Repartee wrote:

It is well to remember that the Germans could never turn out enough of their high precision weapons to overcome the hoards of very good American P-47's, P-38's, P-51's... to name just a few successful designs.

That's a strange analogy to me.

The disparity in production numbers had far more to do with raw material shortages and manufacturing plants being bombed into the ground on almost a daily basis, two major factors that American factories never had to deal with, than the design and engineering of what was being built. The analogy also ignores that American soldiers and pilots were not given a choice: like all troops, they were grist for the mill, and had to make do with what they were given to fight with. Had there actually been a choice, do you honestly believe that an American pilot would have chosen a P-38 over an ME-262, or that an American tanker would have preferred to climb inside of a Sherman instead of a Panther?

Back to typewriters, the SG1 and SG3 models were produced in quantities that could be sold, and those numbers were never hamstrung because they were "higher precision" models as the analogy suggests.

I enjoy every typewriter that I use, even the impossibly temperamental ones. I specifically like all of the Royal standards, including the Model 10, but if I had to go to war with my choice of a typewriter, there's no way I would choose a more basic machine over one that offered far more in terms of performance and versatility. Typewriters were tools after all, weapons of corporate warfare. They were designed to get a job done as quickly and as efficiently as possible. They were not designed for the alcohol addled to punch out a bit of prose, but to allow the often lithe and feminine typist to type continuously and comfortably all day long. And by those standards it would be interesting to see which machines everyone would choose if they had to sit down and tap out a few hundred thousand words instead of hammering out a few hundred at a time.

 

Did somebody say "100,000 words"?


Bring it on. I have chosen my American made weapon. You are looking at the business end of a B!

Single spaced elite, about 500 words/page or 200 pages. I don't see any serious problem here... 

Well.

Anyways.
Back to typewriters.

I know you all are probably tired of hearing about my rebuilt typewriters, but Im going to say it again.
I finished rebuilding an Underwood #5,and boy, that thing is the best standard I have come across!

TypewriterGuy wrote:

I know you all are probably tired of hearing about my rebuilt typewriters, but Im going to say it again.
I finished rebuilding an Underwood #5,and boy, that thing is the best standard I have come across!

Well I would love to see a photo of it. I can't remember if you post photos - do not seem to recall seeing one from you.

I also own a rebuilt Underwood 5 although I did not do it myself: someone was nice enough to do it for me in the 1940's - yep, black crinkle paint! It's one of the first typewriters I acquired but I cannot praise it fulsomely just now because it needs some work. That makes it my most deferred project.

Thanks, Repartee.  I like photos.  I'm glad the Internet has gotten to the point where photos can be shared relatively easily.  Like they say, "1000 words".

Back to the topic of this thread, I must say that the favourite of my small but growing collection is an Underwood 6.  It has an unbelievably light but solid feel--as oxymoronic as that might sound.  

The only other standard I have is a Royal KMM and while it feels great, the older Underwood feels better.  The KMM is a recent acquisition though and frankly, neither are working properly and so it remains to be seen which is better.  Once I thoroughly clean out both, I'll put them through a good workout.