- tatte
- Novice Typer
Offline - From: Vaasa, Finland
- Registered: 04-7-2013
- Posts: 47
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
I don't really know why I keep buying these Japenese portables, but I carried one more back home today anyway.
It only cost me four euros (5.1 USD), and the lady selling it at the flea market would've actually sold it for only two euros. I still feel a bit bad, I know they're not worth much but this one had a case with working zipper and clean, intact manual. Not to mention rubber parts which are in reasonably good condition. Also I think that this one looks better than my Deluxe model. I was lucky to notice this, it was inside it's case and used as a weight to keep the table stable.
This was a nice consolation prize for the 40's or 50's Underwood typewriter I woke up to bid online just to lose. It still went cheap, the winner bid only seven euros (9 USD) but the machine had a bump and wasn't in working condition. It however had really nice keys. My problem was distance, it was too far away to go and pick it up personally, so it would have had to be mailed, and that would have cost probably twice what the winner ended up paying.
- tatte
- Novice Typer
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- From: Vaasa, Finland
- Registered: 04-7-2013
- Posts: 47
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
Found this mid 50's Olivetti Lettera 22 today, paid 12 eur (16 USD) for it.
- Uwe
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- Registered: 12-3-2013
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Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
tatte wrote:
Found this mid 50's Olivetti Lettera 22 today, paid 12 eur (16 USD) for it.
WOW! I can't believe the condition it's in - even the case looks to be in fantastic shape. That was a great bargain for a great typewriter.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
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Thread Starter- Amelia
- Platen Punisher
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- From: Southern California, USA
- Registered: 28-3-2013
- Posts: 94
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
Found this mid 50's Olivetti Lettera 22 today, paid 12 eur (16 USD) for it.
That machine looks brand new (to my eyes at least). And that color....LOVE it! 
Congrats on an amazing find!
- rynsp8
- New Member
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- Registered: 10-8-2013
- Posts: 1
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
Well, I have a few pictures, but I can't seem to put them out on the board. Anyway, my wife found Remington rand model seventeen. It needs to cleaned up and a few repairs, but its solid.
- Shangas
- Speed Champion
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- From: Melbourne, Australia
- Registered: 17-3-2013
- Posts: 298
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
This is the Rand 17, hell of a chunky machine...
"Not Yet Published" - My History Blog
"I just sit at a typewriter and curse a bit" - Sir Pelham Grenville "P.G." Wodehouse
"The biggest obstacle to professional writing is the necessity for changing a typewriter ribbon" - Robert Benchley
- Shangas
- Speed Champion
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- From: Melbourne, Australia
- Registered: 17-3-2013
- Posts: 298
Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
It's a Diamond in the Rough now, but I'm hoping to restore it to full functionality. 
Underwood Standard Typewriter No. 5., from 1927.
Last edited by Shangas (21-9-2013 20:54:47)
"Not Yet Published" - My History Blog
"I just sit at a typewriter and curse a bit" - Sir Pelham Grenville "P.G." Wodehouse
"The biggest obstacle to professional writing is the necessity for changing a typewriter ribbon" - Robert Benchley
- tatte
- Novice Typer
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- From: Vaasa, Finland
- Registered: 04-7-2013
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Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
It's ugly, it's dirty and it's mostly made of plastic... but it was cheap! Only one euro. It has nice metal spools so easily worth the money. First time I see the name Marbella, apparently it has something to do with Olivetti (it says on the back: "Made in Olivetti Plant (Spain)"). I haven't located a serial number yet.
I'm thinking about fitting a plastic spools into it and painting the whole thing matte black. It works just fine and the keys are shaped nicely, it just needs a better colour (and I doubt that the world is going to miss one of these in original colour).
Last edited by tatte (22-10-2013 06:36:36)
- Uwe
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- Registered: 12-3-2013
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Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
First time I see the name Marbella, apparently it has something to do with Olivetti (it says on the back: "Made in Olivetti Plant (Spain)").
It's very much a Lettera model, but the Marbella name is insteresting. I've never seen that on an Olivetti before either. Marbella is a city in Spain, where the machine was made, but no where near Barcelona, which is where I believe the Olivetti plant was.
It would be interesting to find out more about this model name.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
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Thread Starter- tatte
- Novice Typer
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- Registered: 04-7-2013
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Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread
It would be interesting to find out more about this model name.
After initial "meh"-attitude I got interested too. With very little success. At least I learned that the machine was designed by an Italian architect Ettore Sottsass and the same machine has also been sold as Montgomery Ward Escort 33, Underwood 315 and Olivetti Dora / Lettera 31. It was manufactured for a brief time from late 60's to early 70's.
Closest thing to any kind of connection between the machine and name Marbella was (a far fetched) Seat Marbella car, which was designed in collaboration with Fiat which happened to had significant connections to Olivetti at the time. However the car in question was apparently called Marbella only after the collaboration with Fiat broke down. Timing of these two products also differ almost ten years.
Even though I'm not very sure if this apparently rare plate makes the machine more or less valuable from a collectors' standpoint, but I still intent to paint it. I saw this during searching info and immediately thought that's what I want too.
Closer inspection of the machine revealed questionable repair work, rust spots in progress and small variety of different colour stearin inside the machine. It's also easily the dirtiest machine I have ever encountered. The rust spots are curious feature since it's the second machine I have found such rust on, and the first one was a Lettera as well. What's also worth of a note is that the rust doesn't appear in exposed metal but instead in painted areas that are seemingly otherwise intact.
