In Mechanica Antiqua

All of the photos this time around are terrible The Royal FP was introduced in 1957, and was the direct successor to the Royal HH.  The FP was the sixth standard desktop after the Royal 10 debuted in the early 1910s.  All these machines, the 10, KHM, KMM, KMG, HH, and the FP share the same basic internal mechanical design with variations here and there.  As far as operation and speed, they are all mostly the same, and all very very exceptional.  The FP was introduced in six lovely colors, in Pica (FPP), Elite (FPE) and other variations such as cursive (FPS).  The model above is the Pearl Gray, with a Pica (10cpi) standard typeface. I got this machine essentially for free at a local antiques dealer, It was being sold from a bank in Lisle, the headquarter town of the Ames Supply Co, known among the typewriter folks for their parts and tool manuals.  It was working well, with minimal issues, so I took to home with me to clean it up. Dismantling ...

This machine is another great one from Richard's collection.  It's a Remington Standard 6 that just needed a light cleaning.  This particular model was made in 1904, and utilizes the Upstroke mechanism, whereby the keys strike the bottom of the platen, rather than the front.  This model was introduced in 1894, and manufactured up until its discontinuation on July 1914.  Its discontinuation was due mainly to the visible type machines, like the front stroke #10 which was introduced in 1908.  The act of seeing what you were typing was far more desirable, and the older models were eventually phased out. The Upstroke mechanism requires the user to lift the hinged carriage up and view the underside to assess the written text.  It features several ruled scales to assist in aligning letters and paragraphs accurately.  Additionally, the main type bars and keybars are made out of wood, giving it a light and pleasant touch, similar to a grand piano.  Th...

In the later end of the 1930s, Royal began releasing base model machines with no designation to them.  The Model P, the Model O, those are commonly known machines.  The Touch Control and the Quiet, the Speed King, the Arrow, the Aristocrat, the Deluxe, and eventually the Quiet Deluxe.  The QDL was just the merging of two machines, and that itself spawned many other variations.  I'll admit, I myself wasn't aware of the Model A and Model B machines.  This is where the discrepancy comes in, I was informed in the comment section that the model letters indicate a hierarchy of models, not necessarily a chronological order, and that the Model B was advertised as the Speed King, which it later became known to be.  So perhaps in this "edit" so to say, I should rename the title of the article: the "1938 Royal Speed King." Anyways, in first finding out about these differing models, I posted a photo to my favorite Instagram group chat, the Baker Boys, (long story,...

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the famed Hammond Typewriter.  The photo above was taken on medium format film for those of you who are interested (pardon the dust removal software glitch).  Another article for another time ( The Hasselblad Stigma ).  The Hammond typewriter is famous in its own right, being one of the few successful alternatives to standard typebar machines--it employed a type shuttle.  A shuttle is a curved section of rubber or metal with the letter slugs on the face, this feature allowed the Hammond to accommodate different styles of text, fonts, and dialects.  All one had to do was swap the shuttle out.  It became a beloved machine of doctors and mathematicians, who bought up shuttles with obscure little symbols that only they seemed to know the meaning of.  It also attracted the attention of famed author J.R.R. Tolkien, who wrote the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit on a Hammond typewriter. The story behind the maker of t...