Hi all,
I was recently thinking about getting a typewriter to prevent me from getting distracted by the internet while writing and almost bought a baby blue portable I saw at the thrift store for twelve bucks a couple weeks ago, but when I went back for it it was gone.  (Not surprising, after seeing how much the coloured ones go for).  
Anyway, a few days later I was walking behind some buildings and noticed some suitcases sitting on top of a pile of trash.  One was a lot older than the others and I kind of funny-shaped.  "No way," I thought.  But I was right, it was a 1950's portable typewriter case complete with typewriter!  Hoping it worked (that thing got bloody heavy after carrying it around for a while) I took it home and found that it was in perfect working order and even pretty clean (apart from the garbage smell on the case).  
What I have is a (I think) 1955 Royal Senior Commander with a French Canadian keyboard.  I'm pretty sure the Senior Commander is the Canadian name for the Senior Companion.  
So I have a few questions, first is does anyone have any info on this machine?  I know it was a budget typewriter in its day but don't know much beyond that.  Second, the ribbon spools don't match, one is metal and one is plastic.  This seems really weird, am I right in thinking that the spools aren't supposed to go together and that one is much older than the other?  Finally, what does the margin release (or Déclenche Marge on mine) button do?  I know that sometimes it stops being able to type and hitting that key makes it start typing again, but I have no idea why.