no.28 - sept. - the early typewriter collectors

ETCetera #28 / September, 1994 / 1

No. 28 ------- Sept., 1994

Magazine of the Ear lyTypewriter Collectors Association

ETCetera

TheFirst

AddingMachine

ABOVE: Museum replica of the 1623 calculatorbuil t by German scholar Wilhelm Schickard. Theinvention is the world’s first adding machine with anautomatic carry mechanism. RIGHT: Germanpostage stamp of 1973, commemorating the 350thanniversary of the invention. Full story, p. 4

CONTENTSEditor’s Notes ...................... 2Name These Typewriter Parts................ 3Schickard Calculator........... 4Rebirth of a Lady ................ 6Younest Collector ............... 8Beginner’s Smith Premier ................... 9On the Flea Market Trail . 10Early Stapler ...................... 10Letters ................................ 11Int’l. News ......................... 12Ads..................................... 12

2 / ETCetera #28 / September, 1994

ETCeteraMagazine of the Ear lyTypewriter Collectors

Association

Sept., 1994No. 28

EditorDarryl Rehr

2591 Mili tary Ave.Los Angeles, CA 90064

(310)477-5229(310)268-8420 FAX

[email protected] E-mail

German SummariesSiegfried Snyder

2018-2020 James St.Syracuse, NY 13206

(315)479-6162

ISSN 1062-9645©1994 by The Early Typewriter

Collectors AssociationPublished four times per year in

March, June, Sept. & Dec.$15/yr North America

$20 overseas

Don’t Retire Your Typewriter.That was the title of a squib in the

March issue of Family Handyman.Writer Bruce Wiebe encouraged hisreaders to use an old typewriter platenas a roller for a stand to handle longpieces of wood being fed into your tablesaw or whatever.

He wrote, “Scrounger alert! Don’ttoss that out-of-date typewriter quiteyet... Simply remove the roller and anybushings you can get out, and make aframe from plywood or particle boardto fit the roller. If you can get thebushings to fit, the roller will think it’sstill in the typewriter and will spin likea dream.”

Should we tell Bruce that Sholes &Glidden rollers work especially well?

†††

John Pace O’Shea of Malta has aninteresting idea for making displaysigns for your collection. Starting witha computer, he uses an art program tolay out a design showing the machine,date, and other info. He then makes ahard copy printout on white paper,takes it down to his copy shop and hasthem xerox it onto clear transparencystock. He then takes a piece of metallicgold contact paper, which on the adhe-sive side is silver, and sticks it to theback of his transparency. The silverside shows through, and he ends upwith a very nice silver-backed sign.

†††

More Pangrams. Remember those?They are the sentences which useevery letter of the alphabet. They’reideal for quickly testing the old ma-chine you find at the flea market. Butjust remembering these is a distinctchallenge:

XV quick nymphs beg fjord waltz!

Amazingly few discotheques pro-vide jukeboxes.

Jackdaws love my big sphinx ofquartz.

Wolves exit quickly as fanged zoochimps jabber.

Six big devils from Japan quicklyforgot how to waltz.

Victors flank Gyp who mixed jobquiz.

Oozing, quivering jellyfish expec-torated by mad hawk.

Only the first, of course, demon-strates the ultimate in pangramity,which is the sentence with each of the26 letters used only once. Gotta lovethose fifteen nymphs, which we pre-sume are Norwegian.

†††

On Screen: I saw an old RobertRedford movie on TV a while back. It’scalled Day of the Condor. Does anybodyremember it? Anyway, Redford plays ameek CIA agent–one of those analysttypes who does nothing but read booksand magazines all day (as opposed tothe full-blown “spy”). The CIA off icewhere he works is hidden behind theNew York offices of the “AmericanLiterary Society” (or something likethat). In the lobby of this li teraryorganization is a proud Oliver type-writer, displayed on a pedestal. We’rehappy to say that when the bad guyscome in and massacred the entire staff(except Redford, of course), they arediscreet enough to entirely avoid dis-turbing the Oliver. I’d say that wasgood staging, but the Oliver was prob-ably rented (probably for more than itwas worth), and the owner expected itreturned intact.

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Has anyone noticed the sharpertype in ETCetera this issue? Sparingno expense, I’ve upgraded the com-puter printer to one with 600 dpioutput. That makes everything 4 timessharper, vastly improving the letteringand scanned-in graphics. I’ve beenwanting to do this for some time, andam glad it finally happened.

Lots of comment from members onboth the Color Supplement and theproposed name change for ETC. Actu-ally, I’ve heard more from members onthese two topics than on any other inthe history of our group.

The Color Supplement, even withthe $5 price increase, is a universalwinner and we’ll go ahead with plansto include it with every issue startingnext year. The name change was not sowell-received. Generally, memberswould like to have the Early TypewiterCollectors Association keep its simplename, without “calculator” stuck in.So, that’s the way it will be. Thanks foryour comments. Keep the cards andletters coming.

EDITOR’S NOTES


The illustration shown above comes from RemingtonNotes, a Remington Co. promotional publication. Thespecific issue is Vol. 4, No. 1, dated May, 1916.

