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25-7-2017 12:52:27  #1


English made Hermes Baby

Hi,

as a fan of all things mechanical, I picked up this nice, little old typewriter from a flea market a little while ago. It is a Hermes Baby and it was made in England. I’ve found what I believe is the serial number and it is as follows: AD145738. There is quite a lot of information about the Hermes Baby on the Internet and I set out to try and determine its age, but my research has left me puzzled.

From what I’ve read, the Hermes Baby was manufactured under license by the British typewriter company Ltd. But from what I’ve gathered, these made in England typewriters were made under the brand name Empire. So shouldn’t mine be a Baby Empire? I haven’t found any information on them being manufactured in England branded as Hermes.

I would be grateful if anyone here was able to shed some light on this matter. 

 

25-7-2017 13:15:29  #2


Re: English made Hermes Baby

Based on the serial number, what you have is an Empire Aristocrat that was manufactured in 1952, and not a Hermes. A picture might be worth a lot more words at this point, but I wonder if someone didn't just swap out the typewriter's coachwork at some point because the original Empire case was damaged in some way?
 


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

25-7-2017 14:15:41  #3


Re: English made Hermes Baby

Thanks for looking up the serial number, that is interesting information, and for your educated guess. But I don't think it is the answer, because on the typewriter it says "Made in England" in the front (under the space bar), which is the same piece of coachwork where it says Hermes Baby on top. The text on the back reads: 

"Manufactured by British Typewriters Ltd. West Bromwich, England for paillard s.a. YVERDON, SWITZERLAND Patented"

I find it strange that it would say "manufactured for paillard" if it was an Empire?

I apparently need 3 posts in order to be allowed to add an image link, I shall add one when I have the required number of posts.

     Thread Starter
 

25-7-2017 14:47:29  #4


Re: English made Hermes Baby

Well, that is very interesting. Empire models had the "Made in England" under the space bar too, but just "Manufactured by British Typewriters Ltd. West Bromwich, England" on the back. I would really like to see the details of the machine such as the keyboard, control levers, and a type slug.


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

25-7-2017 14:48:28  #5


Re: English made Hermes Baby

I uploaded a pair of photographs. The first is of the front where the Hermes Baby and Made in England texts can be seen, the second is the manufacturing information on the back side. The round red sticker on top (on the right hand side) says Telva Helsinki Helsingfors, which ought to be the company that imported the typewriter.





 

     Thread Starter
 

25-7-2017 15:06:55  #6


Re: English made Hermes Baby

Ah, with each post we learn something more! 

​Okay, so we're talking about a Baby-branded, Empire manufactured, export model for Sweden (given the dealer sticker and keyboard). That's quite interesting. I'm going to contact a fellow collector who is an Empire and Hermes expert and will report back with what he says about your machine. Nice find!


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

25-7-2017 15:23:30  #7


Re: English made Hermes Baby

Thanks! This is quite exciting . It is not necessarily an export model for just Sweden though, as this one ended up in Finland (we use the same alphabet). I guess the sticker was propably attached by the company here in Finland.

Thank you very much for your help, I am looking forward to hear what your friend has to say .   

     Thread Starter
 

25-7-2017 15:31:37  #8


Re: English made Hermes Baby

I'd say you have a real keeper on your hands, Meccanoid! My acquaintance has never seen anything like it before either, which is - given his knowledge - something impressive. I'm sure he'll be digging into this find of yours, but my own speculation is that Hermes sub-contracted Empire to produce a run of Baby models, either specifically just for export to one specific market (Finland), or because the Hermes factory couldn't keep up with demand at the time and Empire became a stop-gap situation. ​Given the serial number there's no question it was manufactured by Empire. 

​It's a very neat machine and I'm sure that - with your permission - the other collector will want to include details of it on his website.


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

25-7-2017 15:32:45  #9


Re: English made Hermes Baby

Meccanoid wrote:

It is not necessarily an export model for just Sweden though, as this one ended up in Finland ...

​Yes, I'm a complete idiot. I meant to write Finland, NOT Sweden!
 


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

25-7-2017 15:44:44  #10


Re: English made Hermes Baby

I'm happy to hear that my little flea market find turned out to be so interesting . Thanks again, and if your collector acquaintance wishes to include details on his website I'll be happy to help. Do you have access to my contact information as a moderator, or should I PM them to you in case he wants to get in touch? 

     Thread Starter
 

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