1 of 1- Pete E.
- Typewriter Talk Elite
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- From: Idaho - USA
- Registered: 23-6-2020
- Posts: 2,149
1968 Olympia SM9...
Got this late last year on my local Face Book Marketplace. It was only 12 miles from my home.
Seller was the original owner who bought it in high school as she was getting ready for college. She had not used it for the past 20+ years. She was asking only $ 45 USD for it.
Needed a good cleaning and light lubrication. Case was a real mess and I did a repaint after repairing some tears in the vinyl covering. The covering was also heavily stained.
And the case metal hardware was coated with rust.
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- skywatcher
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 712
Re: 1968 Olympia SM9...
Hi Pete
With a find and restoration like that, I wonder if the seller might appreciate a letter typed to her on her old typewriter. Just a thought,
Sky
We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
- Pete E.
- Typewriter Talk Elite
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- From: Idaho - USA
- Registered: 23-6-2020
- Posts: 2,149
Re: 1968 Olympia SM9...
Sky,
I did just that. Had to "type-cast" my typed note to her...as all I had was her email contact. Sent her jpeg-photos of my work too.
She replied back that it was bitter-sweet for her to let it go but she said she smiled when she knew it was staying in my home and getting used. And she loved the new colors on her old case.
She was only asking $ 45 USD...I gave double that in cash as I did not want to leave feeling I took advantage of a nice elderly person.
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Thread Starter- skywatcher
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 712
Re: 1968 Olympia SM9...
Hi Again Pete
That's very gentlemanly of you, hats off to you good sir. All the best,
Sky
We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
- Guth
- Platen Punisher
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- From: Oregon
- Registered: 20-12-2020
- Posts: 59
Re: 1968 Olympia SM9...
I think it's great that you were able to purchase this typewriter from the original owner. I had cranked out a very lengthy response, but just deleted it as I've decided I really should turn such extensive thoughts into a blog post instead. My comments revolved around the fact that earlier this year I purchased my third SM9. In my case, from the children of the original owner who had passed a few months earlier.
Yours is a good story, congratulations!
Find me at typewritemosphere.com
- Pete E.
- Typewriter Talk Elite
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- From: Idaho - USA
- Registered: 23-6-2020
- Posts: 2,149
Re: 1968 Olympia SM9...
Guth,
I purchased my 1960 AMC typewriter (really an Alpina) from the surviving daughter of the 1-owner who was her father.
He bought it in 1960 in his senior year of High School on his way to college. He used in daily until his death in 2012. His daughter was not ready to let it go to the next home until 2020.
In the course of the transaction, we traded emails and I learned about his life some more. I also found a copy of his High School photo. I have gathered these and placed them in sheet protectors in the typewriter's case. Along with a copy of his obituary and eulogy. The machine followed him to college, to seminary school, and through his life's work as a pastor. And it was professionally serviced throughout the years.
I did repair and repaint the case as it was a bit of a mess. I sent his daughter the "after" photos and she was so glad it found a new home in which it will continue to be used and loved.
The original owner had used cloth athletic tape to write his name on several places inside the case and along the internals of the machine. As I cleaned up the old, machine, I left those in place.
Nice to have a connection to past owners for these machines, for sure.
I also left her with a standing offer that the machine can easily return to her home if she or other family members desire in the future to keep it in the family.
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