I bought my first typewriter a little over a year ago. I was looking for an Olivetti Lettera 32 to keep a journal and write short stories with. Cormac McCarthy used one, so I assumed it was a decent place to start. My options locally were non-existent or overpriced -- and they were all beat up Royals and Underwoods anyway. Craigslist proved equally fruitless, so I decided to take a look on eBay.

Wow! I wasn't about to spend $120+ on a typewriter, especially my first one. So I decided to research a few other typewriter models and discovered all the notable typewriter blogs and the rest of the Typosphere. I then created a list of 3 different models that were appealing and started looking for a deal...

I ended up purchasing an Olympia SM9 for $30 shipped. It was an "Or Best Offer" situation on a typewriter that was listed with one photo, a wide carriage and a four paragraph warning about the machine being "as is" and not wanting to deal with "picky" and "fussy" typewriter collectors.

To my relief, I received the machine in great condition. In fact, it's the only machine I own that hasn't required treatment with mineral spirits, PB Blaster, an air compressor or minor "forming". I gave the case a wipe down with bleach wipes, cleaned up the shell with some Dawn, and installed a new ribbon. I think it was made in 1967(?) and is still the best feeling typewriter I own.

Until about a month ago, the Olympia SM9 was the only typewriter I owned. Then, after a string of interesting coincidences (Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon?) I came to own five more machines, including two Lettera 32's (which I had wanted all along).

1) Olympia SM 9 (1967?, W. Germany) - Standard typeface, 11cpi. Solid base, great touch. Of all my machines, if I had to write a 1,000 page novel, this would be the one to do it on.

2) Olivetti-Underwood 21 (1963?, Barcelona) - Techno typeface, 11cpi. Put a purple ribbon on it and the type impression is amazing. Rich, full and no fading whatsoever. Too bad it's such a chore to type on. Plastic card holder guides are broken off. Space bar is mushy.

3) Olivetti Lettera 32 (1974?, Barcelona) - Standard typeface, 10cpi. I really wanted this model and it did not fail to impress. Great size and simplicity of execution. Very loose feel, though. Uppercase slugs, especially on the left side of the keyboard, imprint blurry and faint. I did a DIY platen replacement to address it, but no real change in print quality. It is, however, a much quieter machine.

4) Olivetti-Underwood Lettera 32 (1965?, Ivrea) - Standard typeface, 10cpi. I bought this "broke" machine for cheap on eBay. The metal carriage lock had bent and, once removed and straightened out, worked perfectly. Compared to my later-model Barcelona Lettera, it has a "snappier" touch (the other feels too loose in comparison) and the coloring is far more blue than the greenish Barcelona one. This is my go-to typewriter right now.

5) Hermes 3000 (1967?, Switzerland) - Standard typeface, 10cpi. Bought it for cheap without the front protection plate. Decent looking, otherwise. One broken platen knob. Type touch adjustment lever didn't work. Type would stop in the middle of the carriage, though, regardless of where you set your margins. Then the machine stopped advancing at all, unless I held it upside down. Curiosity got the better of me and now the entire thing is stripped part. I also knocked the carriage bearings off the rail. Ugh. Still haven't gotten them back where I want them to be, but I've gotten close...

6) Hermes Media 3 (1969?, Switzerland) - Epoca typeface, 10cpi. Even though my above experiences soured me a little on Hermes models, I couldn't pass up Epoca. Also one broken platen knob. I took this one apart, too, because I couldn't get the ribbon selector switch to move and I wanted to take some reference pictures for what a "working" Hermes looked like. I cleaned it out, resolved my issues with it, and put it back together safely  Other than the additional tabulator settings in the 3000, the machines seem largely identical. Before I put it back together, I added a mechanical pencil spring to where the non-existent touch regulator would be to create a new "default" tension that has made it a "snappier" typer.

Hello, all. I have never collected typewriters before, but I came across an old Royal today, and I just had to have it! I sat in the parking lot for a good 45 minutes, just trying to reaseearch it. It was great to find people who are so involved in learning about and restoring some of these old guys.

Hi Nicole! It all sounds great, and looks like you have a fast-growing little family ;) You'll find plenty of Olympia enthusiasts here - and the rest...! Richard Polt's book is fabulous, isn't it. 

Hello Nicole!

Not that many from Australia here - I think we are a 'developing market' when it comes to the TW.

I have seen the book you mentioned, but never knew what it was about - I may get a copy now.

Welcome!

I was just thinking about how this hobby of ours, unlike any of the others that I've been involved in, attracts such a diverse group of people. We have a seemingly equal balance here of women and men, representatives of the youngest and oldest generations, and citizens from nations the world over. Even the underlying personality trait that would draw someone to a typewriter is varied too: some of us are artists and see the typewriter as a paintbrush, the page a blank canvas, while others are more analytically minded and are drawn instead by the complexity of the machine that lurks hidden from view under metal and plastic skins. If it wasn't for the language barrier, I'm sure our diversity would be all the more exotic.