1 of 1- misteradiant
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underwood-olivetti 33
good evening, folks and happy new year.
first post of long time stalker. thank you all in advance for any help.
i've got an underwood-olivetti lettera 33 i'm digging into to refurbish and the first thing i want to do is know about the machine itself. so i research the serial. problem is the #. it's 1675871.
it looks like a '69 but the number doesn't come close to anything on typewriterdatabase.com, where they all start with 4.5 million until the 70's when they were even larger numbers. but this one? i'm flummoxed.
it has the silver & black stripe semi-hard case and is labeled underwood-olivetti lettera 33 on the paper table.
anybody have an idea as to the year or the reason the number is so low?
thank you!
art director | prison zen teacher | doctor of metaphysics | world domination consultant | nondual awareness manufacturer | punk rock, motorbikes, guitars, skulls, typewriters
- misteradiant
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Re: underwood-olivetti 33
appreciate the amazing response, folks!
have a wonderful 2021.
art director | prison zen teacher | doctor of metaphysics | world domination consultant | nondual awareness manufacturer | punk rock, motorbikes, guitars, skulls, typewriters
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Thread Starter- Pete E.
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Re: underwood-olivetti 33
How about posting up a photo of your machine's serial number ?
- misteradiant
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Re: underwood-olivetti 33
you obviously didn't read my first post, pete.
art director | prison zen teacher | doctor of metaphysics | world domination consultant | nondual awareness manufacturer | punk rock, motorbikes, guitars, skulls, typewriters
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Thread Starter- Guth
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Re: underwood-olivetti 33
misteradiant wrote:
appreciate the amazing response, folks!
have a wonderful 2021.
You might not have noticed, but things tend to be rather slow around this forum. I wouldn't take it personally if I were you.
As the guts used in a number of different Olivetti-Underwood/Underwood-Olivetti models appear to be very similar if not identical, it's possible that someone might have performed a swap. In this case they might have changed out the shells/covers/body cladding (whatever you prefer to call it), placing the exterior of a Lettera 33 on top of a different machine for any number of different reasons. A photo may or may not include some clues as to whether or not this might be the case, but I would 2nd Pete E's request for photo just the same.
Find me at typewritemosphere.com
- Pete E.
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Re: underwood-olivetti 33
For a "zen teacher", your impatience seems to be out of character.
I did note your serial number in your opening post. I am a pretty thorough reader most times.
My wanting to see a photos of that stamping was an attempt to aid you and to eliminate or confirm a theory I had in my mind.
- thetypewriterman
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Re: underwood-olivetti 33
To misteradiant : You have to understand that we are all volunteers here and although folks will try to help, this is not a paid service and no-one is under ANY obligation to answer posts, especially if they are not sure of their facts and might not want to venture a theory that could be shot down by someone more knowledgeable. Olivetti serial numbers can sometimes be a bit erratic - this is even mentioned on the 'The Typewriter Database' the go-to website for tracing serial numbers.
- Guth
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Re: underwood-olivetti 33
To misteradiant : You have to understand that we are all volunteers here and although folks will try to help, this is not a paid service and no-one is under ANY obligation to answer posts, especially if they are not sure of their facts and might not want to venture a theory that could be shot down by someone more knowledgeable.
Sadly, despite being relatively new to typewriters, my enthusiasm often trumps such things as holding off on venturing a guess. This despite the fact that I understand there are others around here who have acquired far more knowledge about these machines than I can hope to gain over the course of my remaining years. That said, I'm hoping that someone else pipes up as my enthusiasm is matched by my curiosity when it comes to these machines.
Find me at typewritemosphere.com
- Pete E.
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Re: underwood-olivetti 33
Guth,
The "theory" I had in mind when I was asking for a photo of the machine's SN...
Sometimes a leading number "4" can appear as a number "1" if the number dies are held a bit crooked when struck with a hammer on the dies.
We see that in gun collecting quite a bit.
So maybe the typewriter in question is not SN-1675871 but rather SN-4675871. And so the machine would fit perfectly in the 1969 time-frame for production.
