Lots of Used Typewriters in 1915

Mr. Gustav Freudenberg ran a shop specialising in used typewriters in Seefeldstrasse 19, Zurich, 100 years ago.  I came across this letterhead from 1915 which I want to share with you:

for FULL RESOLUTION, see here

Have a look! Can you count or ID them all? Which one would you choose?

Can you imagine walking in this shop and seeing all these old machines? It must have been a thrill - rather, it would be a thrill for us to beam back and be there. For the clients at the time, it was the occasion to score an old Densmore and the like. Practically minded people.

Well, ads tend to exaggerate. Nonetheless, all these machines we cherish and want for our collections were considered old already then. Strange thought...

that's it for today. happy typing, and see you soon - in the typosphere

more stationary for download, print and feed to your favourite machine? see here.

Stationary for the typosphere

This week is "Robert Messenger week" on sommeregger's Sammelsurium. Meaning that my endeavour shall be to post faster than you guys can read. A week of leisure and freedom from the office makes it possible. While I admit that I am a lazy typecaster, I do enjoy to produce little goodies for the typosphere. So here is two more letterheads for downloading and typing away. I got the originals at my usual spot at the meeting in Cologne, scanned and cleaned them, and here they are, ready for my fellow typospherians.

Royal typewriters G. Beker, general agent for the Liège province, Belgium. 1942. The top line mentions "Tondelier Frères" in 134, rue royale, Brussels. There is little to be found on Tondelier on the internet, but my guess is they were the general agents for the whole of Belgium. (click on picture to download)

Herincx SA, general agent for L.C. Smith typewriters, Charleroi, Belgium. 1932. This letterhead prominently displays L.C. Smith's big achievement and central sales argument, namely the ball-bearings integrated in each typebar. This really made and makes for a wonderful light touch. (click on picture to download)

See previous posts
See even more on flickr

Swiss Typewriter Letterheads

Inspired by Richard's post presenting the typewriter letterheads used at a recent typefest, I am happy to show you some Swiss 1930s letterheads. These are ready for download (follow the link by clicking on the pictures / alternative download from this page). Format is A4, but is should work just as well when printing them out on U.S. standard letter paper.

August Baggenstos was general representative for Hermes in German-speaking Switzerland. He wrote a cool book on typewriters, too.

Louis-Marius Campiche was general representative of Hermes in the French-speaking parts of Switzerland

M.L. Campiche also sold Victor calculating machines