I really like this forum; it's among my first visits each morning. One thing we can all do immediately is mention and link to Typewriter Talk every time it's appropriate in all the other forums we visit. I have referred people to postings and threads on TT several times in reddit threads.

I search TT for the information to answer questions elsewhere so that my link will go straight to the info they need. That has resulted in making people aware of TT's usefulness without overwhelming them with trying to figure out a new search method and what keywords might be useful (because I remembered the keywords of that TT thread). The disadvantage of that, of course, is that it bypasses the variety of info available on TT. Perhaps I should be providing both the specific answer link and the TT home page. Yeah, that's the ticket!

But at least we can reference and recommend TT to others every chance we get. Those of us with blogs can list TT as recommended and mention TT specifically from time to time. Mention TT in comments.

Uwe, can we pin particularly useful posts, or at least develop a concentrated list of classic posts?
 

Pete E. wrote:

The Remington "All New" machines from the same 1949 time frame did come with the key-tops in 2 colours.

But that model did not have a "Self Start" feature, and seemed to not have a Tabulator function but a Shift-Lock at both the left side and the right side of the key-board.
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My 1950 All New has that style keytop in a single color and a full Tab feature, so....
https://imgur.com/gallery/1950-remington-all-new-typewriter-e2wEjTo

What's not quite right?

Pete E. wrote:

If you have no luck finding the metal Adler part, you might search out a local welding or machine shop that could TIG-weld those pieces back together for you.
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I have had good results having such work done by a jeweler with laser welding equipment and experience in handing and aligning small parts.

Cybill, of 250 typewriters that I have laid hands on 79% are pica and 21% are elite. Perhaps there is a manageable way to get those figures from the Typewriter Database, a 100 times larger sample..... Ted?.... I agree with your preference, though I wouldn't say pica looks unserious but that elite looks more elegant. That's just personal opinion, though.

As for why pica is so much more common, that will remain in the realm of opinion pending a lot more research. "Students wanted to fill up a page faster. Businesses wanted to maximize use of paper. Academics wanted ? Government wanted ? Newspapers wanted what, clarity?" Etc. And which markets were bigger?

Decal preservation? When the whole machine is clean, put a wax over everything. But be aware that "polish" is by definition abrasive, however slightly. And "cleaning" might work chemically as well as abrasively. Test, perhaps on some other less precious appliance of similar age. A pure wax should be safe enough. All that said, though, I have not had any trouble with the commonly available waxes and the results are great. Sometimes I see the paint tinting the polishing cloth and back off on the pressure; using a different wax would be better. If your paint or decals are flaking already, stabilize that before rubbing.