The Underwood 4 looks to possibly be a Wagner.

Why, Beak, you could leave at 7 and get there in good time...! 

Heh. 

Srsly, Uwe, I've never seen anything like this in the flesh. 

Yeah, you'd think. Maybe I;m not going to the right places. But I think in London, everyone 'knows what they've got'. Any typewriter in a charity shop is going to be £20 - I saw a Traveller with no line lever or that price and had to go tell the assistant. 'It's broken'. There are some car boot sales, flea markets and so on, but you never see that many machines all in one place. My favourite vintage shop, where I have bought several, is a sort of co-op affair and they have one member who deals in typewriters - often there are none, occasionally four or five - mostly midcentury stuff and mostly around £45. It's the only place though. All those old flea market posts on Retro Tech Geneva - they seem like Shangri La! 

Toronto Area Market Report:
Aberfoyle Antique Market (Aberfoyle, Ontario) 17-Jul-2016

It had been three months since I last visited the Aberfoyle Market and it felt high time to make a return trip to see how much of the typewriter inventory had changed. Not surprisingly, because of their dismal condition, there were a number of models that had not been sold, but it was also encouraging to see that there were quite a few new faces to replace the ones that had found new owners.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect for strolling the outdoor market and taking in the sights. This time around I had fellow Typewriter Talk member Valiant along for company who was ambitiously performing a double stint: having got out of bed at the first rooster's crow, Valiant had already visited the downtown Toronto market before swinging by my house on the way to Aberfoyle. I understand that the early bird is supposed to get the worm, but I'm not fond of worms and I lack Valiant's typewriter hunting rigor, so I was happy to have been able to sleep in until 7:30.

After we had arrived I began to think that things were looking a little bleak when we only found two typewriters in the first thirty-odd stalls that make up the periphery of the market -- even if they were nice machines. I suspect that Valiant felt the same way and it might have motivated him to strike first by buying the second of the two machines; at $30 in reasonably good shape, the mid-'50s Royal De Luxe he snagged was a very good deal.

It was only after we moved into the meat of the market that typewriter sightings became fairly regular and it was my turn to pounce. "I could hear the panic in your voice," Valiant said after I negotiated a two-machine deal that included a Woodstock No. 5 and a Corona Junior. Although they weren't a fantastic deal, I knew their prices were low enough that they would have been quickly bought by someone who would have used them as decor items, and I was worried that if I didn't close the deal quickly I might lose out on them.

Sure enough, just as I was handing my cash to the vendor, a woman walked up and wanted to know how much the two machines that I just bought were.

"Sorry, you're too late," I politely informed her, "I just bought both of them. But if you want a hand with picking out another machine I'm a collector and would be happy to help."

The woman was not impressed.

"So is my daughter," she snapped as she pointed to a teenage girl who was standing ten feet behind her. The woman might have been unhappy but it was nothing compared to the sullen and brooding collector who looked like she was going to have a hissy fit.

After tucking the two typewriters in a safe place for collection later on, Valiant and I followed in the wake of the mother and daughter buying team, and it was only a few stalls further on that we learned that we had just missed out on what sounded to be an Olympia SM9. Valiant and I shared a laugh and speculated on the importance of timing, and I wondered if the German portable had improved the girl's spirits.


TOP: A nice Skyriter for $60, but we both owned enough variants of the model to entertain buying another. The second machine of the day, which Valiant bought, a decent Quiet De Luxe for an even more decent $30.
MIDDLE: One of a number of models that still haven't been bought, an Underwood Rhythm Touch for $55. And from a vendor who prices all of his machines the same regardless of condition, a very clean Monarch for $42.
BOTTOM: A pair of L.C. Smith No. 8: the black one was in dismal condition, the grey crinkle-painted factory refurbished one very intriguing, but missing two covers. We didn't bother finding out the asking prices of either.


TOP: More leftovers from my previous visit, a sad looking Studio 44 and Royal Mercury that was missing its ribbon cover. Pricing? Who cares...
MIDDLE: A familiar face, the Commodore Cavalier that looked to have been rolled down a flight of stairs was still around, no surprise given its $45 price tag. In the next stall, which is known for having high prices, a Sterling with a broken drawband sticking out of it for $110, and
BOTTOM: one of my favorite portables, an All New Personal for $125. The Letter-Riter would make a nice buy if the $65 sticker price could be halved. 


TOP: Deal of the day: a nice Opus that was only $10. Probably should have bought it, but I already have so many Brothers that I'm feeling like I belong in a monastery. Disaster of the day: a Remington 11 that was barely a parts machine (note the platen knob lying in the type basket).
MIDDLE: Two very clean models from the same vendor, both in their travel cases and practically hidden from sight, an Opus 888 and a blue platen Galaxie II that I tried to convince Valiant to buy as it was very inexpensive.
BOTTOM: A Smith-Corona Electra that the vendor claimed was in new condition. I barely raised the plastic wrap covering it as it baked in the sun and was quickly turning into a less-than-new looking machine ($60). A less than pristine Remington KMC for $85 was one of the cheaper machines in this particular stall (see below).

TOP: In the same stall as the KMC, this Oliver No. 7 that was fairly complete, but needed work and was priced at $350 (gulp!).
BOTTOM: Two finds that made my day, a Remington cash register that was exciting enough, but paled in comparison to one of my ultimate wants, a TeleType. Unfortunately it was missing a lot of parts, and even if it had been complete, the $300 asking price would have been a deal-breaker.