Sunday, October 3, 2010

Typecast: No more room at the inn





An Adler 30, picture taken in rather strong sunlight. These older machines are beautiful to look at, but rather large. Sigh.


Beautiful Remington Remette - still with blue paper rolled around the platen! The seller knew what it was worth, too, and so it was a tad out of my league. I passed on regretfully.


Swiss-made Patria - identical form factor to my Japy Script. This machine still lingers at the thrift store where I found it, at a very affordable price, but ... eh. The dull color, ordinary font... a bit staid for me at this point.


A portable Erika from the 20s, found next to the first Adler 30.


I've been keeping an eye out for this variant of the Hermes Baby - it looks exactly like the plastic ones, but it was made a few years before (in Switzerland, not Brazil), has the same color scheme of the Hermes 3000, and is all-metal. This was being offered at a great price, but AZERTY? Ugh.


One of the shiny black Hermes 2000s... these crop up often, and I can just visualize them properly cleaned and polished with a good coating of Turtle Wax (or the local equivalent). Gorgeous!

6 comments:

  1. I think we need to have a continental typewriter exchange. Hermes are exceptionally rare to come by out here on the west coast of the U.S., though we're hip-deep in Smith-Corona and the occasional Olivetti. What a problem to have!

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  2. Oooh... Smith Corona! What I wouldn't do for a turquoise Silent Super or a super-flat Skyriter. I have two entries in my Smith Corona section on this blog, and I was ecstatic to find both of them (Clipper and Galaxie II) as a welcome break from the Hermes monopoly.

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  3. That Adler is a beauty, especially the decal. Very rare in the US, as is the black Hermes 2000.

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  4. You write so well ! Fantastic comparison with the crazy cat lady danger ;)
    I will soon follow the self imposed collector retirement too. Waiting for some more (and luckily, I can spread some in the office) but I won't buy any more unless I really find something amazing -- will also try to stay clean from ebay.de without having to deal with withdrawal symptoms !

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  5. I can understand with the crazy cat lady comment. Not only did I know one, but I know that I will easily become that lady. Which is why I have only two typewriters.

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  6. David, my fellow Swiss typewriter-addict, I feel like we should take a vow, starting from this second. The next time you see a typewriter you really want to buy, write to me and I'll try to talk you out of it. And you can do likewise for me, coming up with all sorts of reasons why I do NOT need another machine.

    Rad-tastic: You have incredible resolve! Two typewriters? In the midst of all the collectors' frenzy? I occasionally try to think of my favorite six or eight, but two... wow. I am envious.

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