the typewritten word

Most posts will be images of typewriters and typewritten words. (Apologies to those who rely on screen text.) All typed posts use a real typewriter; no computer fonts here! I know stuff and answer questions so ask me things!

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Not a fan of 1990s word processor typewriters, especially those which require special paper or ribbons, but here's one: Panasonic RK-H500 ThermalWriter 12.

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Electra 120 electric typewriter, reasonable price; has two Change-a-Type keys, a clean case, and looks more pristine than you'd expect.

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Here, have an ancient beast. What happened to your face, baby?

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Hello fellow typewriter, thrifting, and technology enjoyer! I stumbled upon this blog from your vintage-tech blog and wanted to ask: What is your favorite typewriter(s) and pitch to use? My favorite is the correcting Selectric II for general writing in Elite, and a Silent-Super for labels in Pica.

Hello fellow human who loves what I love!

Favorite typewriter: My weapon of choice is this...

It's a 1965 Sears Forecast 12, which was actually made by Smith-Corona (thus the two red Change-a-Type keys). The action is pretty average, but it's been reliable and I do love my Change-a-Type characters. I admit I have lost count of how many of those I own.

Since only one of my typewriters (the daisywheel Royal Beta 8000T) has the ability to change styles, I don't really have an answer for pitch.

I will however tell you my favorite machine font...

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Thanks for sharing! I do love the action on Smith Coronas, they have my preferred function for space bars. Excellent color on the Oliver too, reminds of the keys on a Royal I found at the Bins once.

The Oliver does have a nice bold font to it, I wonder if a version could be made for the Selectric typeball. If I ever get around to acquiring a resin printer I might give it a try.

I didn't think to ask about fonts, but my favorite is Spencerian Script, I first used it on a 12 pitch Signature 440T typewriter (made by Brother I believe).

It's in rough shape, and the action is a little mushy, but it's probably my favorite non-electric typewriter for general writing if I'm not using the Selectric. I find I can't type quite as fast on other non-electrics somehow, even if the action is more crisp.

I liked the font so much that I found someone who makes 3D printed resin typeballs, Austin Selectric Rescue, and ordered one for my Selectric. They work very well, and many other fun fonts are available as well.

I think the "script" wheel for the Brother daisywheels is the same font also but I can't find any photos readily available for comparison at the moment.

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First off, that is WAY COOL that you can get custom Selectric balls made. That's probably the only way I will ever find balls for the Brother Ball-o-Writer, next time I ever find one (I've passed on 3 of them so far).

Second, I know that color of green.

The Quiet De Luxe was definitely not the only model that used that deep green color for the keys, or Royal even the only maker.

I do love that script for not being the predictable flowing cursive used in church programs for decades. [Below is a sample found online, because while I own several things written in related fonts I don't have them handy.]

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Vogue typewriter ribbon tin.

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Guys at the office with a Monroe electric.

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1961: an office with a Remington Rand typewriter and a phone, and that's all that fits on the desk.

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Sears 'Correct-o-Sphere' typewriter, which was a rebranded Brother 'Correct-o-Ball' (LOL).

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Time once again for a Smith-Corona "Galaxie" with its case key taped to the ribbon cover. I have one fairly similar and recommend this style.

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I always say "if I had a nickel for every time I saw this family of models" but this is more of a cousin than a sibling: the color is not blue, the logo is entirely different, but it's still a close relative.

We both came from the same neighborhood!

(Views of the address in 2022 and 2007... Business Machines Service Specialists must have been a home business in the 1980s, and IMHO the renovations in 2010 did the curb appeal no favors.)

Okay, so I had to figure out why there's a blur across the bush. Ran around to the other side of the block:

The neighbor on the other side is obscuring his backyard? The house is entirely visible from the corner so that's not what's being hidden...

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Okay, get this: JCPenney once upon a time had their own line of electronics including typewriters, usually under the name Penncrest but this one was not. This "Electric Cartridge Typewriter" is a rebadged Smith-Corona 'Coronamatic' and has a Coronamatic cartridge in it.

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A typewritten (almost all uppercase script) label, or rather four stickers used to make one cohesive label, on a home-dubbed 8-track tape.

Amusingly this only contains the track list, not the artist(s), and since the list is old standards it honestly could be anyone at all. It's also possible this is more than one album since an 8-track usually holds 12-16 songs, and the LP that it was ripped from would have been around 40 minutes total on this 60 minute (15 per band, 4 bands) cassette. Also amusing is how the typist had one track per line, as you might expect, up until the third label when after "Days Of Wine And Roses" they realised they were not going to get all the tracks listed that way in the amount of space available so had to start stacking them up using commas.

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Bought a car magazine today (Auto Sport Review, October 1953) and it had this Remington buy-on-installments typewriter advert on page 1. You can start your own typing business -- "earn $20, $30, $40 and more!" -- for only $9 down then $7.44 a month for a year for a Model A, or $8.32 a month for a Quiet-Riter.

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Tupelo, Miss. May 8 - 1936 Lee Co. Training School Library Workers

The typewriter is a Royal 'Model 10' from the 1920s.

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Another 1970s Coronamatic typewriter, in a color somewhere between harvest gold and pumpkin.

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Another one of those Coronamatic typewriters, a "1200" that was purchased from the University of Washington Bookstore, from the 1980s -- and the ribbon cartridge, if you've never seen one.

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It's seen some shit. Remington-Rand portable in nicotine yellow.