typewriter advent

moving the collection - part II

Gabriele and her twin sisters

There was a young woman, Gabriele by name. She called upon each customer to trust her. But she had three sisters, too. One was "Junior", one was "Mädchen", and the youngest one "J2".

Gabriele 10 20 30

Adler Junior 10 20 30

Scheidegger Typomatic-TMS

Adler J2 / J4. Picture via machinesoflovinggrace

 And here is the corresponding booklet covers:

Picture via machinesoflovinggrace

Any more sister sightings? Thanks for reporting.

2011-11-11 Still Life

Still Life with Hermes 2000

Not So Still Life (with Hermes 2000)

2011-11-11 continuous moving and change

It just occurred to me I have probably waited for this 111111 at 11h11 for 33 years, or haven't I? So here goes one quick post advertising the future typewriters.ch museum at its new location. Still 2 tons of material to shift, go go go.

changing places

Typewriter genealogy Part I

In the beginning, there was the Patria.

And Patria begat Japy P6.  


And Japy P6 begat Japy P68.

And Japy P68 begat Japy Script, and its twin brother Gesa.


(more information on the different models by clicking on the photos)

Vive la France!

Last weekend I attended a typewriter meeting in Nancy, situated in Lorraine, France. It was fantastic! The meeting was organized by the Association Lorraine des Collectionneurs de Machines de Bureau (ALCMB). It was great to meet new collectors friends... and of course to score some new typewriters for "la collection". These are: A Japy P6, a Rooy portable, and the one I am most happy with, a rare Etoile. Here they are:

Japy P6

The P6 is a descendant of the Swiss Patria. It was the first licence of the Patria, and produced by Japy in Beaucourt from 1937 on.

Étoile, n° 51585

The Étoile was actually made in Switzerland, by Paillard. This is to say, it is based on the Hermes 2000. According to current research, Etoiles were produced for export from 1932 to 1936. Name variant: Japy 50. Almost all currently known machines have a French keyboard.

Rooy, n° 38253

For the Rooy, see Adwoa's entries.

Nachtrag: Im Radio

Wieder mit Vergnügen im Radio DRS2, Sendung "DRS2 aktuell" vom 20. August 2011. Mit vielem Dank! Hier zur Seite auf DRS2 mit link zum Nachhören.

  permalink, falls der obige link nicht mehr funktioniert.

In the media

An excellent article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung of 16 october 2011. Typosphere conquering Germany?

  

Schreibmaschinen im Kino: Das Leben der Anderen

aus: "Das Leben der Anderen" / "The Lives of Others" (2006)

Spiegel Journalist: "Leider hab ich in diesem Miniformat nur ein rotes Farbband auftreiben können. Macht es Ihnen was aus, den Artikel in rot zu schreiben?" 

Durch einen IM in der Spiegel Zentrale konnte eine Lichtpause des Originalartikels beschafft werden. Aufgrund des Schriftbilds soll die dissidente Schreibmaschine nun identifiziert werden. Dazu ist zu wissen, dass sämtliche Schreibmaschinen der unter Beobachtung Stehenden registriert waren. Alle, bis auf eine...

Schriftxperte (vor einer Wandtafel mit den vergrösserten Schrifproben): "...und so komme ich zu dem Schluss, dass die Schreibmaschine nur eine für den Export bestimmte heimische Reiseschreibmaschine mit ganzer Ausführung sein kann, mit grösster Wahrscheinlichkeit ist mit der Kolibri der VEB Groma Büromaschinen ... wäre die Vorlage in schwarzer Tinte gewesen könnt ich's noch bestimmter sagen."

"Und wer hat so eine Schreibmaschine?"

"So eine Maschine ist in unserer Republik nirgends erfasst."

"Was soll denn das heissen? Worauf schreibt denn zum Beispiel... Hauser?"

"Der Journalist Paul Hauser schreibt auf dem Modell Valentino [sic akkustisch] des Olivetti Betriebes. Bei diesem Modell wäre der Einschlagswinkel wesentlich horizont..." (wird unterbrochen)

"Jajaja, und Wallner?"

"Schreibt auf einer heimischen Optima Elite."

"Georg Dreyman?"

"Georg Dreyman schreibt seine ersten Entwürfe per Hand und die Reinschrift dann auf einer original Wanderer Torpedo (sic!), er hat noch nie auf irgend was anderem geschrieben."

"Wie gross wäre denn diese Kolibri Schreibmaschine?"

