Typewriter Talk / UK-Made Olympia Monica S - In Coming...

**Posted by Pete E.** 17-5-2023 16:24:51

I have wanted to get my hands on one of these for some time.

UK-made Olympia Monica S from the 1970's. Tabulator with manually set Tab stops along the back.

This one is coming in from the UK...should have it at the end of May or so.

Only issue is 1 broken latch on the case-lid. Probably will just use the lid as a dust-cover and not for travelling.

More to come once I have it in-hand.
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**Posted by thetypewriterman** 18-5-2023 04:10:24

You will find that this is a very stripped-down version of the Olympia SM8 containing lots of plastic parts. It was the last gasp at manufacturing this series of machines and although lower quality than its' predecessors, still streets ahead of what the competition were offering at the time. These machines were manufactured in Ireland (not sure if Northern Ireland of Eire) in a factory that was previously making Olympia mechanical adding machines.

**Posted by Pete E.** 18-5-2023 07:47:41

Thanks for your inputs, Tom. I appreciate it.

If the build quality is better than the Nakajima stuff coming out of Japan, then, I will be a happy camper.

I am surprised how much I like the light-weight Erika Daro model 40 I have...from about the same time-frame. Hope I find this Olympia Monica along the same lines.
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**Posted by thetypewriterman** 19-5-2023 04:21:13

Oh yes, the Erica was one of the former East Germany's best exports. They were very cheap to buy in the UK when new, and therefore looked down on - but actually very nice machines. You can see the the East German engineers did the best that they could with the limited resources available to them at the time. Also, Erika was a long-established manufacturer from before the war. Interestingly, Olympia sold re-branded Erikas as the 'Olympia Regina'. The story is that they were made to. Maybe I'll tell you why another time

**Posted by Pete E.** 22-5-2023 19:26:54

Monica S arrived from the UK with no mishaps. Extremely well packed and even the fragile plastic paper support was not broken in its travels.

Machine without its plastic lid weighs in at 14.8 lbs. Based on its serial number, this machine comes from 1977...2 years after my son was born while I was still in college.

It has a 2-color ribbon feature, Tabulator with manual Tab stops along the back.

No touch control on the "S" model. That came with the Monica Deluxe.

Platen still allows me to indent its rubber with my thumb nail and all functions work, well.

Below the carriage assembly on either side, there is a secure latch that rotates/swings away. Once those are freed, the back of the machine can be lifted out from the plastic bottom pan and then the front of the machine canmove back and away from the front retainers. Really each way to remove the machine from the bottom pan for a deep cleaning.

I will also plan to add some peel & stick felt pads to the interior of the bottom pan and the ribbon cover as well.

It will get cleaned and serviced with a new ribbon this week. More photos, then.

It feels like a good machine. My Erika Daro Model 40 is a bit "tighter"...but the Monica S is no slouch
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**Posted by Pete E.** 27-5-2023 12:01:58

Olympia Monica S all cleaned up, serviced, and new B/R ribbon added.

Only improvements I made were :

1. Added some rubber bumpers under-neath the space bar at the 2 stops. Originally it was plastic-to-plastic contact...but the new rubber "dots" have really quieted it down.

2. 2 small pieces of open-foam padding at the bottom pan under the machine chassis. I took those out and gave the entire pan a covering of peel & stick felt padding.

The easy way to remove the entire chassis from the plastic cowling is sheer genius. 2 latches along the back (accessed with moving the carriage to one side and then the other) and the entire back of the machine lifts out and then when it is at a 45-degree angle, you push the chassis back a bit to free it up from the 2 retainer points along the front. Everything accessible for easy cleaning and servicing.

Definitely a "keeper" and a fun machine to use.
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**Posted by Pete E.** 27-5-2023 18:58:32

Same of type...Pica 10 cpi.

And perfect upper/lower case alignment.
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**Posted by robmck** 27-5-2023 22:32:19

Nicely done. What makes it fun to use?

**Posted by Pete E.** 28-5-2023 07:57:42

Hi Rob,

Very snappy action and a quick machine.

And I like the simplicity of manually-set Tab stops on a machine. None of those key-top set/clear features that can be trouble in the long run when they start acting up. That's why I went with the Monica S rather than the Monica Deluxe of the UK-made machines.

Plus the platen rubber still has lots of life left. I do not use my typical sheet of Avery laminating plastic as a backing sheet for this Monica.

These plastic bodied machines...like this Monica S and my Erika Daro and even my Brother 1513 are the perfect front porch machines where I can enjoy a cup and type out some short notes for birthday and special occasion cards. Easy to carry around and they have a build quality I can take for granted.

The Monica S is still mostly a metal machine...under the hood. Only plastics I see are the main spring housing , the 2 ribbon spool wheel gears, and the space-bar stops which are cast in place plastic as part of the plastic bottom pan. And more of the top-side levers are plastic, but on metal stems.

But everything else is steel or cast/forged aluminum.
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**Posted by Pete E.** 28-5-2023 15:24:35

My lovely bride of 42 years loves to sew...on her vintage 1950's and 1960's sewing machines that we have refurbished.

Perfect dust cover on the Monica S while on the display shelves and on my desk.
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