An Account of the March 17 Basel Type-Fest

The welcoming scene that greeted us in the garden.

Even before we arrived, Alfred typed our names on this Apex toy typewriter; how sweet!

I hope occasional Instagram use is not too frowned upon - here, the train from Geneva (with stray foot).

Also lurking in the garden was this giant blue Remington Noiseless, but I didn't have a chance to try it out.

Goodbye, Voss! Believe it or not, Georg is making progress with it... I just might claim it back at this rate :P

The Ideal Standard, which I hastily abandoned when even feeding in paper turned out to be difficult.

Florian's Olivetti ICO, with which he triumphed in the speed typing contests.

The results of the speed typing contest - note the Princess 300 ribbon cover, which came loose and was rapidly discarded!

 

The cat was curious - aren't they always - but the turtle gleefully evaded capture.

In his cellar museum, Georg shows us a very special Erika M.

The typecast I produced on the spot, using first the Underwood Electric, then the Princess 300.

No words. Just... wow. What a presence, and what speed!

Georg reappeared just as I was about to smuggle this off... sigh.

It was great to take a close look at unfamiliar machines, like this bakelite Express.

Among the machines I tried was this Olympia Traveller de Luxe (German-made, unlike mine), which made me revise my poor opinion of the series. It actually typed pleasantly well! Color me surprised. Could be that it's properly broken in, though.

Georg's fraktur Urania Piccola, which I secretly prefer to my Senta (four-bank keyboards are much easier to use!)

I loved the glossy blue of Georg's Continental portable, and the matching ribbon spools.

A first look at my own Continental (thanks, Florian!). While Georg's blue one is nice, I prefer the glass keys on mine.

I also got to see - for the first time - the article about the Swiss typosphere that had appeared in the previous day's Tages Anzeiger. Waiting for the translation from Florian, but my first reaction was... "Sigh. I suppose it's no longer possible to tell the story of Retro Tech Geneva without narrating the extraordinary saga of The Dress."

Typecast: A Great Feeling

Plastic Fantastic: Olympia Traveller de Luxe (1970s)

Very interesting design; I wish it typed better

The case it comes in is usually the same, no matter the color - I had hoped this would be a bit more exciting than white!

- Have you used the Olympia Traveller de Luxe? What did you think? I know Deek used to have a script Traveller that he later gave away because he found it unpleasant to use, but I thought he was exaggerating because... well, how could anyone refuse a script typewriter???

Now I know better: nothing would make me keep this typewriter. After completing the typecast - a struggle, I assure you - I breathed a huge sigh of relief and said to myself, "Never again." So I don't feel too bad about foisting it onto a buyer, I rationalize that at least it is in pristine condition and would be suitable for occasional typing, or even as a children's toy. Poor kids...


Some links:

Strikethru's orange Olympia Traveller de Luxe. Now I understand why it was no big loss.
David's unboxing of his NOS Traveller. 
Hot-rodded Travellers on Etsy - anyone know what decals this seller is using and/ or how to find some? Looks like a fun experiment, even though I don't think it should raise the value of the typewriter quite as much as this seller thinks.