"Sie ist eine der kleinsten industriell hergestellten Maschinen: 19,5 cm x 9 cm x 19,5 cm"

"Mhm... also nicht schwerer zu schmuggeln als ein Buch?"

(nickt schweigend)

"Danke, Sie können gehen."

(nimmt die Wandtafel)

"Wiedersehen Genosse."

  

5 great 1950s portable typewriters

Picking up from Robert here... hi there way West and Down Under. This is five of my nicest portables, and they are all from the 1950s. They also type fine, with the exception of the Brosette maybe, which I don't value very highly for practical writing after all. This post is in memory of Leopold F. Pascher, the Viennese engineer who had designed what would become the Groma Gromina already by 1938. He died in unfortunate circumstances in the immediate post-war. His prototype was only put into production in 1951.

The Groma Gromina is a recent acquisition (thanks again, German ebay), the Groma Kolibri is a family heirloom from the typewriter collector's wife (I always wanted to use the word 'heirloom' in one of my posts). The abc look familiar? Yes! The Brosette is in need of more attention, whereas the Calanda S is spoiled and prominently put on display in my house.

You will find some more information by clicking on the pictures, or on typewriters.ch.

Groma Gromina

Groma Kolibri

abc

Brosette

Calanda S

That's all folks - wishing you a good week.  

5 great typewriters from the Alfred R. Wepf collection

These are from my friend Alfred's collection:

Olivetti Lettera DL

Olivetti Graphika

Mercedes Elektra

IBM 72

The Noiseless Typewriter, Mod. 4

  

Be careful out there

"Typewriter bites girl!" source: http://www.archive.org/details/safety_in_offices

Calanda K51

Calanda K51, originally uploaded by shordzi.

Cats just LOVE typewriters!

Via Flickr:
Portable typewriter Calanda K51, serial number 33531-K-51, from 1951. Made in Switzerland.

Impressions from our All-Swiss type-in

We had a fantastic day! Adwoa, in company of Mr. J., Florian of maschinengeschrieben.blogspot.com, and the author of this blog met in Berne yesterday, Sept. 10th, 2011 A.D. It was September, yet it was summer, with temperatures reaching in the 30 degrees (celsius, of course).  We had planned this event a bit in advance. Next to the local "Brockenstuben", or thrift-stores, a visit to the Museum of Communication was on our wish-list. As it often happens with dreams, this latter venture had to be dropped, as it turned out that the museum's vast collection is not on display. There is a possibility to browse the excellent on-line database, though. This being said, we got largely recompensed by the wealth of typewriters we found in the various "Brocki" we visited. According to the protocol, 20 typewriters or so were spotted by the all-Swiss typosphere delegation. In the first neighbourhood we visited, Lorraine, there were four thrift-stores within walking distance, all of them interesting. Florian got lucky with a Hermes 3000 in mint condition and a very interesting "director" typeface. Moving around the city was easy in public transport, combined with GPS help via a very very smart phone.  Heat was rising, but nothing could stop the flow of good energy on our typewriter-hunt. Having seen two more places on the other end of town (Bümpliz), we returned to the center - Florian by now carrying the Hermes plus a Swissa, Mr. J. Adwoa's shiny Remington Junior. The author came in second every time and only carried his pride. The grande finale was our type-in in a café in Gurtengasse, very close to the city centre. We had planned to type right in front of the most honorable Bundeshaus, or Federal Palace, seat of the Swiss Parliament, but the fact that a certain Swiss political party was meeting there the very same day prevented us from doing so. There was heavy police protection and access to the square was barred. So we changed plan and settled for a nice lounge-style café, which turned out to be a nice thing. We attracted quite a few looks and comments, as we were typing for peace, democracy, and the glory of the typosphere.  Just before leaving again to our three corners of Switzerland, some obscure typewriter-swapping took place at the lockers of the Berne train station. Here is a few impressions from this great day. I salute the typosphere, and thank Adwoa, J., and Florian for making this such a Lou Reed perfect day.

getting there - Remington!

the first store, inviting for the treasure hunt

A phone in the shape of Ireland!

some places were more crowded than others

one splendid Hermes Media

This is a special sheet for platen protection. It feels like a thick shower curtain. Perfect to type on a hard platen.

scientific methods to determine the exact typeface

Adwoa, Florian, Georg

THE LOCKERS

Agent S. and Agent A. hostage exchange

going home - ABC!

See also the summaries of Florian at maschinengeschrieben and Adwoa.