Nice clean sans serif.

I have a Model 1 with a similar crack and surprisingly it rarely effects its performance. Some day I'll get around to doing something about it, but for now its a very low priority. Is it missing the margin release and backspace keys, or did you remove them?

KatLondon, I know it plays hob with the classification scheme to randomly comment here on all bits of your recent post which pop into my mind, but...

You mentioned that Kingsley Ames used "Some huge Adler". So I pulled out my Some Huge Adler and I can see why a writer might have settled on this - I mean the one that looks like the SG-3 or the SM-9. I reconsider my flippant reply to the idea that the SM-9 was "undistracting". This Adler IS undistracting  in a very positive way. The SG-1 ostentatiously says Look at my fine German engineering and despair! Well, maybe evil SG-1 says that: good SG-1 just kind of preens. But it does have a lot of exposed mechanical features and machinery-like bits whereas the Adler (Universal 390 to be exact) keeps all its fine engineering bits on the inside and merely displays its simplified smooth body done in four soothing shades of brown and tan - the keys in particular look delicious, maybe mocha. So the upshot is you have really flung a craving on me for an SG-3 but that really will have to wait a bit, for in answer to your recent question I really don't have a very big place and my tesseract is broken: I picked a fine place to concentrate on office machines! But I'm sure there is some large place out there somewhere from which I can henceforth just mail it in.

Hob is done playing and has put on his hobnail boots and stumped off, so order may return.

I paid $60, but it has major issues. I just couldn't pass it up at that price even with the problems. I don't know if I'm going to be able to repair the cracked carriage race or not.  I have someone who offered to weld it for me, but I'd have to be able to get it off the machine (and back on). I'm trying JB Weld and some stainless steel bracing material right now. My first attempt with JB Weld Steel Stik did not hold.

It looks to me like something earlier than 1956.  A dead giveaway is that the "Royal" insignia is directly stamped onto the front plate, like it is on my 1952 Royal manual standard, and it was the same way on a 1952 Royal electric I once owned.  Another giveaway is the surrounds on the ribbon reverse and color selectors.  Let me know the serial number as you see it, and I can look it up, or you can look it up on the typewriter serial number database.  Let me know either way.  As for the typeface, I've heard it called "Mid-Century" for IBM's typewriters.  But it amounts to what is known as "Sans Serif," which means that the upper and lower parts of each letter don't have serifs, as to Roman or Courier-style letters.  It could be a special-order font, or typeface, but I believe that the machine is quite likely a '52 model.  Also, check on the left-hand side (as the keyboard is facing you) in the back to see if there is an extra knob.  That is the spring drum tension control.  Royal, for a little while on their HH models and some of their portables, had this feature.