1 of 1- Phil_F_NM
- Speed Champion
Offline 
- From: Mid-Atlantic region
- Registered: 16-4-2020
- Posts: 267
Original list price?
Has anyone found or collected the original retail prices of our old typewriters? I just cleaned and fixed a 1941 Royal KMM for a friend and I'd like to know how much this outstanding machine cost back then.
I'm always curious to honor the old market value of mechanical devices such as typewriters, cameras, and motion picture gear, just to put some perspective into the nature of "value". I love finding out how much something cost in the mid-20th century and looking at that cost against the value of the dollar now. When I look at it that way, I've bought cars for way less money than a few of my typewriters originally sold for.
Phil Forrest
- Uwe
- Moderator
Offline
- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: Original list price?
I have some pricing, but I don't 'collect' that information per se. I don't think that I'd be far off the mark when guessing that your '41 KMM originally sold for around $115 USD. Around double the price of a basic portable.
Adjusted for inflation, that would be the equivalent of around $2,100 USD today.
My rule of thumb is that most standard typewriters cost around the same as you would pay now for a good, top spec computer.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Maschinengeschrieben
- Touch Typist
Offline
- From: Germany
- Registered: 09-7-2015
- Posts: 119
Re: Original list price?
I may not have a receipt for any of my machines, but my Erika 20 originally came with an unopened silk ribbon on a metal spool. Pelican band. The price tag was 6,50 Deutsche Mark. They say 1DM = about 2€. I just thought that might be interesting.
Learned watchmaker and office machine enthusiast from Germany.
- Maschinengeschrieben
- Touch Typist
Offline
- From: Germany
- Registered: 09-7-2015
- Posts: 119
Re: Original list price?
Maschinengeschrieben wrote:
They say 1DM = about 2€. I just thought that might be interesting.
Ops, I meant 2DM = 1€.
Learned watchmaker and office machine enthusiast from Germany.
- Maschinengeschrieben
- Touch Typist
Offline
- From: Germany
- Registered: 09-7-2015
- Posts: 119
Re: Original list price?
Literally just found this online.
Original receipt for an Alpina SK 24
Apparently 360 DM
Now in the collum that describes the object that was bought, it says "Homeoffice", which I find a bit odd.
Learned watchmaker and office machine enthusiast from Germany.
- Maschinengeschrieben
- Touch Typist
Offline
- From: Germany
- Registered: 09-7-2015
- Posts: 119
Re: Original list price?
Here is another.
Erika 10 in brown/beige
Price was 423 DM
It was purchased on the 20th of November 1962. 
Learned watchmaker and office machine enthusiast from Germany.
- Maschinengeschrieben
- Touch Typist
Offline
- From: Germany
- Registered: 09-7-2015
- Posts: 119
Re: Original list price?
Oh yes, by the way:
That would be about 1000 (1959 - 2020) for the Alpina and 1100 Dollars (1962 -2020) for the Erika respectively adjusted for inflation.
Not cheap.
Learned watchmaker and office machine enthusiast from Germany.
- Uwe
- Moderator
Offline
- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: Original list price?
... Original receipt for an Alpina SK 24 ... in the collum that describes the object that was bought, it says "Homeoffice", which I find a bit odd.
I don't see anything at all on that receipt that indicates it was for a typewriter. In fact, the letterhead describes the company as being an office furnishings company. This would explain the 'Home Office' description.
I don't know where you found that image, but my guess is that someone found it inside a travel case for an Alpina and erroneously assumed it was a receipt for the typewriter. People kept all kinds of documents inside their typewriter cases, and unless there are matching serial numbers on the receipt and typewriter, nothing should ever be assumed. I once found someone's last will and testament, and in another case a receipt for a different typewriter.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