Remington Notes is full of light items of interest to thosewho made their livi ngs clattering away on typewriters in theearly part of the century. The quiz shown above wasdesigned to get typists to learn more about their machines.We’ll quote the specifics:

“Each of these pictures represents some well-knowntypewriter part or typewriter feature. Can you namethem?

“If you think you can name these typewriter featureswe shall be glad to have you send your answer to theEditor, REMINGON NOTES, 327 Broadway, New York. Allanswers will be acknowledged, and you will be toldwhether your answers are correct or not.

There is a practical and useful purpose behind this test.We wish to encourage the typist to learn the correctnames of the principal parts and principal features of his

or her machine. In our next issue it is our plan to giveevery REMINGTON NOTES reader a means for quicklylearning and memorizing the names of the principaltypewriter parts.”

Unfortunately, the answers to the quiz were not pub-li shed in Remington Notes, and we don’t think we’d get aresponse if we wrote to them today. However, we willpublish the answers in the next ETCetera. The Editor iscertain he’s figured 7 of them out (and some are not asobvious as they look), but could use some help for the onestumper. All you experts… how about getting to work,sharing your knowledge and sending us your answers to thequiz? Incidentally, the parts and features apply to Reming-ton models 10 and 11, since those were the company’sprincipal products at the time the publication was issued.

If anybody has a copy of Remington Notes, Vol. 4, No.2, we’d love to see it, so we can publish the promisedmethod of learning all those typewriter parts.


mother was accused of being a witch and thrown into jail,Kepler returned to Tübingen to help in her defense and,while there, was known to have associated with Schickard.Kepler and Schickard were known to have discussed JohnNapier’s various inventions as early as 1617. DuringKepler’s stay in Tübingen he shared with Schickard someresults he had obtained using Napier’s “bones” and loga-rithms. This seems to have inspired Schickard to considerthe design of a machine which would incorporate both aset of “bones” and a mechanism to add up the partialproducts they produced in order to completely automatethe multiplication process.

On September 20, 1623, Schickard wrote to Keplersaying (in translation):

What you have done in a logistical way (i.e., bycalculation), I have just tried to do by mechanics. Ihave constructed a machine consisting of elevencomplete and six incomplete (actually “mutilated”)sprocket wheels which can calculate. You would burstout laughing if you were present to see how it carriesby itself from one column of tens to the next orborrows from them during subtraction. (as quoted byvon Loringhoff in an unpublished lecture in 1976)

Kepler must have written back asking for a copy of themachine for himself because, on February 25, 1624, Schickardagain wrote to Kepler giving a careful description of the useof the machine together with several drawings showing itsconstruction. He also told Kepler that a second machine,which was being made for his use, had been accidentallydestroyed when a fire leveled the house of a workmanSchickard had hired to do the final construction.

These two letters, both of which were found in Kepler’spapers, give evidence that Schickard actually constructedsuch a machine. However, the drawings of the machine hadbeen lost and no one had the slightest idea of what themachine looked like or how it performed its arithmetic.Then some scholars who were attempting to put togethera complete collection of Kepler’s works were led toinvestigate the library of the Pulkovo Observatory nearLeningrad. While searching through a copy of Kepler’sRudolphine Tables, they found a slip of paper which hadseemingly been used as a bookmark. It was this slip of paperwhich contained Schickard’s original drawings of themachine. One of these sketches is shown on p. 5. Littledetail can be seen, but with the hints given in the lettersit became possible to reconstruct the machine.

The reconstruction was done by Professor Bruno Baronvon Freytag Loringhoff, now retired from the post ofProfessor of Philosophy at the University of Tübingen. TheBaron was able to figure out the details of the machinebecause, among other things, he is an expert on thetechniques used by seventeenth-century-clockmakers. Thisreconstruction was featured on a stamp issued by WestGermany in 1971 to honor the 350th year of its invention.

The development of automatic computation reallybegins with the invention of and development of mechani-cal devices to automatically perform the four standardarithmetic functions. By devising a system in whichmechanical levers, gears and wheels could replace thefacilities of human intellect, the early pioneers in thesedevices paved the way for complete automation of theprocess of calculation. Needless to say, the early efforts werevery crude, not because the inventors lacked the intelli-gence to construct better devices, but because the technicalabilities of the workmen and the materials available wereoften not up to the demands put upon them by these newmachines. There was also the problem of inventing newtechniques in order to get mechanical devices to producesome of the motions required of them when doing simplearithmetic.

It used to be thought that [the philosopher/mathema-tician Blaise] Pascal invented the first true adding machineto contain a carry mechanism; however, the investigativework of Professor Bruno Baron von Freytag Loringhoff inthe 1950’s and 1960’s showed that honor belonged toWilhelm Schickard. It is quite possible that further inves-tigation will reveal a yet earlier device, but such asuggestion is unwarranted at this time.

Wilhelm Schickard (1592-1635) was Professor of He-brew, Professor of Oriental Languages, Professor of Math-ematics, Professor of Astronomy, Professor of Geography,and, in his spare time, a Protestant minister in the Germantown of Tübingen during the early 1600’s. He has beencompared to Leonardo da Vinci in that both had far-ranging interests and enquiring minds. Besides being anexcellent mathematician who developed some methodsthat were in use well into the nineteenth century, he wasa good painter, a good enough mechanic to construct hisown astronomical instruments, and an engraver skilledenough to provide some of the copper plates used toillustrate Kepler’s great work Harmonices Mundi.

