Vicchio, Mugello

A beautiful place to be! See some photos here.
November mood? See here.



Alternatively, visit the garden, and visit it again.

Firenze Social Forum 2002

some photos of the event: click here.

typewriters.ch

A new site for typewriter enthousiasts: www.typewriters.ch just started in November 2009.

Mörsbergerstrasse um 1900 v. 2009

Mörsbergerstrasse um 1900 v. 2009, originally uploaded by shordzi.

"Oliver" portable typewriter

OLIVER PORTABLE TYPEWRITER
model: ?
manufacturer: ?
serial number: 104896
year of production: ? (probably 1930s)
keyboard: QUERTZ / French (Swiss-French?)

"Oliver" typewriters are most commonly associatiated with the popular Oliver standard typewriter, which stands out by its "winged" shape (see the Wikipedia entry for more information on the Oliver Typewriter Company). The history of Oliver portable typewriters is somewhat complicated: the British Oliver Typewriters Ltd.'s portable typewriters were duplicated by several other firms (1). According to information available at Will Davis' website (1), the machine featured here would fall "into the family loosely known as the 'SIM / MAS' group of portables, made in Italy and which carried a wide variety of names and models over a number of years."

Special features:

1. The serial number 104896 is not a mechanical engraving as usually, but engraved by hand.


2. There is an extra "FR" currency key for (French or Swiss) francs. The ribbon selector in the colours green - white - red might reflect the Italian flag, where the typewriter was probably produced. Incidental gimmick: can you see the keyboard's "smiley"?




(1) Will Davis, OLIVER portables and relatives, http://www.geocities.com/wbd641/oliver.html (visited 2009-08-11)
last update: 8.3.2010

Triumph Klein-Schreibmaschine

Triumph Klein-Schreibmaschine "Modell 1" oder "Klein-Triumph"


Triumph portable typewriter. More photos here.

Modell: Modell 1 oder Klein-Triumph. Modell ab 1928 hergestellt. (1)
Hersteller: Triumph-Werke Nürnberg AG
Seriennummer: 314636
Herstellungsjahr: 1940 (?) 
Tastatur: Schweizer-Deutsche Tastatur
als Geschenk erhalten in Courtedoux im August 2009.

Ab 1928 stellten die Triumph-Werke ihre erste Klein-Schreibmaschine her. Sie war von eigenen Mitarbeitern konstruiert worden und erhielt die Bezeichnung "Modell 1" oder "Klein-Triumph" (1, S.23). Wir sehen sie auf diesem Werbeplakat:


source: von Zezschwitz Kunst und Design

Fussnoten:
(1) Leonhard Dingwerth, Die Geschichte der Deutschen Schreibmaschinenfabriken- Band 1: große und mittlere Hersteller, BoD – Books on Demand, 2008 (ISBN 3921913381, 9783921913383).

last update: 8.3.2010

Stars over Grimselpass

Stars over Grimselpass, originally uploaded by shordzi.

Familie Vollrath-Baumeister, Bayreuth

Familie Vollrath-Baumeister, Bayreuth, originally uploaded by shordzi.

Familie Vollrath, Bayreuth.
Johann Heinrich Vollrath und Dorothea geb. Baumeister mit ihren Kindern Maria, Meta, Anna, Johanna, Georg und Hedwig.
Photo von ca. 1899 (geschätzt nach Kinderalter).

Vollrath Bukarest (1902)

Vollrath Bukarest (1902), originally uploaded by shordzi.

Die Vollrathbrüder Heinrich, Hanne, Michael und Martin mit Söhnen, Bukarest 1902.
v.l.: Heinrich, Konrad, Johann, Carl, Michael, Martin, Ludwig Vollrath.

Continental typewriter, X-large

Continental typewriter, originally uploaded by shordzi.

If you have more information on this exact model, please contact me (see "contact" on top of this blog).

Factsheet	Continental Standard
Manufacturer	Wanderer Werke AG,formely Winklhofer&Jaenicke, Sigmar-Schönau, Germany.
Model	Continental Standard (wide carriage)
Serial number	440166 (produced in 1930)
Special features	Swiss-German keyboard; long carriage (ca.16 inches)
Originally sold by	"J.F. Pfeiffer, Basel"

This machine comes from a private sale near Basel in July 2009, independent from our recent other Continental Standard typewriter, which we bought in a second hand shop. However, both typewriters were originally sold in the same shop, "J.F. Pfeiffer, Basel", and also stem from the same period, as can be deducted from the closeness of the serial numbers.

This typewriter cost 50 CHF and came in ok, but not neat condition. A bit of dusting and oiling, as usually, did the job, it now writes very neatly, and I can assure you it's good finger training to type on it!


The serial number is 440166, which, according to the Typewriter Serial Number Database would fall in the production year 1930.


last update: 8.3.2010

Hermes 3000 typewriter

Hermes_3000_6, originally uploaded by shordzi.

