Hello! New member here 

My little story if anyone's interested: I've always been interested in typewriters, although I knew fairly little about them. Saw them at antique stores all the time, and I'd always check them out. Became a passing thought, that I'd buy one someday. But they were always so expensive, hundreds of dollars, and usually they were either straight up rusted junk, or in uncertain condition. The keys wouldn't even go down (or wouldn't come back up if they did), let alone the carriage moving when some keys did work right. Plus, missing ink ribbons, and I had no clue they were even still sold so I figured I was SOL to ever use one. But I still figured I'd buy one someday, at least for looks, hopefully below $100 (since, again, I assumed parts and ink weren't still sold and so I wouldn't ever be able to use one).

Then, yesterday, I struck gold. We live in little old rural Ohio, and went to an artists' fair in a rather tiny town. There was an antique shop along the road, and I spied a little typewriter sitting in a case from the doorway. To make a long story short, we take our cat out places in a stroller that certainly wouldn't fit in the store, so I had to dart in to look at the price and dart back out to make sure the cat was fine. $25, and the keys that I had time to mash seemed decent -- I bought it without thinking, assuming no ink and bad condition. My god, though, from what I've been researching since yesterday, I think I found a diamond in the rough!

My new little machine is a portable Royal Quiet De Luxe, but I can't tell what year. I've got a whole list of patent numbers, but I assume the serial and/or year is underneath it and I haven't figured out how to remove it from its case yet to check. All of the keys work (and are still bright and pretty), the margins behave as should, the carriage moves, the bell dings, there's an ink ribbon (drying out though, you have to press pretty hard to get a good letter, or backspace and overlay a few times -- I ordered more already!), and while it could use a good wiping down and some canned air to the underside, it's basically scratch and wear-free. The only real bummer is that the key to the case is missing, so I'm paranoid to close it, but from shining a light into the keyhole it looks like it'd just be a thin metal cylinder -- can anyone corroborate that? 

So anyway, I doubt I'll end up with tons of old hundred-dollar glass-keyed typewriters (although I envy those of you who have all that!) but I'm quite happy with what I have now. Who knew there was a whole community of dedicated typewriter fans? 

SoucekFan wrote:

Welcome, Missy20201. If you want the exact date of your machine, the serial number for the Royal Quiet De Luxe is located on the top/back/left side under the carriage. If you move the carriage to the far right and look down underneath, you will see it. You can then reference the number to the Royal serial list here. If your QDL has plastic keys, it is from the 50's; glass keys, 40's or late 30's.

As far as the missing key, almost no cases still have the keys. Not having a key just means you can't lock it. Unless you lock it with a key, if it is working properly, it shouldn't relock.

To get the typewriter out of the case, there are latches under each of the feet. You just turn the latches and lift the typewriter out of the case. When returning it to the case, make sure the carriage is centered, the feet are lined up, and you securely latch the feet.

If you want to view the manual for your typewriter, you can find it here.

Hi! Thanks for the welcome! 

I checked under the carriage, and it says "RA -- 2668048", which actually isn't on that site you gave me (according to ctrl+F). However, I think it must be a 1953 because it looks exactly like this '53 QDL for sale over on Typewriters101 -- down to the color and the banged up case 

And yes, I got it out just fine, the case closes securely without locking forever, and I can put the typewriter back in the case. Thanks so much for your help! I actually found that guide online last night trying to figure out the margins (it was set to halfway through the page so I had to keep hitting margin release to keep typing, so it was a big help!). It's such a cute guide, so thanks so much!

I also forgot to mention, inside the typewriter was this adorable page, super yellowed, with hand-written instructions for certain symbols and some typewriter vocab. Makes up for the lack of a physical manual hehe.

SoucekFan wrote:

You are correct. It is 1953. It is on the database serial page, but it is a yearly range of serials, so you wouldn't be able to ctrl+F to find it.

Ohh, that makes sense. Sorry! But thanks for clearing it up for me

@daughterlaughter:  What a wonderful story. And what a memorable username---and apparently appropriate! Welcome.

I daresay most of us understand the syndrome you describe so you'll fit right in. So you have a '46 Royal QDL---do I read that right? (And your Polaroid---is it the big folder one that takes the original roll film? Same era.)

I continue to believe the day I had to put my dog down -- over 30 years ago! -- was the saddest day of my life. Haven't gotten another since, though I know I should. So believe me, I understand.

Now -- forget about that Polaroid! Focus instead (pun intended) on getting a nice old Leica (35mm) or Rolleiflex (medium format). They may have already been around as long as your QDL, and will keep going as long.