I came home from a trip to the dentist today to find a large package on my front porch.  My aunt and uncle had sent me my grandfather's old typewriter that, according to the story, he had "rescued from Germany during the war". I don't yet know the story.  My uncle is supposed to tell me at some point when he is less busy.

Anyway, I opened it up with a lot of suspense.  My aunt had not given me any information about it except that it was brought home from Germany when my grandfather came home and that it had "been sitting in a closet for years and years". So, I didn't know the brand or condition or anything about it. Here is what I found in the box:



Very cool.  It has a qwerty keyboard, but looks German otherwise.  It has a beta and several umlauts and accents.  I don't know what the curly m is above the 3, I don't think that's mu is it?  The serial number is 214,806.



It does type, and fairly well, the ribbons move, ribbon reverse works, carriage moves, line return and spacing works, the bell works as does shift, but the feed rollers are completely flattened and cracked.  I will have to see about getting it fixed.  The platen is also rock hard, so I'll need to see about getting it recovered. 



Some of the letters have also worn partially off of the keys, I don't know if there is a fix for that.



It does have a sticker on it from a service shop in Columbus Mississippi.  If the story of my grandfather 'rescuing' it is true, I suppose that could have been added later when it was serviced or repaired. Columbus Mississippi is about 1 hour from Fayette Alabama, where my grandparents lived, so that is plausible.

Anyway, I'm excited to learn the story of this typewriter, so I will try to remember to post back here when I hear from my uncle about it.

ETA, type sample:

Last edited by Spazmelda (17-6-2015 15:58:47)

Ah, that makes sense.  It is in good condition except for the feed rollers and platen.  They are toast.  Since it was my grandpa's I feel like it's worth a bit to get it fixed up.  It's stuff I can't really do myself though, so it will have to go out.

My husband just informed me that the thing I was calling beta, is actually double s.

Last edited by Spazmelda (17-6-2015 16:25:12)

I have done one round of rubber rejuvenator, and I will try more, but it's pretty rock hard, and the feed rollers left some sort of residue where they have been resting on the platen for so long.  I don't know. Replacing or restoring the feed rollers would probably make it usable at least. Right now, you have to use the paper release in order to get paper in, it won't roll in since they are so flat.

As for it being pilfered, I don't know about that either.  I've been told it's a good story, by my aunt, but she insisted it was my uncle who should tell me the story. I was hoping he'd include a letter, but they are busy moving my grandmother and moving themselves.

Last edited by Spazmelda (17-6-2015 16:52:50)

Ah! I will check that.  It does have the case. I should have included a picture of that.

That's nice, - and I'm a little green!
Never seen a umlauted machine in qwertY - I too think they were swapped.

For the keytop lettering; if the indents are still deep enough, white engraver's wax should do the trick.  Another solution could be to use the type of paint-pen for car and aeroplane modelling produced by model companies such as Tamiya - but you'll need a fine one and a steady hand.

Last edited by beak (17-6-2015 18:02:46)