Yet another portable typewriter, this time from Switzerland!

Fact sheet:
Model: Hermes 3000
Manufacturer: Paillard S.A., Yverdon, Switzerland
Serial number: 3109005 (year of production 1963)

The Hermes 3000's design changed several times over the years, starting with the classy rounder shape at first production in 1958 (various sources on the internet). Our machine is from this period. In the late 1960s, a new design was introduced (source: mrmartinweb.com), with at least two slight variations yet again in the 1970s and 1980s (see mrtypwriter.tripod.com for details & pictures). Read more on Hermes typewriters on Will Davis' site.


more photos here

last update: 8.3.2010

Continental typewriter

Continental typewriter, originally uploaded by shordzi.

The new member of my collection - Continental Standard, welcome!

Factsheet:
Model: Continental Standard
Manufacturer: Wanderer-Werke, formerly Winklhofer&Jaenicke, Sigmar-Schönau, Germany.
Special features: Swiss-German keyboard
Serial number: 438669 (manufactured in 1930)
Weight: heavy!

We bought this nice typewriter for 65 Swiss Franks at Heilsarmee Brockenstube (a second hand shop) in Basel, Switzerland. A little plate reading "J.F.Pfeiffer, Basel", and which is attached to the front display, indicates that the typewriter was also originally sold in Basel. From the serial number 438669 we can deduct it was manufactured in 1930 (cf. the Typewriter Serial Number Database). The keyboard layout is Swiss, which means it features all Umlaut needed for German, but also the complete French accents.

The Continental came not in neat, but in ok condition. You could see it had been stored in some forgotten dusty place for decades. The carriage and some keys wouldn't move properly at first trial. A bit of dust cleaning and oil on carriage and the type mechanism, however, did the trick and restored the basic functions, i.e., we could type our first letter within a day.

The first Continental typewriter was built in 1904. Its design remained very much unchanged over the years of production (2, at p.53). The Wanderer Continental was probably the most sold German typewriter of its time (2, at p.53).



Literature:
(1) Leonhard Dingwerth, Die Geschichte der Deutschen Schreibmaschinenfabriken- Band 1: große und mittlere Hersteller, BoD – Books on Demand, 2008 (ISBN 3921913381, 9783921913383).
(2) Leonhard Dingwerth, Historische Schreibmaschinen: Geschichte, Technik und Faszination. Sammlerträume, Verlage Battenberg und Gietl, 2008 (ISBN 3866460414, 9783866460416).

last update: 8.3.2010

Sommeregger Stammbaum

Woher kommt der Name Sommeregger? Für das Projekt eines Meta-Stammbaums, siehe http://sommeregger.at/sommeregger/index.html.

Zur Darstellung der geographischen Verteilung des Familiennamen Sommeregger, siehe das GEOGEN Programm auf:
http://christoph.stoepel.net/geogen/en/Default.aspx .

Es gibt mehrere Sommeregger Stammbäume auf RODOVID.ORG, z.B. diesen hier.

Andreas/Andrés Sommeregger

Andreas/Andrés Sommeregger (1887-1935)

Andreas Sommeregger (9.V.1887 - 1935)
Place of birth: Oberdorf bei Spittal, Kärnten
Father: Andreas Sommeregger (1850-1924)
Mother: Maria née Ertl (1859-1931)

Known lifeline:
Wanderte nach Südamerika aus.¹

notes:
1. Information CE

Remington Portable #2

Fact sheet:
Manufacturer: Remington Rand
Model: Remington Portable #2
Serial number: V150477
Keyboard: German
Purchased in Basel, Switzerland, in Autumn 2008.

This Remington Portable has a rather small font, a lovely feature - you can fit many words, tighly written, in one page.

When was it made? Usually, a typewriter is easy to date with the help of the Typewriter Serial Number Database. This time, however, we cannot be so sure. According to Richard Polt's Remington Portables' page, #2 production started in February 1925, SN V131518 was made in December 1928. Our #2 with the SN V150477 is thus post-1928 produced. Should you have any information which would allow for more precise dating (such as - ideally - original manufacturer's lists), please share them with us!

Triumph Durabel typewriter

Fact sheet
model: Triumph Durabel
serial number: 328300 (manufactured in 1940)
keyboard layout: Swiss-German

complete with original case
purchased in Switzerland in March 2009 for 38 CHF

The serial number 328300 would indicate the production year 1940 (source: the typewriter database at http://www.tw-db.com/). Next to the "DURABEL" sticker and the insignia of the Triumph company, the label of Schreibmaschinen G. Schaerer Basel (a typewriter shop) is also still on.

Particularities
It writes with ease and has a beautiful font. According to http://www.100besteschriften.de/
(itself quoting from the book Made with Fontfont) Erik van Blokland's modern Trixie font of 1991 is based on the Triumph Durabel's font.

last update: 8.3.2010

Art 2002

computerspeed