Here's the way I do it--I roll in a piece of paper and type a letter of the alphabet--such as the letter l, 12 times, and measure on the paper with a ruler.  If all the ls fit within the space of 1 inch, it's elite.  If all but 2 fit, it's pica.  Simple as that.  And as for which makes and eras these type sizes come from, I would say it is a mix, though you might find more pica typewriters made more recently, but that's just a guess.  Overall, it's six of one, half a dozen of another.  Just find one you like, type twelve letters of the alphabet, then measure.  

TypewriterKing wrote:

Here's the way I do it--I roll in a piece of paper and type a letter of the alphabet--such as the letter l, 12 times, and measure on the paper with a ruler.  If all the ls fit within the space of 1 inch, it's elite.  If all but 2 fit, it's pica.  Simple as that.  And as for which makes and eras these type sizes come from, I would say it is a mix, though you might find more pica typewriters made more recently, but that's just a guess.  Overall, it's six of one, half a dozen of another.  Just find one you like, type twelve letters of the alphabet, then measure.  

It can be even simpler: measure the tick marks on the paper bail---how many in one inch? If the paper bail doesn't have marks, then measure them on the platen index lower down. When you find you can't fit a ruler down near the vibrator, slide the carriage to one side and measure where the index extends out.
Ten marks is pica, 12 is elite, and other counts will be what they are but we don't know names for them.

M. Höhne wrote:

TypewriterKing wrote:

Here's the way I do it--I roll in a piece of paper and type a letter of the alphabet--such as the letter l, 12 times, and measure on the paper with a ruler.  If all the ls fit within the space of 1 inch, it's elite.  If all but 2 fit, it's pica.  Simple as that.  And as for which makes and eras these type sizes come from, I would say it is a mix, though you might find more pica typewriters made more recently, but that's just a guess.  Overall, it's six of one, half a dozen of another.  Just find one you like, type twelve letters of the alphabet, then measure.  

It can be even simpler: measure the tick marks on the paper bail---how many in one inch? If the paper bail doesn't have marks, then measure them on the platen index lower down. When you find you can't fit a ruler down near the vibrator, slide the carriage to one side and measure where the index extends out.
Ten marks is pica, 12 is elite, and other counts will be what they are but we don't know names for them.

I've done it that way too.  
 

I vaguely remember visiiting a TV studio in the 1970s and seeing a machine with very large type. Might have been an all-caps model and might have been for a teleprompter.
Anyone ever hear of some such machine, or is my memory failing me?

Nicole wrote:

They are excellent tips! Thanks skywatcher & beak.

I prefer smaller type so while I am happy to receive a surprise typeface, I'd want to know that it was elite or smaller before buying. I am pretty new to this, but I was surprised at how eBay sellers don't bother showing a type sample very often. I imagine that is a well-known and common bugbear

I am not saying this as a definite, but from my own experiences in trying out typewriters, many of them have had dried out ribbons, sticky keys, or just plain sticky everything.  They may tell you the machine works perfectly except........  They're not typewriter experts.  They just want to get a secondhand item sold.