Typewriters...

[awalker1829]

Just took five typewriters up to Phoenix-three to trade in and two for repairs/servicing. The trade ins were an IBM Selectric III, Royal KHM and Royal KMM. The KHM and KMM were made in the 1930s/1940s. The ones sent in for servicing are my 1915 Royal No. 10 and L. C. Smith. The L. C. Smith is from the same era as the No. 10 and both are in very good condition physically-all of the decals are present with minimal wear.

The Royal just needs a couple of type bars adjusted. The L. C. Smith needs a bit more as the carriage return cable needs replacement-it broke on me. The Royal requires metal ribbon spools, as they did not feature spool covers at the time and plastic spools just look wrong on the machine. The Smith has it's original ribbon spools. Both machines feature plenty of decals and have pin stripes on the frames-the Smith even had pin stripes on the ribbon spool covers. Shop estimated $200 to service and adjust each machine, which is fair considering labor and parts for them. I am particular to the No. 10, as I used it for several years here at the office. Once it is serviced, it will return to the office to work. Yes, there are things that I do which require a typewriter.

[SA1911a1]

I still have the 40s (maybe older, I don't know how to date it) Royal desktop that I used to type my love letters to my wife when we were dating. Yeppers, I typed them.....I learned to touch type in about the 10th grade in school, and my typing, bad as it may be, is much better than my hand writing. I am not sure I could type on it any more even if it were cleaned, lubricated and adjusted because I have been so spoiled by modern keyboards. I suspect that when my wife and I die, it will get tossed with a lot more junk that will be meaningless to the kids.

Our rinky-dink, backwoodsy school forced us to take two classes that I found useful all of my life. Typing and double entry bookkeeping. I learned the other type of bookmaking on my own. ;)

[awalker1829]

I have my great grandfather's portable Royal (in addition to my machines) and will probably be bringing it into the office to use until one of the desktops is back. I got typing twice in high school-9th grade using IBM Selectric Is and 12th grade as Computer Lab. I actually can easily type on the old machines, though the desktops require more force. The reason is that the Royal No. 10 and L. C. Smith are so old that they employ a carriage shift. Instead of the type basket dropping down, the carriage goes up.