1 - Pete E.
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- From: Idaho - USA
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Key-Top Character...????
Does anyone know what the character is in the upper-shift position of this key-top ?
.
- Phil_F_NM
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Re: Key-Top Character...????
Looks like a cedilla under a letter c. Cedilla is a diacritical mark in a bunch of languages, Portuguese, French, Spanish use this character, off the top of my head. In those languages, it denotes a sound like 's' in English, if I'm not mistaken.
Phil Forrest
- Pete E.
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Re: Key-Top Character...????
Thanks, Phil...that helps a lot...
It must have been a special-order key for a customer...as the rest of the keyboard looks to be standard QWERTY even has a $-sign.
More on the machine in a few days when I learn more about it and try to bring it into my home.
C-cedilla
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Thread Starter- skywatcher
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
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Re: Key-Top Character...????
Hi Pete
The shape of the key looks like a Facit or a Halda. As Phil says, C-cedilla is used in many of the romance languages and is also pronounced as a soft Z. the one example that comes to mind is the local spelling of Mozambique which is Moçambique. All the best,
Sky
We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
- Phil_F_NM
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Re: Key-Top Character...????
Could it possibly be a Spanish keyboard with a dead key to allow for a tilde '~' over the n? I've seen these on keyboards as n with ~ over it on one key (I don't know how to make the single character here on the computer), and I've also seen a single machine with a regular n and a ~ on a separate key, to be used with a dead key, rather like making an ! out of a ' and . Just a thought on the origin of this machine. Seeing a cedilla is an interesting addition. If you ever see one with a D that has a line through it, let me know! I'm always on the look out for an Icelandic typewriter.
Phil Forrest
- Pete E.
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- From: Idaho - USA
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Re: Key-Top Character...????
Hi Sky,
Thanks for your reply. And a keen-eye...yes Facit machine.
Hi Phil,
It does have a "dead key" up on the next row. Did not notice it until you mentioned it.
.
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Thread Starter- Pete E.
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- From: Idaho - USA
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Re: Key-Top Character...????
Deal done with the owner of the Facit T2 from 1969 or so.
Will post up more photos in the Swedish Gallery once it is home and cleaned up.
Neat the machine even comes with an original Instruction Manual...this one has been in 1-home its entire life.
.
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Thread Starter- skywatcher
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
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Re: Key-Top Character...????
Hi Pete
The 1969 Hermes 3000 that I inherited from my Mother-in-law's estate has the same characters. My first wife's adopted mother was a pastor's wife in the mission field stationed in France during the 1970's. This Hermes 3000 was assigned to her by Missionary Equipment of Chicago so she could type letters, minutes and other correspondence in French.
The unit also has the grave and circumflex diacritics on a dead key.
If ever you get the chance to pick up a copy of the book "Quirky Qwerty" by Torbjörn Lundmark, it explains all the various diacritics and it's an amusing read. All the best,
Sky
We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
- Pete E.
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- From: Idaho - USA
- Registered: 23-6-2020
- Posts: 2,378
Re: Key-Top Character...????
Hi Sky,
Nice to hear about your family-machine. It is lovely.
Lots of good-condition, used copies of that book on eBay for < $ 4 USD with free shipping. Amazing for a book that has 176 pages. Thanks for the tip on the book.
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Thread Starter- skywatcher
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
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Re: Key-Top Character...????
Looks like I got a few words mixed up. Lois was a pastor's assistant in France, not a pastor's wife. She didn't marry my father-in-law Albert until they were both in their 50's. That's when they started fostering children up in Yellow Knife in the North West Territories.
My father-in-law was a clerical secretary with the Royal Canadian Air Force stationed in Churchill Manitoba. That's where he met Lois after she got shipwrecked and was put up in the RCAF barracks until another ship could be dispatched to take her back to Minnesota. Believe me, I couldn't make this up if I tried.
My first wife was the only teenage child they fostered and she adopted them as an adult. They fostered a total of 22 children, mostly newborn to 2 years old. They've both gone home to be with The Lord, as has my first wife in 2002. All the best,
Sky
We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
