- skywatcher
- Moderator
Offline - From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 737
Re: The Halberg project
Hi Again
Looking at it with slightly less tired eyes, the first word looks more like Mansfloia or Mansflola. I believe what we thought was an R or an M, is an FL combination. I don't suppose you have any inkling as to which city this particular Queen Street was or is located.
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)
- Laurenz van Gaalen
- Speed Champion
Offline
- From: The Netherlands
- Registered: 20-7-2019
- Posts: 410
Re: The Halberg project
Good point. MANSFLOLA looks the most plausible to me. I have indeed no information about the Queen Street on the decal.
- •
Thread Starter- Phil_F_NM
- Speed Champion
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- From: Mid-Atlantic region
- Registered: 16-4-2020
- Posts: 267
Re: The Halberg project
Mansfiola isn't too uncommon a name, but my money is on Mansfield.
This leads us to two possible locations found in a brief search:
Mansfield Typewriter in Mansfield, Ohio.
Now if the second word is "District," a search for Mansfield & District puts this in the UK.
Mansfield does have a Queen Street which is only a few hundred meters long and is loaded with small shops. I just rolled along it using Google maps street view.
A little change of the search logic resulted in this:
=13px
Looks like another sample of your Halberg.
Phil Forrest
- Beachycove
- Novice Typer
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- Registered: 30-1-2022
- Posts: 37
Re: The Halberg project
Give that man a prize!
- Laurenz van Gaalen
- Speed Champion
Offline
- From: The Netherlands
- Registered: 20-7-2019
- Posts: 410
Re: The Halberg project
Impressive! The machine Phil found is indeed the Halberg carrying the decal. I found the machine over a year ago on the same website, and just recently I was trying to decipher the decal. It simply did not occur to me to go back to the website where I found the Halberg. This is embarrasing. But, at least I have learned Sky and Phil are excellent detectives. Sorry guys and thanks a lot for solving the mystery.
Lau
- •
Thread Starter- Phil_F_NM
- Speed Champion
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- From: Mid-Atlantic region
- Registered: 16-4-2020
- Posts: 267
Re: The Halberg project
I love historical research like this.
A couple years ago, I bought a not-working Viking sewing machine from Goodwill, and inside the case were all sorts of papers. I learned about the person who bought the machine in 1973, where it was purchased, the history of the shop, and how the machine ended up at a thrift store.
I love the fact that a little decal that an employee floated onto the typewriter over 75 years ago, can lead me to a virtual walk down the street where the machine began its journey.
I traced my Oliver No. 9 to a railroad in the midwest USA, if I recall correctly.
I'm always very interested in the people who owned and used these machines, especially the ones used by military members. So much history that the typewriters have seen, often, and so much history that has been recorded by those typebars.
Phil Forrest
- Uwe
- Moderator
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- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: The Halberg project
Phil_F_NM wrote:
I'm always very interested in the people who owned and used these machines...
I agree. Often it's far more interesting than the machines themselves. I made a habit of interviewing sellers who were the original owners (or their relatives) and recording what memories they had of the machine's history. Unfortunately, those models represent a small minority as most typewriters I used to buy were either being flipped (and their history wasn't known) or sold via auction. I also never remove dealer stickers, and this thread is one of the reasons why I don't.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
