Hi Elle

​Welcome aboard. I'm picking up what you're laying down when it comes to inheriting a typewriter from a family member. I was given my late Mother-in-law's 1969 Hermes 3000 and it has a special place in my collection. The four positions on the color selector are; Blue = top half of ribbon or main color. Red = bottom half of ribbon or secondary color. White circle = no ribbon for cutting stencils for use in duplicators like a Gestetner. White square = middle of the ribbon.

This may seem a little strange at first, why would you want printing that's half black and half red. However, if you're using a single color or solid ribbon, the usual practice is to use up the ink in the top half of the ribbon, then turn the ribbon over by swapping the spools side to side and use the ink in what was the bottom half. The white square allows you to use the middle of the ribbon that still has some ink left after you've used both top and bottom. hope this helps,

​Sky

Hey everyone,
I'm new here :-) My name is Karlijn, I'm a 35yo mother of two from lovely Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
I have a parttime job as a homecare nurse, and more hobbies than time, haha. The most important being horseriding, reading,  snailmailing, and analogue photography (I have a humble collection of cameras, my pride and joy being the Olympus OM-1).
We're outnumbered by our pets; we have several chickens, two dogs (a bull terrier and a pomeranian mix, both rescues), two ponies, and a hamster named Boo.
I bought a Triumph junior 12 typewriter just this weekend and am planning to use it for writing letters to my pals. As a kid I used to have a typewriter as well, bought it at a flea market. I'm pretty sure it was a Triumph as well, I'm not too familiar with different brand names but this one was the first that came to mind. It weighed a ton. I remember lugging it home from the market and worrying that the cover wouldn't hold the weight and I'd break my foot if it landed on it.
Sadly I don't have it any more, still, I hope you can help me identify the model, if I describe what it looked like.
Hope to enjoy myself on this board :-)

Hi Fleetwing, well thank you! The Olympus isn't mine, actually. It belongs to my father-in-law, but I may regard it as my own. And am very happy to do so :-)
I had previously come across the link you provided, but had some trouble navigating the site. I'll need some time to browse all the pictures!

Welcome! And if you do find a set of tools, I expect some folks here would love to use your services (if you care to take in customers). In any event, I think we'd love to have the benefit of your knowledge -- there are a lot of Royals out there.

Well, your knowledge may be dated, but so are the typewriters! Just curious, where are you located?