Uwe wrote:

I have two friends that each own one standard and have no intention of ever using their typewriter.In one case it's an Underwood that was owned and used by his father, and it's kept as a memento of him. He hopes one day to pass it on to his daughter who took journalism in school. The other guy has a Remington that is displayed along with other period items. He's a serious collector who deeply appreciates the value of vintage items, and enjoys the machine in a different way that we perhaps would. In both cases I provided them with detailed information about their machines, which they were very thankful for. I think they deserve to own these machines even if they don't intend to use them.

That´s the case with my uncle. I´ve given him a non-working Underwood 5, and most probably he isn´t going to revive it. But he deeply appreciates the machine. Not only as a present, but as what the typewriter is and means. He´s a mechanic, so he likes this kind of things, and all those little things about the Underwood just make it more valuable for him. Next target: Corona 3.

That´s the good part of typewriter decoration
 

I also have many typewriters dancing around at home, and of course I love seeing them there, they´re beautiful pieces of engineering and a good place one brings life to your house. That´s the extremely good part of typewriters as decorative objects

But what I wanted to focus on was on the bad part, and believe me, I´m having a hard time to explain it because I can´t find the appropriate words! What I´m thinking about is like when people use books as decoration. I mean, it´s as if you buy a bookcase and you fill it with books which look good. The red ones for the upper shelf, blue ones mixed with green ones at the middle, then a couple of bookstops which could be two colourful typewriters and at the bottom some kind of 20-tome encyclopedia. And you´re never going to read any of the books, and they could even be false books for that matter (like props from a movie).

Thhat´s why think selling typewriters as decorative pieces while targeting at a high spending public who don´t even remotely care is absolutely wrong. Yes, if you´re willing to pay nobody´s going to stop you, and the same goes for the books. If you want to use them for decoration because they give your home an air of "cultchor" and "nowlech", good for you. You´re unmasked, congratulations.

This may sound be a bit too extreme, and maybe I can´t exactly tell what I´m thinking (the language barrier, sorry ), or even maybe I´m overshooting it, but it´s a bit like that thing with the crushed typewriter at the press. That, somehow, fells wrong.

What surprises me is that your Barcelona-made Lettera 22 is a Lettera 22 and not a Pluma 22. I think they´re far less common than the Spanish versions. In fact, Spanish Plumas 22 are very common, but the rarity breakdown comes like this:

Machine green < Camo brown < Cream white < Bubblegum pink



The most common one, the "machine green". At least it´s what they call this tone, machine green.



An early brown one, just like yours! This one is the Spanish model, labeled Pluma 22. It may look a bit dull, but that´s my camera´s fault. It´s just as brown as yours



And a cream/ivory one. These are not as common, and usually they double the price of the green and brown ones. One note about pricing: more often than not, prices are terribly unrealistic, and the most commonly found price tends to be an unfair one. I mean, people around here will try to sell these machines at 80€ because if they´re looking for an orientation on price they´ll find always the same specimens foating around. That is, typewriters which are never going to be sold at that outrageous sum. Then, those 80€ are what you´re going to pay if you don´t "hunt" carefully. And the pink ones are far worse: they have skyrocketed over the 200€ mark, which is absolutely ridiculous. True, they´re rare, but I can´t fathom how can they be priced higher than an M20. I don´t have any pink Pluma 22, but I don´t have the intention of getting one either. Not like that.

As for preference... In my opinion the "classic" model is the green one. At least that´s how most people think about the Pluma 22 in Spain. The performance is very similar, and that´s good because I think the Pluma 22 is one of the best portables out there. Compared to typewriters similar in size and weight it´s incredibly fast and durable. Fo

TypewriterKing wrote:

Now that's a good way to start out. What you want to do at this point is to study your typewriters inside, and see just how they work, and what makes the levers and the gears move. Each make and each machine has something slightly different about it--even two seemingly identical typewriters. Pretty soon you'll gain a working knowledge of how things should work inside, and you'll be able to effect a few minor repairs. After doing that for awhile, you'll go onto more major repairs. Then you can find something really neat that will probably need more than just a dusting off, type bar cleaning, and a new ribbon. I've bought lots of rust buckets and turned them into typewriters myself for 35 years. And after awhile, if you play your cards just right, you'll be just like me--with typewriters rolling out of your garage because there isn't any room to put 'em anywhere else!! Good luck!!
 

I wish I could follow that road as well! I don´t feel confident enough to perform major surgery on anything... Yet. I´ve made several blunders and I don´t want to commit any crime I can´t revert. I´m thinking about trying again with something affordable, but again I remember what I did with that poor Antares S20 and how I had to take it to a real master of the trade. Pascual told me (and I quote) that "everything was wrong".
 

The new typewriter at home:



A Torpedo 18!

According to the s/n, this is a 1950 specimen, and I´d say it´s a Dutch made Torpedo because of the return lever. I´m a bit confused about the model as well, because I don´t know the difference between the 18 and the 18a.

The typewriter is in good condition, it only needs a bit of cleaning and a lot of oil because it´s mummified. Apart from that, only good things will come from it