I inherited this lovely beast when my grandmother passed away in 2005. This was a serious working machine in her household, from the time my dad was a young kid tapping out book reports, right up until the end.
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| Serial number, with FPE prefix |
It is a Royal with serial number FPE-6774326, and presumably dates back to the 1960s or late 50s, but I can't be more specific than that. If anyone out there knows more, I'd love to hear about it.
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| Classically, the Royal emblem is also the button to open the top lid |
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| "MAGIC trademark MARGIN" |
It features Magic Margin™control tabs, Touch Control settings that range from 1 - 6 (my computer-trained fingers need it kept all the way to 6) located near the righthand ribbon housing, and can switch between black, red/corrective, and stencil.
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| 3-color selector wheel, platen knob, long side panels: plastic |
The line spacing can be set to single, double, or triple. The "tab set" and "tab clear" buttons stick out from the front face of the housing. The front plate has a nice bumpy texture on it.
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| Sticker on the left: patent numbers; spool housing on the right: Touch Control settings |
I use this typewriter almost every day. I prefer it for writing fiction (where getting trapped in the syntax of a poorly begun sentence can make magic) and the notes for my research. It's also great on post-it stickies for make-shift labels, and of course anything that needs to go on index cards (like recipes).
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| Inside, a pipe-organ array of fine springs |
UPDATE: A place-holder type sample, until the new semester starts and I can use the computer lab scanners:
I have one just like this but with a 14-inch carriage. What does the type look like on yours? Does your ribbon reverse itself or do you have to flip the switch? Incidentally, I recognize those spools LOL I bought some too.
ReplyDeleteI'll add a little type sample to the blog entry. Sadly, I have no scanner, so this will be a terrible, blurry, camera phone image (but better than nothing, *maybe*). I want to type out a full type specimen and scan it in, soon. Stay tuned?
ReplyDeleteIt does have a ribbon reverse switch, in front of the left spool housing. Very convenient! It took me forever to figure out how to switch the ribbon feed direction on my other typewriter (pushing/pulling the feeder guides).
A 14in carriage would be nice. There are surprisingly many situations in which I want to type "landscape" on the page, but cannot.
What do u thing it is worth?
ReplyDelete