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No Typewriter Guy,
It's not a Lettera 32. I have a Lettera 32 so I'm certain its not that one.
I believe that it's possibly a Brother Webster or a similar Brother. I have a good memory of the colour and size and that points to a Brother model. Also the case is another clue for me. A blue zippered case is a certainty.
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Hello all!
I'm MK, and I am a typewriter addict. I currently just purchased my 20th typewriter, and I adore almost all of them (the ones that I don't adore: a trashed skyriter, a Royal Sprite, a very officious looking Royal KMM in dead fish grey, and an Olivetti-Underwood portable that I have put off cleaning because it is slimy and smells bad).
My very favorites so far are my Royal Model P (with that typeface you all know and swoon over), my effortlessly cool Triumph Perfekt, a wonky Royal Royalite, and my horde of cursive typers (Royal Safari, SC Galaxie, SC Galaxie II, Adler Tippa S (which has a bad case of cartridge flop, but reattaching the drawband should be easy enough...I think?)).
Looking forward to learning more about typewriters and the folks that collect them!
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Hi Emkay, you and Spazmelda will get along fine with all your cursive machines!
Well done on that Royal, too. Pretty impressive. 20 machines is a nice collection - you have enough to make a real group! The Olivetti-Underwood sounds interesting. The slime less so. If that were mine I might just brush all the workings in copious solvent and let the slime dissolve... then you can go in and get to grips...
My favourites are usually whatever I'm working on at the moment. Right now, a newly rejuvenated & quite late Lettera 32, a 1946 Remington Rand I've just brought back to life, a couple of Smith-Corona Super-Silents, and the beloved Hermes: 2000 (pica) or 3000 (elite), take your pick.
Editing in: I like your idea of saying which ones you DON'T adore! In my case, that'll be the Royalite - my second, I think I just don't warm to them - and an Imperial Good Companion that I really don't like at all. Mostly, the things I don't like I have sold.
Last edited by KatLondon (19-9-2015 15:52:09)
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@emkay
You don't like the KMM? The virtual twin of the KMM, the KMG, is a top 3 favorite of mine...
But welcome anyways!
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It may just be the one I have, but it is a sluggish typer compared to others. It sits on a shelf next to an Underwood 5 that is snappier, prettier, and (surprisingly, to me) lighter than the dang KMM.
Then again, I adore my royalite, which may also put me in a minority - it's not the sturdiest, but it's flimsy in a very fixable way!
ztyper wrote:
@emkay
You don't like the KMM? The virtual twin of the KMM, the KMG, is a top 3 favorite of mine...
But welcome anyways!
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That's weird... Royals are known to be snappy and fast. Perhaps it's just that it needs to be "broken in" a bit to get all of the mechanics moving again. I remember my KMG was pretty sluggish when I finally got it to work again. But if you're happy with the Underwood 5, then by all means that's ok.
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Like Will Davis I just found this forum and I'm pleased to be here. I've been collecting for over a year now. I'm not an antique collector, I want something that I can type on. Like emkay I've got a Royal KMM that is a great typer, but the keyboard seems heavy compared to my 1940 Underwood standard, or even compared to my 1936 Royal KHM. But I definitely skew towards the "desktop standard" line, even though some of the portables are fun for short works.
I'm retired (finally) and so I have time on my hands and words on my mind. I'd love to be a rich and famous fiction writer. We will just have to see what happens along that line. The best typer buys I have found have been at yard sales in my local town so I'm still cruising those every weekend. Currently sitting on about 18 typers in the back room. I'm not looking to set a record, but each one is lovely to type on, in it's own way.
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Welcome treefaller. Glad you jumped in with both feet; my appreciation for typewriters is very similar to yours, and I only buy machines with the intent of using them - a lot.
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Hi Treefaller, nice to have you here!
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Well I'll fight you to the death over the quality of the KMM/KMG, but welcome anyways! Now that I think about it, I've been collecting for over a year now and have about 18 typewriter too.