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31-8-2018 10:24:19  #1


Underwood 450 age?

I've just picked up a nice Underwood 450 in a charity shop for £10. It was a bit grubby, but cleaned up nicely. I also found a couple of loose springs in the case, but was able to figure out where they went.

The thing I'm having trouble with is putting a date on it. The serial number is 2118261, but I can't find any details of 450 serial numbers in any of the usual sites.

 

31-8-2018 15:29:05  #2


Re: Underwood 450 age?

I don't know what you mean by "the usual sites" but you could start here:  http://typewriterdatabase.com/Underwood.450.4.bmys
and then here:  http://typewriterdatabase.com/Olivetti.Studio+45.56.bmys
And finally note that your number fits in the Olivetti Studio 46 sn range, so maybe there was some overlap or misinformation at some point, but it seems we are narrowing down your search. Good luck.

 

31-8-2018 16:57:22  #3


Re: Underwood 450 age?

typewriterdatabase.com was my main though when I said "the usual sites", so good to know I'm looking in the right place.

Underwood serial numbers appear to be a bit of a mess, with some models having their own serial ranges while others share with the Olivettis they are based on. All very confusing! 1974 seems like a decent guess based on the Studio 46, and it shares the same mechanism as this 450, so that seems to make some sense.

     Thread Starter
 

31-8-2018 18:55:41  #4


Re: Underwood 450 age?

KenDow wrote:

typewriterdatabase.com was my main though when I said "the usual sites", so good to know I'm looking in the right place.

Underwood serial numbers appear to be a bit of a mess, with some models having their own serial ranges while others share with the Olivettis they are based on. All very confusing! 1974 seems like a decent guess based on the Studio 46, and it shares the same mechanism as this 450, so that seems to make some sense.

All this should not be laid at Ted's door, though. (And I know that's not what you are saying; it's just that I have seen other complaints about the incompleteness.) He and his helpers have done a fantastic job of bringing together all kinds of info from a great variety of sources and he has already figured out a lot of discrepancies. The remaining confusion has been confusing everybody. The mess in Olivetti (and Smith-Corona and elsewhere) is their doing, not the Typewriter Database's.
Three Cheers!!!

 

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