Thanks for commenting on the idea of a favorite typer, Uwe.  I feel quite the same, but thought there might be something wrong with my liking to type on machines with a lesser reputation.  I am attracted to the comment--from the standard site--that the Woodstock types like the wind!  I have never seen one live, just pictures.  A Typewriter repairman once told me that Royals are "junk."   I have a 1941 Royal Quiet Delux that is just grand.

Also, recently saw an Oliver a an antique store with a price of $200.  In pictures they look like a lost cause, but this worked so solid and smooth I was amazed!  That was in Sebastopol, California if you want to take a trip down there;  I can't remember the name of the store.

Nice big machine!

Uwe, rebuilt machines were not rare. Particularly during the Depression, when a new one was a very expensive piece of equipment.

I have a nice Remington 12 which proudly proclaims to have been "Rebuilt in Remington factory", in big, bold gold letters all across the front panel. Its original serial number was removed and I haven't found a new serial anywhere, but it has some features that lead me to believe it was retrofitted with some newer features when it was rebuilt, namely, this machine has the carriage return/paper advance lever located on the left of the carriage, like in the Remington 16, instead of the right, as seen in most every photo of the Remington 12 I've come across. And it also has a paper table very similar to the one on the model 16. Now, since I haven't found any serial numbers yet, I can't date exactly when this machine was made or rebuilt, but I estimate, considering the differences in the carriage, that this machine could have been rebuilt, at least, during the 1930s, when the Remington 16 was the current model offered by Remington; but of course it could have been rebuilt at a later date.

I don't know what was the price diferential between a new and a refurbished typewriter, but I would not be surprised if a rebuilt machine was no more than a fraction of the price of a new model. And at that price, those would have been a real bargain: sure, they were older models, but they had been reconditioned at the factory, with all worn parts replaced, perhaps with some new parts retrofitted, most likely repainted, and perhaps even sold with a limited guarantee of sorts. They are clear signs of their times, and could be a symbol of the harsh economic realities of the era; but they're also a sign of the great value a typewriter had in the '30s, '40s, even '50s, when it was profitably for manufacturers to refurbish and resale their older models.

 

There isnt much of a difference between your woodstock and mine. Mine's a 1936 No.5. The big difference is the tab tower on the back. A little differece is green shifts and shift locks.

Happy New Year to all!    Checking in on the Woodstock to see if anythings been done on it??  Would you consider selling it?  I couldn't do it right now as it's property tax time here, but in a month or so? Even if not, it's a cool transitional machine - take care of it. Thanks, Don L

For information on rebuilt typewriters, you might find this to be a good guide on the when, why and how:  REBUILT TYPEWRITERS.  

Woodstock came out of the failed Emerson Typewriter Company, and was owned partly by Sears, Roebuck & Co. until 1947 when it sold its interest to Century America Corporation.  That was short lived as at the very end of 1949 R. C. Allen Business Machines bought Woodstock Typewriter Company and in the first month of January, 1950 the R.C. Allen typewriter (the same as the previous Woodstock) came out.  Sears, Roebuck had control of the factory of the company that made the ultra-rare Burnett around 1909, but other than these two companies had no ownership or control of any other typewriter company including Smith-Corona.  Sears did however contract for the full production of the Harris Visible after the failures of the Burnett and the Emerson.

The companies that Sears became heavily involved with in these early years (Burnett, Emerson, Harris machines) were attempting to produce standard typewriters at below standard prices.  In other words, not machines like the Blickensderfer which were small and portable (or like the Standard Folding / Corona) but rather had some size and heft and could turn out real work day after day.  The Emerson fails seriously in this bracket; the Harris Visible succeeds, and the Woodstock Standard ... well, it's among the best standard machines ever made, anywhere.  The proof can be found either in the test of one in good shape, or in the study of the history that shows how many typewriter makers' sales were dropping worldwide at the same time that the Woodstock came on to the market, and made an international name for itself.