It is known that Schickard and Kepler not only kneweach other well but that they also collaborated on severaloccasions. It was one of these joint efforts that resulted inSchickard’s producing the first really workable mechanicaladding machine. Kepler and Schickard were both born inthe same town, were both interested in mathematics andastronomy, and both had associations with TübingenUniversity. It was only natural that they saw each otherwhenever possible, and wrote back and forth discussing theproblems each was attempting to solve. When Kepler’s

The SchickardCalculator

by Dr. Michael R. Willi amsfrom his book “A History of Computing Technology”

originally published in 1985


In the stamp illustration [and cover photo], the upperpart of the machine is set to show the number 100722 beingmultiplied by 4. The result of this multiplication would beadded to the accumulator using the lower portion of themachine. The upper part is simply a set of Napier’s “bones”(multiplication tables) drawn on cylinders in such a waythat any particular “bone” may be selected by turning thesmall dials (marked “a”) in Schickard’s drawing. Movingthe horizontal slides would expose different sections of the“bones” to show any single-digit multiple of the selectednumber; the fourth multiple is shown exposed in the sameillustration. This result could then be added to theaccumulator by turning the large knobs (marked “d”), andthe results would appear in the small windows just above(marked “c). The very bottom of the machine contains asimple aide-memoire. By turning the small knobs (e) it waspossible to make any number appear through the li ttlewindows (f), and this eliminated the need to have pen, inkand paper handy to note down any intermediate results inthe computation.

The mechanism used to effect a carry from one digit tothe next was very simple and reliable in operation. Asshown in the drawing, every time an accumulator wheelrotated through a complete turn, a single tooth would catchin an intermediate wheel and cause the next highest digitin the accumulator to be increased by one. This simple-looking device actually presents a host of problems toanyone attempting to construct an adding machine basedon this principle. The major problem is caused by the factthat the single tooth must enter into the teeth of theintermediate wheel, rotate it 36 degrees (one-tenth of arevolution), and exit from the teeth, all while only rotating36 degrees itself. The most elementary solution to thisproblem consists of the intermediate wheel being, in effect,two different gears, one with long and one with short teeth,together with a spring-loaded detente (much like thepointer used on the big wheel of the gambling gamegenerally known as crown and anchor) which would allow

the gears to stop only in specific locations. It is not knownif Schickard used this exact mechanism, but it certainlyworks well on the reproductions constructed by von FreytagLoringhoff .

The major drawback of this type of carry mechanism isthe fact that the force used to effect the carry must comefrom the single tooth meshing with the teeth of theintermediate wheel. If the user ever wished to do theaddition 999,999 +1, it would result in a carry beingpropagated right through each digit of the accumulator.This would require enough force that it might well dodamage to the gears on the units digit. It appears thatSchickard was aware of this weakness because he con-structed machine with only six-digit accumulators eventhough he knew that Kepler undoubtedly needed morefigures in his astronomical work. If the numbers becamelarger than six digits, he provided a set of brass rings whichcould be slipped over the fingers of the operator’s hand inorder to remember how many times a carry had beenpropagated off the end of the accumulator. A small bell wasrung each time such an “overflow” occurred to remind theoperator to slip another ring on his finger.

Although we know that the machine being made forKepler was destroyed in a fire, there is some mystery as towhat happened to Schickard’s own copy of the device. Notrace of it can be found in European museums. It may wellturn up one day in some dusty forgotten corner of an oldbuilding, but the most likely situation is that it has simplybeen lost. This is particularly likely in that Schickard andall his family died during one of the great plagues that sweptEurope. As he left no livi ng heirs, the machine wasprobably taken by someone who could not understand itsworkings and found its last use as firewood in some familykitchen.

The cover photo shows a replica of the Schickard calculator buil tby European cranftsman Peter Roubos. The Roubos replica isbased on the Freitag Loringhoff reconstruction.


The Rebirth……of a Lady

by P. Robert Aubert


The decision to restore any antiquity must be madecarefully. One school of thought asserts the process changesthe very essence of an artifact and renders it useless as anexample of historical development. On the other hand,there are those who believe that time and neglect may havealready done just that. An old machine that no longerfunctions and is nearly junk cannot be of much value as arepresentation of past technology. So where is the middleground? Fortunately, some collectibles are found in reason-ably good condition. They may have been protected by acase or stored properly to minimize deterioration. In suchinstances, simple cleaning, polishing and lubrication wouldbe suff icient to bring back the artifact. In other words, acomplete restoration should not be done unless it is wellbeyond that point.

Another consideration is rarity. If a “f ind” is the firstmodel of a product line, and only a few examples are knownto exist, then it might be appropriate to spend the time andeffort on it. I’m often approached by collectors to do arestoration on a typewriter that cost a hundred dollars orso. When I explain the work involved would come to wellover $1000, they usually go into traumatic shock. Whatthese individuals fail to realize is the price paid for anantique is based on its condition and the demand for theitem. It has absolutely nothing to do with the cost of acomplete restoration! Such work can easily exceed ahundred man-hours. In addition, a high degree of skill isrequired and some machine shop facilities must be avail-able to do it. Finally, there are expenses involved like paint,art supplies and plating services. It isn’t reasonable toexpect a person not to charge the prevailing rate for theeffort!

