30 de junio de 2009

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.

Hermes_3000_writingsample2
more photos here


last update: 8.3.2010

29 de junio de 2009

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