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Uwe wrote:
Beak, that's an Olympia SF De Luxe. ..............
OK - thanks. Olympia never seem to name their models on the machine itself! This is later than I would usually buy, but I was keen on the typeface, and since it is made in Germany, thought it would be worth the look.
Is this the smallest Olympia made, does anyone know?
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I've never measured, but I suspect the Plana is a little smaller. However, the SF-based models were definitely the smallest Olympia models from the late '50s to early '80s. The SF and SF De Luxe designs gave way to models such as the Traveller and Traveller De Luxe.
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Uwe wrote:
I've never measured, but I suspect the Plana is a little smaller. ................
The Plana! A model I didn't even know existed. Tiny portable with remote tab setting - shall be looking out for one.
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Another little portable, loaned for a road-test; the Royal 203 (Litton)
Nice concise keyboard, but a 'mushy' space-bar. Preset (?) tabs at 10 characters apart.
Last edited by beak (26-5-2014 03:29:35)
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Adler Gabriele 12 (made in Japan). Another loan for road-test. 10cpi.
Very nice typer with solid action; probably an underated machine. Larger portable, about the size of an Olympia SM4. Well-appointed, with remote tabs etc.
Last edited by beak (26-5-2014 06:45:12)
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Another Olympia SG1 with multi-ligual keyboard, but no apostrophe. Struggling to type with this one, which was bought for spares but (it turns out) may yet be salvageable - so much more work needed, but the basic character set is shown, at least. Learning that SG1s are so well built that even a hopeless-looking wreck may be repairable!
Last edited by beak (21-6-2014 04:15:25)
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That Japanese Adler Gabrielle is actually a Nakajima. Nakajima made a whole range of machines for other manufacturers to pass off as their own products. The Olympia Carina is the same machine in a different outer case (still in production, now in China), and there are a number of others !
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I have a Hermes with a font that is very small. It is smaller than a pica or elite. I would like to submit a picture of a comparison. What do you think it was used for?
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I have always assumed that in the days when the cost of airmail was prohibitive to mailing missives overseas, that a typewriter with a smaller font was desirable as it would allow the sender to include more information without adding extra pages -- and cost -- to correspondence.