Hello everyone!
I hope that you had a wonderful week, and that the weekend will be even better! I had a lovely week which culminated in a two-day outdoor adventure camp with my fantastic students, and although I am slightly sunburnt, I am so glad that I got the opportunity to spend some quality time with them outside of the classroom.
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| My first script machine - an Olympia SF De Luxe! |
As promised, today's blog post will be on my obsession with all the various typewriter typefaces, and I was scratching my head over how I should organise my entry - eeeeps! I believe the obsession was sparked by my first 'non-standard' type found on an Olympia SF De Luxe... When I saw the beautiful script that was produced by the machine, I was equal parts mesmerised and amazed! I must have just stared at the type slugs for quite some minutes and tried out numerous letter permutations just so to see how consistent the print was :) After that, I started to research on various typefaces that can be found on typewriters, and what a discovery that turned out to be! I knew there would be no looking back from then!
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| Typed on my Olympia SF De Luxe - for use at our pre-wedding photoshoot :) The print was 'patchy' but I kept it that way! |
I do recall allowing myself (once upon a time) to own three to possibly four or five machines - one with a 'standard' typeface, then a script, and possibly sans serif. That was until I realised that there were different variants of script, and sans serif, and in different pitches... So as you might imagine, I soon became a hopeless cause, hee hee! My acquisition of machines started to increase at an exponential rate, and the research and hunt for a machine with a particular typeface was just exciting - I literally get an adrenaline rush once I have acquired a new typewriter with a typeface I don't already own, when it does finally arrive and I get to 'unravel' my happy mail! That exhilaration and 'high' have not waned even the slightest bit :D I started cataloging the different typefaces that came into my possession quite early on (I am glad I did!), and the print on the pages continue to grow...
(It would be quite the challenge to list all of my babies at once, so consider these a sampler... In my later posts, I would share on these typewriters at greater length!)
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| At the last count, my catalogue of typefaces numbered close to 80! |
SCRIPT Typefaces...
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| Sperry Rand Remington Ten Forty |
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| Hermes 3000 |
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Underwood Champion - This machine came with a beautiful
case that folded out into a typewriter table with extendable legs. |
EXTRA LARGE Types...
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| 4 Characters Per Inch - Too neat! |
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| Acquired this beautiful machine for the wonderful Brad Sarno! |
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| Patchy print due to the duo-coloured ribbons, but still a gorgeous typeface! |
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| Remington Model 5 |
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| Close-up of the type slugs! |
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| Speech-Riter No. 29 |
INTERCHANGEABLE Types...
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| I love my little collection! |
NOTEWORTHY Typefaces :)
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| Proportional Cassandre typeface! |
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| Olivetti Graphika! |
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| Blackletter Frakturschrift |
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| Adler Mod. 32 |
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| Shuang Ge Chinese typewriter! |
And then the obsession expanded beyond just manual typewriters...
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| Varityper shuttles |
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| My IBM Selectric II... Think I may have outdone myself with stickers on this one! |
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In total, I think I have close to 25 of the adorable little 'golfballs'.
Typo - the most difficult typing *element |
As much as I wish I could go on and share a little bit more, I think I may have to stop here... I do apologise that I have mostly been rambling, and the quality of my photos certainly leaves much to be desired... But I am so thankful for the kind words and support I have received, and I truly am so grateful!
Have a fantastic weekend!
Warmest regards,
Claudia
Your blog fills a gap, Claudia, A collector friend of mine fell in love with one of my machines, a 1930 Royal O with Vogue type, just for the typeface. I think he had never thought much about typefaces before, and a lot of collectors are surprised by the variety. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteHa! I see your typeface obsession has gone full bore (:
ReplyDeleteThat's a fantastic collection!
That is a wonderful example of many wonderful typefaces. Keep going!
ReplyDeleteI especially like Fractur. One day I may find one. Then Epoca, Royal Vogue & Spehcerian Script, and Old English are on my list too.
This might be the only attraction I have to interchangeable-font electric typewriters, the ability to readily change typefaces. Then again, it's something a person could also do quite easily in a word processor. Which gets us back to manual typewriters and how each individual machine is dedicated to just one font style.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very nice collection you have. Gosh, I must keep myself from getting too interested in fonts, otherwise it could server as yet another gateway into expanding my collection!
I also have a script H3K that isn't going anywhere. I really enjoyed this blog post, Claudia!
ReplyDeleteWow! I love the italic variety in your collection. Those large slugs are amazing and the Fraktur machine is one of those vague obsessions for me. The last one that appeared for sale was miserably expensive.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting nice samples (:
Enough for a museum! Like the painted nails too!
ReplyDeleteLots of cool typefaces here! I particularly like the one you started with.
ReplyDeleteAmazing collection of typefaces. I would love a massive 4 cpi machine... if only! Looking forward to more!
ReplyDeleteHi Claudia, I am thinking about digitalizing a bulletin typewriter font and came across your image of the 6 CPI on the Smith Corona in above post. Would you be so kind to send me a hi-res scan (1200 dpi) of all the letters and signs. I found some of a NOMDA catalogue but the quality is too bad to serve as a blueprint for digitalization. Much thanks in advance and all the best from Berlin!
ReplyDelete