M y latest project was a Caligraph No. 1 typewriter.When it was first presented to me I wondered if it could berestored at all. It seemed everything needed attention - thetypebars and linkages were badly rusted, the paint wasli fting and completely gone from some surfaces, most of theremaining nickel work was peeling, brass parts wereoxidized black, and some of the wood key levers werebroken and the paper laminate on most was separating. Inaddition, it was missing a ribbon and spool, one type piece,a number of key rings and glass windows, and all the legends(what still existed were soiled and not usable). Thisappeared to be more than I could handle at the time. Abouta year later, the topic came up again and an agreement wasreached to do a partial restoration. This required me torenickel some carriage parts, clean the machine, touch-upthe paint, and “do something about the keyboard.” Afterspending considerable time on the machine, it becameapparent a compete breakdown would be necessary. So anew agreement was reached and the work proceeded.

The first step in any restoration is to photograph theitem from several angles before it is taken apart. Then youhave a reference to help with reassembly. Do not trust your

memory! A lot of time will pass while you are working onthe parts. I was fortunate to have a complete Caligraph No.2 to use as a guide. It is suff iciently similar to the No. 1 thatI didn’t expect any diff iculty. For those assemblies thatmight have been a problem, written notes were taken. Thenext thing is to categorize the machine. Break it down togroups of related parts. For example, I had separate boxesfor the carriage, type basket, type levers, and keyboard.Each box contained a number of jars for screws and smallparts. Sometimes a li ttle note concerning type of finishneeded or assembly order was put inside as a precaution.

The actual breakdown of a machine requires someimagination and care. The Caligraph is a very fragiletypewriter and was badly rusted so it took a lot of time toget it apart. I had to soak all the threaded parts with a goodpenetrating oil. Sometimes it took several applications andletting it set overnight to get something loose. The productthat I found to be most dependable is Aero Kroil manufac-tured by Kano Laboratories, Nashville, Tennessee. Onceeverything is apart, work on one group of parts at a time.

I started with the type-bar box. The parts were first washedin hot water and a strong detergent. After free of dirt andgum, they were hand-dried. Then the rust was removed byusing a fine six inch wire-wheel attached to an electricmotor. I could have dipped the pieces in inhibited hydro-chloric acid, but the cleaning action is uneven if they areheavily oxidized and that results in pitting. Power brushingtends to smooth out the etching caused by rust. Thisprocedure was repeated box by box until all parts were readyfor polishing.

It helps to have a friend in the electro-plating businessif you’re interested in restoration work. You may thinkanyone can do nickeling, but my experience indicates thereis considerable “art” involved. What works and whatdoesn’t can only be learned by doing it every day. Most ofthe larger parts were sent out for finishing. At the platingshop any remaining nickel was stripped, the item buffed,cleaned, acid activated and finished in a heated tank. Toobtain a uniform nickel coating the parts are rotated andmoved about slowly. My buddy also supplied me with thechemicals for doing the smaller pieces. After stripping in acyanide solution, I put the parts in an ultrasonic cleanerthat contained a detergent and mild acid solution. Thenthey were rinsed thoroughly with water, acid activated,rinsed again and placed in an an electroless nickel solutionfor about an hour. This is quite easy to use since plating isaccomplished catalytically at 190 degrees Fahrenheit. Ofcourse, the chemicals eventually became depleted and werereturned to the plater for proper disposal. After the partswere done, I washed and dried them in an oven. Some ofthe more visible pieces needed polishing and this was doneby hand using Happich “Simichrome” paste. The mainthing to remember about plating is, unlike paint, it cannotcover or hide defects. Any remaining corrosion dirt or oil


on an indexing milli ng machine. The flats on platensbecame unnecessary after cupped type hit the market.

You may be wondering about the missing logo on thefront panel. I don’t believe there was one. No remnants ofit existed before the paint was stripped. I have a number ofother antiques made during the 1880’s that also carry nonames. At the time, maybe they didn’t want their dis-gruntled customers to find them!

The complete restoration took 160 hours. There were 383plated parts, 52 “black oxide” screws, and 63 painted pieces.As you can see, the Caligraph No. 1 is quite a lady. To me,she is more like the typewriter Mr. Yost had envisionedwhen he first brought it to market in 1880. No, the workwasn’t fun! It was just that. And I don’t want to do one foryou. I have plenty of my own antiques that need attention!

will fail to plate. If there is significant pitting, it will showthrough. A poorly polished base metal will not be madebrighter by the nickel finish either.

The painted components consisted of the frame and thefront sheet metal cover. Paint removal was accomplishedby using a common commercial stripper available at ahardware store. The rust was removed by an application ofDuro’s Naval Jelly. After a dip in a baking soda watersolution to neutralize the acid, it was rinsed with hot waterand dried. After some power brushing to remove anyremaining dirt, I sprayed on a coat of sandable black oxideautomotive primer. Then this was worked down to areasonably smooth finish and a second coat applied.Finally, two coats of semi gloss enamel provided the desiredfinish. All of the painted parts were set aside for three weeksto insure an adequate cure.

