Though nothing took your fancy much this time, at least you were in a place that actually had a typewriter for sale - and then more than one busted Travelriter.   Can't remember ever seeing two typewriters in one shop since I've been spending my time on the Goldcoast of Australia.

I laughed at the "keyboard thumpers" part... :D

Anyone else? 


No?

haha same

Toronto Area Market Report:
Aberfoyle Antique Market (Aberfoyle, Ontario) 24-Apr-2016

Tired of the downtown Toronto scene, I decided to drive out of the city and catch the opening day of the Aberfoyle Market, which operates between April and October each year, and is claimed by its owners to be the oldest antique market in Canada. I've been to Aberfoyle a few times in the past, but don't recall ever having bought a typewriter there even though there's usually a good number of them, in part because the market draws vendors from all over Southern Ontario.  

Even though the air temperature was a chilly 6°C, the sun was out and the parking lot was full, and more importantly, the typewriter hunting was good. I spotted 23 typewriters in total (the 20 pictured below, and three that I bought), and it's very possible that I missed a number of models too; not only is the market layout a meandering maze, which makes it too easy to miss seeing a vendor, but the antiques are literally everywhere, and typewriters are sometimes buried in the piles of stuff. More than once I spotted a tell-tale typewriter travel case crammed in with other items and had to pull it out just to see which model was inside. Below are the photos of the models that I did manage to find, and once again I have to apologize for using my phone as a camera.

Odds & Sods

My first sighting wasn't actually a typewriter, but a Sears Holiday toy typewriter. I recall seeing this one for sale last summer, so it obviously doesn't attract much interest even though it's in very good condition and is reasonably priced at $20 CAD. I don't collect toy typewriters, but if I did this would be a nice pick. 

The second item also wasn't a typewriter, and I'm kicking myself now for now shelling out the $15 for the Commodore office telephone. I have quite a number of Commodore machines, and even though the phone is a later model probably from when the company was phasing out its typewriter sales, it would look good on a desk with a Commodore typewriter.

The rest of the finds are examples of typewriter junk. Okay, maybe that's a little harsh, but I'm turned off by overpriced models that are in terrible condition. First is a machine that has to be one of the worst made, the Smith-Corona Pride Line Corsair. This one was missing its ribbon cover and I only slowed enough to take the photo of it. Next was a Brother model of some kind. Someone had really made a hash of putting the travel cover on it and I couldn't separate the two without expending more energy than it was worth.

The Speedwriter Cavalier looked like it had been rolled down several flights of stairs, and the seller still expected to get $60 for it. It may not be to everyone's taste, but I found the colour of the Smith-Corona Coronet Super 12 to be absolutely fantastic; unfortunately, it's an electric that uses proprietary cartridges.


Remi and her Brothers


This Remington Noiseless Model 7 was being sold by a vendor that fellow TT member Valiant had bought a Remington from last summer, and his asking price of $60 was not an unreasonable place to start a negotiation. I already have one, otherwise I might have been tempted to see how low he would go. The mess of ribbon makes great bargaining leverage, but realistically the typewriter only needed a good cleaning.

I didn't really inspect the 1920s Remington Model 12, mostly because it took the honour of being the most expensive machine at the market. At $280 I just politely smiled at the vendor and kept on walking. The Remington Monarch is a great portable, but too similar to the Remington Eleven that I own and it was priced too high. Likewise, I own too many Quiet-Riters to have been tempted by this one that predictably was missing most of its plastic control knobs.

Brothers are often well represented at antique markets, a reflection not only of their durability, but also of the impact Brother had on typewriter manufacturing during the later '60s and early '70s. The Opus 888 and re-branded Webster XL-5000 I found were well preserved examples.

And last, deservedly, another model I loathe, the Olivetti Studio 44. This Underwood branded version was in desperate need of some TLC and I'm sure it will eventually find a good home.  


Underwoods-R-Us


Two ubiquitous brands in the Toronto area are Underwood and Smith-Corona, presumably because both had factories in the city. Remington did too, and Royal was down the road in Montreal. It was no surprise then that Underwood was well represented at the market, and impressively, by a small lineage of its standard models. 

The Underwood Five looked like it had seen better days, but I'm willing to bet it still types nicely. A similar statement could be made for the half-century older Model 5 (it could have been a Model 4 - I didn't look close enough to make a positive ID). Next were a pair of Rhythm Touch models, the original from the late '40s, and its successor, the De Luxe, made between '49 and '53. Both were somewhat reasonably priced at around $50 each.

The Universal was one of the models that was hidden out of sight, and it was fairly clean, and a good deal at $40. I'm not a big fan of the model, for me it has always represented the beginning of the end for Underwood; it wasn't long after that Underwood portables were just rebadged Olivetti models, and these later Golden Touch models are not my idea of a company going out on a high note.

In another booth I came across a fairly nice Underwood Model 3 (I wish mine looked that good) that was parked beside a Smith-Corona Super-5 Sterling. The vendor pleaded with me to take both. I took neither, and a few steps away came across two more Smith-Corona models, the 6-series Galaxie II and a 5-series Super. Both are fantastic portables, but I already own examples of each and didn't ask about their price.

The three models that I did buy I've described in the Recent Acquisitions thread. They were a '62 Groma Kolibri N, a '57 Speedwriter Simple, and '65 Royal Quiet De Luxe.