Notquite_there wrote:

I picked up one of those electric SM about the same year, haven`t used it lately--it even has  battery which works, but dosen`t hold the charge long--can`t remember the font just now, but I`ll look it over.  I paid $7 US money for it.  But it does work.  

I have one of those, too, but mine lacks a battery--what they called a "power cell". It is an Electra SS, with the "SS" standing for "Solid State". The charging system is built in and I think they were relying on that fact to justify their use of the buzzword "Solid State".

Notquite_there, can you tell me the measurements and what specs are printed on the battery? (Or even send it to me, if you don't use it.) I am wondering if I could cobble together a replacement. Thanks.

Very interesting font. I got my machines on eBay and never knew for sure what the fonts would be, but it's nice and even on my Smith Corona Coronet 10 (1961 with a smaller font) and also nice and even on my Smith Corona Electra 120 (about 1963 with larger font). But interestingly, I also have a Smith Corona Silent-Super manual and I swear some lower case letters are smaller than others, such as the a, e, and q. Why?
 

Dick Sanders wrote:

The unusual typeface on your Smith Corona -- using two different sizes of capital letters -- is apparently Large Gothic #7, one of the type styles offered by Smith Corona. If you go to this site and scroll down, you'll see a sample (that's clipped) giving a brief description. One use is telegrams. Further down is a smaller version called Elite Gothic #16. By the way, have you found an application for this typewriter, and are you glad you have it now?

​A few things. First, the NOMDA page you referenced is for typefaces available as of 1964, which is several years newer than this machine, so it doesn't necessarily reflect the typefaces that were offered by Smith-Corona during the time that the machine was manufactured. 

Second, you're suggesting that the machine has two different typefaces on each slug (pica AND elite). That's physically not possible, and since the machine is set up for elite, the typeface fitted to it can't possibly be 'Large Gothic 7' which is a pica typeface. I also highly doubt that a telegram service would ever have used an electric portable; all of the telegram typewriters that I've ever seen, and I've seen many, are all standard typewriters.  

Finally, if you take another look at the type sample for 'Elite Gothic 16' you'll see that the upper and lower case are different sizes, just like on the electric model that I have, which further proves that it's just one typeface fitted to the machine. I should follow up on this some day and see if the slugs are marked in any way that would support them being Gothic 16, which apparently was intended for "statistical" work.
 

Dick Sanders wrote:

Oh, no, I'm not suggesting there could be elite and pica on one slug. I just mixed up the two styles. ... But I can see that, with normal typing, the look would be annoying. Maybe you could type with the caps lock on... just for short notes, or something. That's why I asked if you had found an application for it. 
Thanks.

Elite and pica are not styles; they are pitches, 12 characters per inch and 10 characters per inch, respectively.

Mixing large caps and small caps is actually pretty common and it is a stylistic choice. Some people do like the look of it and indeed in the olden days, some people were not very familiar with lower case letters (abbreviated education, for example) so capitals, aka upper case, were a default of sorts. Ever notice that telegrams were printed in all capitals? It was partly for that reason, partly to avoid the time wasted in shifting and mistakes in a high-production environment, and partly to avoid the hassle of the transcriber having to decide whether to capitalize unfamiliar words, names, etc. 

That doesn't explain the large and small caps on one typewriter, of course, except for the idea that the buyer liked it at the time. Signage and notices would be a use for that. Caps and small caps jump out more forcefully than lower case does.

I see I have been talking about this subject in a sloppy way. I'm glad to get this clarification and more accurate information. Thanks to all!  
When I see “Gothic” I think type style, such as Franklin Gothic or Copperplate Gothic. And on the NOMDA page that I referenced, the heading is 1964 SCM Type Styles, followed by several in Pica and several in Elite. For example, Pica Pride is different than Pica Empire, just as Elite Script Artistic is different than Gothic #16
I’m not a typewriter expert, just a user for personal correspondence. I have three elite faces and one pica face. But each one is a little different, and I choose which of my four typewriters to use, based on application and the look I want to achieve.
As an advertising copywriter for the past 30 years, I know commercial-world applications for typefaces. I’ve seen designers use this or that font, regular, medium, bold, italic, caps, lower case, etc. to bring the copy – and its message -- to life. Getting this right is important. And all caps have to be used sparingly because, while they jump out, they're actually more difficult to read.
Glad you have renewed interest in this machine, Uwe. Hope you'll follow up and share. Thanks!