In the meantime, I cut half-inch round black paperblanks on a small shop punch press. Then, white Letrasetdry transfers were applied to produce the actual key legends.These are available in numerous sizes and type styles at artsupply stores. I also obtained gold pin-stripes and cornersin various widths at the same place. Unfortunately, thisproduct is no longer available. An alternative pin-stripedecal can be bought from the Antique Phonograph SupplyCo. of Davenport Center, NY. This is not a dry transfer, butthe results are comparable. Instructions for application ofthis product are provided.

The next step involved the repair and repapering of thekeylevers. This was very time consuming because I had toremove the old and reglue new paper to almost every one.Then the excess was trimmed with a razor knife. The paperlaminate was necessary on wood keylevers to minimizewarping and add strength. The final step here was to paintthem all black.

After the paint on the frame components hardenedsufficiently, I put on the pin-stripes. This was not especiallydifficult but proved to be very time consuming. In someplaces a gold paint pen was used. Then, the pieces werescrewed together and a clear lacquer applied to the wholeassembly. This seals and protects the dry transfers and ismanufactured for that purpose in gloss or matte finish.

Putting together the rest of the machine was uneventful.I avoided a lot of diff iculty by chasing the threads of thelinkage turnbuckles ahead of time. Plating build-up tendsto cause assembly problems in restorations. Some of thescrews had to be finished in “black oxide” and my buddyprovided the magic potion for this too. The machine wasadjusted and lubricated so that it “worked” somewhat.

Most of the missing bits mentioned earlier I scavengedfrom a Caligraph No. 2 parts machine. Some things, likethe rubber feet, were turned on my lathe. Fortunately, theplaten cover was decent. It would have been a real joy tomake since it is faceted and would have had to be ground

Is he the youngest typewriter collector in the world? Ifanyone knows anyone younger let us know!

Franke Werle, of Schwalbach, Germany is 10 years old.He has been collecting typewriters for 2 years, and hasaccumulated nearly 50 machines, including such models asKanzler, Williams, Hall and many more.

The photo shows Frank proudly holding his FranklinNo. 7. It’s a nice looking machine, but Frank tells us it’smissing its ribbon mechanism… so if anyone has themissing parts, or a Franklin junker with those parts, Frankwants to buy it (see “Advertisements”).

Frank does have a companion in his hobby. His fatherUlf handles the restoration duties and Engli sh correspon-dence. Ulf writes Frank’s “dreams are Sholes & Glidden,Crandall, Malling Hansen, Polygraph, Sholes Vis. and a lotof others; but then we must sell our house and live beneaththe trees I think.”

Youngest Collector!


BACK TO BASICSfor beginning

collectors

Many beginning collectors gaspwhen they first behold a Smith Pre-mier Typewriter with its massive doublekeyboard. As beginners, they oftenhaven’t realized that double keyboardswere featured on many old machines,and none were more popular than theSmith Premier.

The “SP,” as many refer to it, wasintroduced in 1889 by the gunmakersL.C. Smith & Bros. of Syracuse, NY. Itwas the invention of Alexander Brown,an engineer who was working for theSmiths at the time. Brown’s designsmacked of brilliance and resulted in amachine that was as popular in its dayas the industry-leading Remington.

Smith Premiers were the “RollsRoyces” of the typewriter industry, asone old collector used to put it. Theywere characterized by a unique typebarlinkage called a “rocking shaft” mecha-nism. Depressing a key rotated a shaftlinked to the typebar, causing it toswing up to the platen. This gave eachkey an identical touch (levers of differ-ing lengths in linkages of other ma-chines produced subtle inequalities intouch). The linkage also resulted in adifference in the keyboard geometry.The rows of keys line up vertically aswell as horizontally, not staggered ason almost all other machines.

Other key features of the SmithPremier included a built-in type-clean-ing brush. A separate crank (a scarceitem for collectors today) was used towhirl it against the type faces, leavingthe fingers nice and clean. Also, thecarriage “rolled” forward for viewing,with the platen easily removable notonly for a quick change of work, butalso for access to the machine forcranking the cleaning brush and chang-ing the ribbon.

The Smith Premier No.1 is themost-desirable of the line. It is clearly

The Beginner ’sSmith Premier

labelled as No. 1 on the sides, whichare decoratively embossed with cattailsand flowers, in the Art Nouveau styleof the day. No. 1’s also have two spacebars and no platen knobs. If you find anSP 1 with knobs, it was probablyretrofitted with a kit supplied by themaker.

The No. 2 replaced the No. 1 in1896 and is the model most often seentoday. It is more of a “basic black”machine without ornate sides. Thedouble space bar is replaced with asingle one, and the platen knobs areoriginal equipment. Some later modelsof the No. 2 include a “tri-chrome”ribbon mechanism. This allowed typ-ing in black, red and copying purple allfrom one ribbon. The No. 4 is identicalbut has 84 keys, as opposed to the 76 onthe Nos. 1 and 2. All of these machinestyped a 7-1/2" line.

According to Paul Lippman, othermodels include: No. 3 (c. 1900) with84 keys and wide carriage (12"); No. 5(c. 1901) with 84 keys and wide car-riage (9-1/2"); No. 6 (c. 1900) with 84keys and wide carriage (16"). Informa-tion seems absent on any model 7 or 8,but a No. 9 was introduced in 1906

with 96 keys and the tri-chrome rib-bon.

