SEVENTY.

200 is 22

A new arrival is this Royal 200, very similar to a number of other typewriters in the collection but thats fine as i like this style of machine the most. It is number 22 in the collection and appears to work pretty well.

Carriage return

If we may talk about computers for a moment, when you press the return or enter key on a computer keyboard you are commonly inserting a new line into a document and returning the cursor to the start of that new line. This is represented in the PC DOS world as a carriage return followed by a line feed or ⬐.

However, on a typical computer keyboard (an example from my Macbook shown below) the logo on the enter key shows a line feed followed by a carriage return. So, why is there this difference? The answer is of course: typewriters! On a mechanical typewriter you would typically move to the next line before returning the carriage ready for the next line using the Line Space or Carriage Return Lever (the name seems to vary depending on the manufacturer). So, even if you do not use typewriters anymore in your normal day, you can still be reminded of the technology now and then.

The two (or is three) main types of typewriter

In the beginning Sholes and Glidden created a machine that allowed an operator to press a key and a letter would appear on a piece of paper. The typewriter was born and relied on the operator's physical strength to propel the type bar at the paper, making a mark via the ink of the ribbon. Hundreds of manufacturers created thousands of different models of mechanical typewriter over the following decades and many millions have been sold to the present day.

Silver-Reed Silverette - mechanical

However, later on in the twentieth century boffins decided to use electricity to help tired out secretaries and accounts clarks. Instead of using physical effort instead a way was found to propel the hammers at the paper (and ribbon) using electricity. The electric typewriter was born. Thus there are two main types of typewriter... or should it be three?

The electric typewriter should really be separated into the electro-mechanical and the electronic. The former, an example being my Olympia Monica, works very much like a manual typewriter and even looks very similar (though the electrical equipment may make it a bit bigger and heavier). The hammers are the same as a mechanical typewriter but are propelled electrically. Otherwise it looks very similar, indeed you may not realise such a typewriter is electric until you press a key and nothing happens until it is turned on!

Olympia Monica - electro-mechanical

The final category of typewriter therefore is the electronic. These are the final incarnation of typewriter technology and work more like computer printers or teletypes. A moving print head produces the letters on the page. Typefaces can be changed depending on need. The electronic typewriter is almost a word processor but without the screen. Which type of typewriter do you prefer?

Smith Corona XE1630 - electronic

Selling typewriters (1)

Start of an occasional series featuring adverts for typewriters. All will be from public domain sources.