First Typewriter Experience

     What a heartwarming experience it is to turn on folks to typewriters for the first time!  In a room full of teenagers, only these two were fascinated by my machines.  Beecher is a senior newspaper staff member and Kishaun is in the jazz band.  Both are very creative types.  ;-)

     Beecher asked where he could buy a typewriter, and as I was explaining ShopGoodwill.com to him, he cut me short and told me his mother works with their graphic design team.  He also buys jewelry and shoes from their website.  He's going to look around this weekend and find an electric machine, because like me, he prefers them.

     They gave me permission to post their first typewriter adventure...

Royal Easter Weekend

     I gifted my sister a custom gold Royal O for her birthday last year. She asked me specifically for a champagne gold with glass keys model to match her décor, a combination that I've never seen before. Unplug Typewriter Co came to the rescue, restoring a scruffy machine with a cork platen into a beautiful work of art that types like a dream. Often when I visit, I'll type a little something about the good times we're having.  It's like a little timeline of our family gatherings.  She's had the typewriter well over a year now and still I'm the sole person who has ever typed anything significant it.

     If I don't go with them, I'm the usual house and pet sitter when my sister's family goes on vacations.  The Royal O is a nice machine and all, but I still prefer the ease of the electric machines.  I brought my Sears Medalist with the intent to type several pages of personal writings and letters to type pals.  This is as far as I got...

The Sears Medalist by Smith-Corona is an Amazing Typewriter!

Sears Medalist by Smith-Corona 4-Color Typewriter Ribbon

I can't get over how awesome the Smith-Corona electric typewriters are. I want to type, type, type until my fingers are numb.

 

Happy Birthday, Dear Ted, from a Sears Medalist Electric 12

Obviously I like Ted Munk a lot. He's one of the finest typewriter people in all the world. I'm a huge fan of other folks too, especially Richard Polt for The Typewriter Revolution & Cold Hard Type series, and Joe Van Cleave's many insightful videos. I would've never gotten this far so quickly without the Typosphere. <3



The Sears 4-color typewriter ribbon is quite cool, could be easily spliced to use on any typewriter, wound onto any old spool, and more than 2 colors is possible. Connect the color-change with a grommet within a few inches of clean ribbon and it's good to go for practically any machine.



I revived this 50 year-old ribbon by unwinding and fluffing the length in a cardboard box while lightly misting it with WD-40 and then let it sit all afternoon to dry a bit before rewinding. As you can see in the type sample up top, it's still got a some colorful life to it.



The Smith-Corona 6-series electric typewriters give the fastest typebar experience! A power return can add some speed, but I'm more into creative rather than productive typing, so I like the old-fashioned return lever too.





The previous owner installed a rope handle. Perhaps for easier lifting out of the case?



The main reason I bought this typewriter is for the SCM Changeable Type international kit, because it will fit all my Smith-Corona 6-series machines, both electric & manual.

 

The 1985 Sears Scholar Typewriter by Nakajima

https://www.facebook.com/groups/TypewriterCollectors/permalink/10158101962724678/

https://typewriterdatabase.com/198x-sears-the-scholar-with-correction.15011.typewriter

Sears w/ Correction, a 1984 Brother JP-1

    My little Japanese ultra-portable is all shiny and clean and just needs fresh ribbon. No manual but easy enough to operate. This Sears w/ correction, model 268.5200, is a Brother JP-1 from 1985.  It is one of my favorite lightweight yet sturdy bare-bones ultra portable. I left the ribbon sticker on for a few weeks before finally cleanly removing it. However I left the previous info on the bottom of the typewriter.

    This is Delores E. Jarboe. I found her contact info on the bottom of the typewriter and so I researched to find her obituary. Apparently the family did not want her old typewriter, so it wound up at an Iowa Goodwill store where I won it in an online auction. Sometimes it makes me sad when people give away treasures after loved ones have passed, but I don't dwell too much because that is how us collectors get typewriters!



    Dolores Jarboe, 89, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, passed away at Hiawatha Care Center on July 19, 2020. Dolores was born in Carroll, Iowa, on Nov. 9, 1930, to Samuel and Elizabeth (Neuerberg) Trigg. Survivors include her four children, Richard (Marilene) Julich, Daryl (Leslie) Julich, Rowanne (Rick) Glawe and Jacqueline (Gregg) Carpenter; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Dolores is preceded in death by her parents; her loving husband, Walter Jarboe; and three siblings, Marney, John and Wes. Per Dolores's request, there will be no services. Donations may be sent to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Online condolences may be directed to the family at www.iowacremation.com under obituaries.

    From my post at Antique Typewriter Collectors:

    "I'm posting just the pics for now from my phone. Later I'll boot up the computer to add all the details of my second chapter of Adventures in Typewriter Repair Land."

Typewriter Repair of Sears w/ Correction

From my post at Antique Typewriter Collectors

Workshop selfies! 😃
What are you working on?

Details later once I fix it this ultra-portable. No help please. I want to figure it out myself. Old machines are my crossword puzzles.

My First Post in Antique Typewriter Collectors FB Group

    Antique Typewriter Collectors

    Hi all! Thanks for including me. I just entered the rabbit hole with my first vintage, a Montgomery Ward 511D.

    I learned to type in 9th grade on a big heavy manual. Wish I knew the brand/model because it'd be fun to collect one of those. My dad had a huge electric and us kids used a manual blue plastic one. It's now long gone, hence why I chose the color, but wisely in metal instead. 

    I knew it'd need a little work and fresh ribbon. I blew out the dust and wiped down the platen. The shift-lock key was cracked and popped off. Will super glue be ok?
The only problem is that the lower case letters ride above the line. Please tell me there's an adjustment screw to calibrate this?

    On another note, I also have a small collection of vintage sewing machines and a weaving loom that I've restored and they all work beautifully. I've got enough tools and wit to fix old typewriters, and looking forward to learning more about them. I love vintage stuff!

    The solution:  https://munk.org/typecast/2013/07/30/typewriter-repair-101-adjusting-vertical-typeface-alignment-segmentbasket-shift-typewriters/

    EDIT: I fixed it. Yay!