Smith Premier Nos. 1-9 were allblind writers, and, believe it or not, allbut the No. 1 remained in productionuntil 1914, six years after Smith Pre-mier and Remington (key members ofthe Typewriter Trust) capitulated toconsumer preference and produced theirfirst visible machines.

The visible Smith Premier was theNo. 10, of 1908. It had li ttle in com-mon with its blind-writing cousinsexcept for the double-keyboard. It wasno match for the earlier machines inquality, though it is fairly commontoday, indicating many were made andsold. The No. 10 is the last SmithPremier of much interest to the collec-tor. The name was used on later con-ventional machines made by Reming-ton, but they are of li ttle consequence.

The Smith brothers, by the way,left the Smith Premier Typewriter Co.(and the Typewriter Trust) in 1903 tostart up another firm that would makevisible typewriters. This company, withits later merger partners, is still isbusiness today, making Smith-CoronaTypewriters.

ABOVE: Illustration from 1891 Smith Pre-mier advertsing booklet showing SP risingabove Hammond, Remington & Caligraph.ABOVE RIGHT: SP & cleaning brush.RIGHT: diagram of SP “ rocking lever”mechanism


happened at all without the car delay,and I never would have been tipped offto the collection in the shop.

The next morning, now $250 poorerthanks to the car, we went back to theantique shop to deal with the husband.The fellow was really diff icult to bar-gain with so I ended up with the Worldand Williams for what I thought werepretty good prices. I was too late for thePeople’s, Bar-Lock and Franklin whichhe had sold some time before.

An amusing anectode: At the sameAtlanta show I came across yet anotherNoiseless office model, this one rustedto the point where indeed it would liveup to its name and never make anothersound. Despite its sad condition,though, it was drawing attention froma young man who was determined tomake something on it work. He de-cided he needed a piece of paper... butfrom where? A resourceful fellow, hepulled out his wallet and withdrew adollar bill which he proceeded to feedinto the machine depite its balky platen.Of course, the machine continued tobe uncooperative. It even refused toyield up the dollar! Try as he might, hecould not longer get the platen to turn,and the expensive slip of paper wasstuck. I watched him wrestle with thebig, bulky typewriter for a few mo-ments before going over and flippingthe paper release to set his dollar free.

and wrote down the address. In fact, inwriting it down, I royally pissed off adealer whose precious table I used towrite on. During the course of theconversation I happened to ask her ifshe knew what index typewriters were.“Oh, yes,” she said, “ in fact I know anantique shop that has some. I think theguy bought a collection. They’re tooexpensive for me, but the shop’s nottoo far from here if you want to go.”

And off to the shop we went,making it just as they were closing.Explaining my mission, I begged myway into the shop and sure enough,there sat a gaggle of machines. Theproprietor said they were part of acollection her husband bought in Mas-sachusetts, and that he would be in thefollowing day if there was anything Iwas interested in. Among the ma-chines on display: a double-case World(New World), American Index, Merritt(great condition, but missing type slide),Yost No. 1, Smith Premier No. 1,Williams No. 4, Demountable, Rem-ington 7, a couple of Blicks and acouple of really pristine Hammonds.

Now to backtrack a bit. Leaving themotel that morning headed for theantique show, we had car problemswhich delayed us a couple of hours,forcing us to rent a car while mine wasbeing repaired. So not only was it sheerluck to run into the woman looking atthe Noiseless, but it never would have

On theFlea Market Trail

The intrepid Ken Gladstone, of Jackson-vill e, FL, relates the following anectotesfrom a recent trip:

I just got back from a big antiqueshow in Atlanta. Where to start? Let’ssee... In cruising the show, we cameacross a booth that had a Noiselessoff ice madel for $85. Not interested,we moved to the next booth—un-aware how important that Noiselesswould become a few minutes later.Surprisingly, the next booth had a verynice Blick 8, with nickel-plated tabu-lator, which I was able to bargain downto $60. The price was right, and I hadnever seen one in the flesh before.

Rather than carry the machinearound, I decided to take it back to thecar and asked my friend to wait for me.Upon my return, I noticed a woman inserious negotiations over the Noiselessin the previous booth. She finallywalked away from it, but my curiositywas aroused. Was she another collectoror someone looking for an accent piecefor her house?

I struck up a conversation anddiscovered she was a neophyte collec-tor with just a couple of machines. Sheshowed a lot of interest, so I told herabout “the network” and ETCetera

Ear ly StaplerThis early stapler surfaced at an

antique show in San Francisco not toolong ago.

Patented in 1888, White’s StapleInserter hardly had user conveniencein its design. Using this instrument, aweary off ice worker would have had toload each staple singly before punchingthem into paper.

The device was found complete inits original box, with three packets ofstaples as shown. Clumsy, yes, but itstill works


offering telephone consulting if I haveany problems. One even offered to fixmy machine free if I would pay theshipping costs.

I owe you and your organization adebt of thanks.

