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12-10-2020 16:57:20  #1771


Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread

I do know that the 'S' at the beginning of the serial number denotes 'Scotland' - the machine would have been made at British Olivetti in Glasgow.

 

12-10-2020 20:09:23  #1772


Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread

Ah... that explains it... thank you thetypewriterman. I wonder if the serial numbers were centrally distributed. Given that the Glasgow and presumably Canada were assembly plants, the answer to that seems obvious, as the parts would have been stamped in Italy. Fascinating. By the way there is a very interesting documentary available on Youtube about Adriano Olivetti and his plant.


'Paraiso' Gerry Mulligan with Jane Duboc 1993
 

13-10-2020 06:03:10  #1773


Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread

zoom wrote:

.. I wonder if the serial numbers were centrally distributed. Given that the Glasgow and presumably Canada were assembly plants, the answer to that seems obvious, as the parts would have been stamped in Italy. Fascinating. By the way there is a very interesting documentary available on Youtube about Adriano Olivetti and his plant.

I wondered this myself, if serials were to an extent centrally distributed. The 'assembly plants, parts centrally stamped' theory appears to have some merit as I bought months ago a magnificent Olivetti Studio 44 with what appears to be a 1962 serial number but made in..South Africa (!) from a pretty Italian  lady that used it to type her school and university texts and then kept it undisturbed  for decades, and this 'South-African' Olivetti is exactly identical to pictures from these year models  in the typewriter database.  The fact that the keyboard is a regular italian QZERTY keyboard (with accented wovels , shifted numbers and all) adds mystery to it all.. maybe in those years Olivetti re-imported machines from foreign plants to cope with demand? Was it reworked by a reseller to change the layout to QZERTY? Mystery. The machine after cleaning (was almost clean, just  white Typex corrector fluid seeped inside and stuck until removed) is a joy to write with, the smoothest moving carriage I ever used. Still with its original metal reels.   I have to check if there are letters in front of the serial number but I don't remember any..


 

 

13-10-2020 06:50:29  #1774


Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread

Well, that's all really fascinating duna. I have been wondering about the studio 44. It has the same carriage transport as my Lettera 22, very smooth indeed.


 


'Paraiso' Gerry Mulligan with Jane Duboc 1993
 

13-10-2020 06:57:54  #1775


Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread

I realise that in Australia, I have never seen a studio 44 for sale.


'Paraiso' Gerry Mulligan with Jane Duboc 1993
 

13-10-2020 17:45:51  #1776


Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread

Yes Olivetti had exceptionally smooth carriages , running on roller bearings and a pleasure to use even after 60 years. Strange the Studio 44 isn't easy to spot in Australia, it was the Olivetti semi-standard (still portable but almost as large as a standard) and not unusual in Europe. Maybe not imported? 
I'm told that the Studio 44 wasn't  mechanically an Olivetti machine, was made by another italian company then bought by Olivetti, I cannot confirm if this is true but the cinematic of the Studio 44 is totally different from that of the Lettera 22. 
As it often happened with Olivetti, design was as important as mechanical excellence, and the 22, the 44 , along with the Lexicon 80 standard  and Divisumma desktop mechanical calculators form a formidable range of modern and sculpted designs from Marcello Nizzoli that achieved cult status as design objects. I too bought it only for the aesthetics (and  discovered a pleasurable machine to type on, indeed) as I have other machines. Nizzoli was an amazing artist, some of his designs are so iconic and copied that are now representative of  the xx century visual style. His office buildings for Olivetti Ivrea obtained Unesco world heritage status yet at the time weren't appreciated as a particularly refined or fashionable design: the real stars  were the celebrated Olivetti Shops (mostly Venice and New York) , the one in Venice-Saint Mark Square  designed by Carlo Scarpa is breathtaking and still in existence, meticulously restored.  Sorry for the OT...

 

04-11-2020 13:49:28  #1777


Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread

Inbound is a Corona 4 with a year code that puts it born in 1924. I've always thought the Corona 4 was and is one of the most beautiful designs of a typewriter, aesthetically. We'll see about the mechanics, when I get into the inner workings.
Phil Forrest

 

12-1-2021 13:27:17  #1778


Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread

I don't know when electric typewriter along. I think there was one in the typing class back in 1953. That was a long time ago. I bought my first typewriter in 1964, while serving in the West Indies. I was slow and carbons didn't help the cause. But I did sell a few short stories using a Sears Portable. I bought an Olympia electric last month. I don't like it as well as I thought I would. I'm still a writer. I use an Olympia SM9 for my first drafts.

 

19-3-2021 18:41:57  #1779


Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread

A Facit TP1 just arrived. Serial number places it within 1959. Right now, it's a bit dirty but everything works. It's incredibly smooth, even in its dirty condition. Platen feels like it's measured on the Rockwell scale, not the Shore scale; I'm thinking about a HRC 55-57, so maybe as hard as an axe head. This is the hardest platen I've ever felt, as a matter of fact, harder than my 1924 Corona Four, which I think is original, as it has shrunk significantly, then again, it is almost a century old, so it could have had the platen re-rubbered a few times before this Facit was made. 
The typewriter came in the original case with the manual and the paper key cover for touch typing practice. 
I can't wait to get this thing fully restored and typing. I'll post some photos when I get a chance.
Phil Forrest 

 

05-4-2021 21:54:36  #1780


Re: Recent Acquisitions Thread

Just picked up this $10 1959 Royal FP. My best acquisition so far, I think, of my mere 3. The right "Magic" margin was stuck and I had to move the stop by hand but its good now and now I know how to move it.    Occasional skipped spaces that I don't think are operator error but time will tell. I really need a good platform for it now that I have a pretty good typer. I like it, its smooth and seems to be in good shape. 

 

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