Hello Sky, thanks very much for the explanation. Sure enough, I manually wound the ribbon over to the end of one spool and then began tapping at the keys and, as if by magic, the central cross-bar flipped across and the spoils then began rotating in the opposite direction as I continued tapping at the keys.

And thank-you for mentioning that the required ribbons are the non-eyelet types. I think I have one or two floating around.

Thanks again and take care!

As thetypewriterman said, the SM9 is the clear standout.I have all three  of these machines.

1958 Groma Kolibri looks beautiful, but has a heavier touch than the other two. If the platen rubber has hardened over the years, as it most likely has, then this machine will sound loud.

1981 Lettera 32, I bought it brand new back then and it churned out a zillion school assignments. I thought it was a great typewriter (it really is), but somebody once described it as if it was 'filled with mud' when you type on it. After I read that, I couldn't shake that description. It has a slightly sluggish feel to it compared to other machines that I've used.

1966 SM9 is a standout. Very snappy action to the keys. Not sure if a '75 model has similar construction, but if it does, it's the best of the three that you mention.

Another worthy contender if you want snappy keys is a mid-'50s Smith-Corona Silent Super. Might sound a little louder than the SM9, but you could write for days on it.
You could probably pick one up (in the US, at least) for less than a hundred bucks, possibly even half that, but I would get it serviced by a typewriter repairer - they still exist - if I found one for under $100.

Good luck with your search!

A 1940s Sterling or Clipper in good condition is an absolute workhorse. Very rock-solid.
A mid-1950s Silent Super in good condition is a dream to write with. Very snappy key and typeslug action.
I have each of these and I can't fault them. For ultra-portables, I had a mid '50s Skyriter with the short return lever and ended up selling it and replacing it with a later 1950s Tower Chieftain III, which is a Skyriter branded for Sears-Roebuck back then. This one had the longer return lever and came in a leather case instead of the steel clip-on cover that the short return lever models used to have. Another great Smith-Corona model.
I also have a 1936 flat-top Sterling. It's a sluggish machine to write with, and the bell gives off a half-hearted 'ding!' at the end of each line, but this thing looks like a cross between a Steinway baby grand and Capone's coffin,
Worth keeping just for this reason alone.

In terms of mechanically sound, '40s and '50s machines, if found in good condition or serviced properly, will give you a wonderful typing experience with no hassles.
Best of luck!

tricnomistal wrote:

Quick question, just for clarity: In your blog posts for both machines you describe them as working like "old farm tractors." As a writer, I appreciate the interesting simile, but my knowledge of farm tractors is limited, so would you mind illuminating what you mean by that? 

Because both machines are 80 years old, they make a racket when you type on them. Whereas something from the 1950s, such as an Olympia SM model for example, might have type-bars that hit the page/platen with a sharp 'thwack', the Remette sounded a lot louder, almost like a motorbike trying to start, or putting a sheet of tin into a paper shredder. Not that I've tried that, mind you. The other Remington was similar. Everything sounded rough on these typewriters.
By contrast, my 1936 Smith-Corona Standard has a 'leaden' feel to it when you type on it, with a half-hearted 'tink!' at the end of each line as though the bell suddenly remembered what it's there for, but can't be bothered doing its job, just the same. Ooh, I'm getting slightly Chandleresque. Which is a good thing. 

And don't worry, I grew up nowhere near a farm, but I wanted to stress the fact that these two typewriters ran like any other machine that was eight decades old. I think much of it has to do with the ageing of the platen rubber. After 80 years, it's almost as hard as steel. I suppose the same could be said about the rest of the rubber used on these machines. It becomes like hard plastic over the years.

If they had a snappy action to them back in 1938, that was a long time ago.

I hope this helps, and best of luck with your decision/hunt.
 

A mid to late 1950s Smith-Corona Skyriter or the Sears version, Tower Chieftain. Either one with the longer carriage return lever.
My Tower Chieftain III is late 1950s and it has a very snappy typing action. Absolute joy to use. In my view, better than the Olympia Splendids (33,66,99) and SFs of the 1960s.
Groma Kolibris are nice, but pricey, and they can be quite loud if the platen rubber has hardened.
Olivetti Lettera 32 is nice, but to me, it has a sluggish feel to the keys. I've had mine since new, when I bought it in 1981. Sentimental value to me, but I rarely use it these days.