James M. JacksonBaldwinsville, NY

Another World update. I acquireda double-case “New World” (#16956)made by the Typewriter ImprovementCo. of Boston. What may be moreunusual is the type index. Your previ-ous articles on the World make nomention of machines with foreign al-phabets on their indexes, but the indexon my World is in French.

Ken GladstoneJacksonville, FL

[Actually, the reproduction of a price li stfrom a World brochure (see ETCetera#20, p. 6) indicates machines in German,Spanish or Russian... but no French! —Ed.]

Since the begining of this year I amthe editor of the HBW-aktuell , thenewsletter of the IFHB. The newsletteris published 10 times a year and shallprovide the IFHB-members with thelatest news, inform about coming eventsand give the possibili ty to publish adsif somebody wants to buy, sell or tradea machine.

As we are “ international,” we wouldlike to ask the American collectors toparticipate, whenever possible. Thismeans: Please inform us about specialevents in the U.S., new publications,reports about related exhibitions, ev-erything which could be of interest.

Don’t hesitate to contact us forhelp in research (machine &companyhistory). We will also give Americancollectors the chance to publish ads(up to 5 lines free of charge), even if heis not a member of the IFHB. Our aimis to improve the relations and infor-mation exchange between Europeanand American collectors. All inquir-ies, reports, etc. will be translated from/to English by us. Deadline is the 22ndof each month.

I myself am investigating the his-tory of the Enigma, the German code

machine. Anyone with information,please get in touch with me.

Thomas ButzbachHochstr. 74

41374 NiederkrüchtenGermany

Thank you for another excellentissue of ETCetera; since it involvedsome information on patent history, Ithought I would comment.

I’m sure you caught the typo onp. 5 where you refer to the opening ofthe Patent office in 1780 - it’s actually1790. As to the requirement aboutPatent models (where you suggest theywere optional 1870-1880), the actualcase was this: Congress rewrote the lawallowing the Patent Off ice to not re-quire models as of July 8, 1870, but thePatent Office chose not to observe thisfeature at all, and continued to requirethem until March 1, 1880. In otherwords, all patents between 1870 and1880 still had to be accompanied bymodels or specimens. After 1880, theywere optional. This is easy to verify ifyou ever come across a run of the PatentGazettes - just look for the word(s)“Models” or “No Model.”

Looking at that extra date on thetag of the Sholes made me think ofsomething that you might not be awareof. When a patent application is filed,and then examined, it is either rejectedor allowed. If allowed, the would-bepatentee has six months to send theremaining $20 to get his patent. Thedate of allowance appears on internaldocuments and is not to be confuesdwith the date of issuance.

Allen KoenigsbergBrooklyn, NY

[Allen Koenigsberg edits “ The AntiquePhonograph Monthly,” and is author of“ The Patent History of the Phonograph.” ]

LETTERS

McClure’s, 3/07

Have I ever told you how much Ienjoy ETCetera? There is somethingin every issue which makes me reviewmy collection or that of the OHA[Onandaga Historical Association].

[As for the German] summaries, atone time I was going to tell you thatit is rather difficult to translate allitera-tions, colloquialisms and other playson words. In fact now, come to thinkof it, I rather enjoy what you are doingand I try to provide German parallelsto keep the thing fun and flowing.

A frightening thought: Wherewould typewriter collectors get theirinformation from if it were not for yourdiligence?

Keep up the good work!Siegfried Snyder

Syracuse, NY

[Siegfried Snyder writes the German sum-maries for each issue of ETCetera. Thismagazine is the only one in English provid-ing translations for German-speaking read-ers–Ed.]

I have an old typewriter I wouldlike to sell. It is not in working condi-tion. It was found inside a wall that wasbeing removed in a house remodelingproject. Also found was an old fedora.(No reporter’s bones, though). Wouldyou please advertise it in your quarterlymagazine?

Joan JacobsStarlight, PA

[ If anyone’s interested in this Smith Pre-mier #1 with a Real Story behind it, pleasesee “ Advertisements” ]

I am the owner of an OlivettiDivi summa 24 adding machine whowrote to you in January asking for helpto locate operating instructions for mymachine. You were wrong when youwrote than you can’t help!

The “wanted” ad you placed in yournewsletter has produced the desiredresult. Thank you very much. I’ve hadletters from two persons each enclos-ing some operating instructions and


INTERNATIONALNEWS

Germany–Typenkorb & TypenhebelIn the May issue of T&T, there’s an

interesting follow up to the widelypublicized sale of an 1822 calculator atChristies in May,1993 for $12 million.As reported in ETCetera, the sale wassomething of a sham, since the highbidder reneged. T&T now reveals thatthe high bidder Edgar Mannheimerwas ill at the time of the auction, andhis ill ness left his mental abilities di-minished. As such, T&T reports, hewas not “responsible for his actions.”

Germany-Auktion Team KölnUwe Breker, of Auktion Team Köln

visited Los Angeles in July, giving theeditor an opportunity to discuss theMay 28th auction. Uwe offered someinteresting information about his semi-annual auctions.

It seems that for some time an“informal” flea market has materializedon the parking lot outside ATK head-quarters whenever there has been atypewriter auction (ATK also con-ducts sales for other technical antiquessuch as scientific instruments, cam-eras, sewing machines, etc.). Accord-ing to Uwe, this only takes placeduring typewriter auctions, and neverat his other sales.

The flea market consists of one ortwo dozen collectors selling machinesout of their cars while the auction goeson inside. One consequence of this wasan increase in rent to ATK from itslandlord, who complained that he wasnever told his property would be usedfor a flea market. Uwe’s insistence thathe did not organize the flea markethimself fell on deaf ears.

Lately, the flea marketeers, armedwith ATK’s catalog, have arrived withmachines duplicating those in the auc-tion. For example, spirited biddingbetween two rivals sent the price of aKeaton Music Typewriter to 9000 DMlast May. One of the flea marketeersthen approached the underbidder andsold him another Keaton for 6000 DM,presumably with no commission.

Needless to say, consigners are com-plaining about the outside sales, sincethey could drive down prices in theauction. Uwe says he is reluctant to doso, but in the future he will have toforbid the flea marketeers from doingsuch business on the property. Afterall, he says, its a lot like going to arestaurant and bringing your own food!

Incidentally, there was a strongrumor going around that ATK wasgetting out of the typewriter business.This might have come from a remarkUwe made regarding the above situa-tion, but he tells us it isn’t true.

WANTED: Olivetti Valentine. Alsoone of the li ttle springs that supportsthe keys on a Bennett. Darryl Rehr,2591 Mili tary Ave., L.A., CA 90064.Tel. 310-477-5229.BERNARD WI LL IAMS specialistcollector of Blicks offers $5,000 plusshipping for Niagara, also top pricespaid for Nico (music) Blick & Alumi-nium Model 9 or any other unusualBlick models. 80 Manor Road, Burton-on-Trent, Staffs., DE15 9SP EN-GLAND. Tel. 0283-65858WANTED: 1924 Remington Portablecarriage return lever. Tom Dremel,2512 65th Dr., Frankville, WI 53126.Tel. (414)878-1311BOOK S AVA I L ABLE : PeterMazlowski’s compiled lists of AuktionTeam Köln realized prices, covering1987-1993. Separate booklets for cal-culators and typewriters. $15 each + $1postage to Darryl Rehr, 2591 Mili taryAve., L.A., CA 90064.WANTED: Hammond No. 2 Idealnameplate and several keytops. Also aFox Visible parts machine. RobertNewton, 4735 Cape Arago Hwy., CoosBay, OR 97420. Tel. (503)888-2257WANTED: Columbia index, Williams1 or 2, Bar-Lock 6. Günter Müller,Melibokusstr. 12, 64404 Bickenbach,Germany. Tel. 06257-3821.WANTED: ribbon mechanism andspools for Franklin 7. Frank Werle,Bachstr. 4, D-66773 Schwalbach, GER-MANYATLANTIQUE CITY 1994 HolidayFair. Over 1100 Fine Dealers. Sat., Oct15 (9am to 8pm). Sun., Oct. 16 (10amto 5pm). Over 12 exciting miles in-doors. Atlantic City Convention Cen-ter. Call 1-800-526-2724 for tickets,hotel, airfares, early admission. Allkinds of antiques–let us know if youfind any typewriters!

TIPS:LC SMITH #2: good decals. VeraSanders, 1136 Bank Side Cir., Edmond,OK 73003FOLDING CORONA w/case & in-structions. David Nachman, 2736Rocklyn Rd., Shaker Heights, OH44122

ADVERTISEMENTSFOR SALE: Hammond Multiplex,olive green, w/case. Good cond. ScottSwanson, 50 Gloucester St., Boston,MA 02115. Tel. 617-536-8013FOR SALE: Replica of Schickard’sfamous calculator . Dimensions–height:32cm., breadth:26/38 cm., deep 15 cm.$400 including packing & shipping.Handmade by Peter Roubos,Zuidlaarderbrink 242, 7812 GKEmmen, Netherlands. Tel.: 31-591010652FOR SALE: Smith Premier #1/base &cover, not working. Found inside awall (see Letters). Joan Jacobs, HC 60- Box 25, Starling, PA 18461. Tel. 717-798-2825.FOR SALE: “Wonder-Wool” Type-writer Pad, brand-new old stock inoriginal cardboard sleeve with great1940’s graphics. Really cool. $15 ppd.Machines for sale: Williams 4 (vg),Blick 7 (near mint), Hammond Fold-ing (ex), early Daugherty (fair, w/base& cover), Densmore (fair-to-good),Hall with apothecary index attach-ment (fair-to-good), Fox Sterling (ex),Fox folding (fair), MW (good), Na-tional portable (very good), New Cen-tury Caligraph (good), Oliver 2 (good),Remington 6 (excellent, w/base &cover), Sholes & Glidden (black),“rainbow” portables (all ex): Royal (1blue, 1 green), Corona 4 (green), Na-tional portable (ex), Millio naire calcu-lator (good, keyset, 100% functional),Stephenson adder (very good).

This back issue of

is brought to you by

The Early Typewriter Collectors’ Association

The mission of the Early Typewriter Collectors’ Association is to support

communication and interaction within the community of typewriter lovers

and collectors, and to encourage its growth. Our magazine, ETCetera, serves

that mission by gathering and sharing knowledge about typewriter history

with the community and beyond.

Learn more at

etconline.org

no.28 - sept. - the early typewriter collectors

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