The ABC in Detail - 3

In our last installment we paused at serial number 3-54640, made during the initial Wagenfeld body style era of the ABC portables and which was made just after introduction of the ribbon selector device (which employed a lever at the right side of the machine.) We now take up our examination with thorough coverage of the continuation of the early, all-Wagenfeld bodied production.

ABC / serial 3-69883 / Thomas Furtig collection. This example shows another two-tone combination, in beige and light blue. Many collectors will have noticed the red triangle seen on the right carriage end of this machine; this is a mark for the page end indicator, a feature of the ABC which warned the typist of the page end approaching and which was similar to Smith-Corona's "Page Gage" in the United States.




Above, illustration of the page end device and how it is used for three different sizes of paper. This prevents the writing from trailing away at the end of the sheet- which is shown at the top of the illustration.

ABC / serial 3-75369 / Thomas Furtig collection. This machine is finished in the green hammertone paint. Many collectors find the hammertone paint colors to be the most desirable. There was a green hammertone, a grey hammertone, and a dark beige hammertone. These are seen mixed throughout the early production period 1955-1963 with all machines in one model, and one body style; a few hammertone machines are known after this as well in two body styles. But we get ahead of ourselves!



ABC / serial 3-77380 / Thomas Furtig collection. This is the first pink machine we've seen in our look at this line. Interestingly, in the large database we have constructed for this project it is the earliest identified pink machine. Furthermore, there is only one other pink machine known (at least in our database, so far) and we will in fact see that machine as well later on. Pink as an optional color doesn't appear in our advertising material either - you certainly don't see many ABC / Cole-Steel machines in this color.

ABC / serial 3-83765 / Thomas Furtig collection. This machine at first might look like one we've seen, but look again; this machine is not two-tone but rather is the same very attractive blue color overall. Also note that this machine's top cover doesn't have the small metallic buttons on the sides to allow it to be removed; it simply pulls up and off. This is the 29th machine listed in our database, and the next machine you will see is the 30th machine in our database.



ABC / serial 3-99632 / Thomas Furtig collection. This machine features the dark beige (or dark creme if you prefer) hammertone paint discussed previously as one of the three known 'hammertone' paint options. This extra feature in the finish adds a great deal of depth to the paint's appearance, which makes any machine so painted appear very luxurious .. and expensive.

The very next machine in our database is a Cole-Steel, and in fact so are the next nine machines. There is a solid run, or block, of Cole-Steel machines running from serial number 3-108447 (owned by Mark Rosenzweig) through 3-163529, which we will see next. However, one machine in this block is very notable for us; serial number 3-149323, a Cole-Steel owned by Christopher Pilant, is known to have been purchased originally on March 21, 1960. This gives us our first solid date evidence.

Cole-Steel / serial 3-163529 / Will Davis collection. The machine we see here is somewhat significant, in terms of the progression of models of this whole line, so we will carefully detail the things that it represents. Not only is this the last known, or in other words highest serial number known, Cole-Steel in our database, it is also the second and last known pink machine of any label. In terms of mechanics, this machine is the earliest known to incorporate the new dial-type ribbon color selector to the right of the keyboard; this is much easier to see than the lever mounted back on the right side. Machines with higher serial numbers than this one seem to go back and forth between the dial selector and the lever selector with no apparent pattern; however, this is the only machine with a serial number prefix of "3-" that has the dial type selector and in fact is the highest serial number in the database with this prefix.

Next installment: Continuing with the original Wagenfeld body style in the serial number range with a "4-" prefix.. and new labeling.

The ABC in Detail - 1

By Will Davis and Thomas Fürtig.

The ABC portable, a medium-sized machine, was introduced by Koch's Eagle Sewing Machine Company of Bielefeld, West Germany in 1955. The machine immediately stood apart from close competitors in size - for one, the Keller & Knappich Princess - due to the styling given the body casing pieces by Prof. W. Wagenfeld. The machine was not only styled, but styled from all sides and views; further, the machine was styled in a way wherein it would be fitting in any sort of decor anywhere in the world.

At left, art from a 1964 sales brochure featuring a slightly later model of the ABC which retains the original body styling. Note how the machine appears at home even in the most ultra-modern environment; such a sleek, streamlined design would fit very well in a home from thirty years earlier.

The typewriter manufacturing situation in Europe at the time of introduction of the ABC in 1955 was still essentially one of total over-demand and under-availability. Very many typewriter designs appeared in Europe in the decade following the end of the conflict (both standard and portable) and even mediocre machines were able to sell. The ABC quickly seemed to gain ground, though, even though it was not the product of an already-established typewriter manufacturer; Koch had prior to this never manufactured any typewriters at all. The machine's status would be bolstered late in 1957 or perhaps early in 1958 with the securing of a sizable export arrangement - to the United States.

In this new arrangement, the ABC portable was relabeled as "Cole-Steel" for sale in the USA through Cole Steel Equipment Company, a well known manufacturer of office furniture and cabinetry. This move allowed Cole Steel to edge toward a position occupied by much larger companies (Remington-Rand, most notably) that offered a wide variety of office products for essentially "one supplier" service. Sales of the machine were transferred to a new division, Cole Steel Office Machines, by early 1959 with the machine retaining the same name. Item: Although some ads for the machine refer to it as the "Cole Portable," the machines themselves always bear the "Cole-Steel" brand name, and it is by that name that they're known generally to collectors today. This venture with Cole and Koch's appears not to have lasted for more than six or seven years.

In the meanwhile, the ABC had established itself well on the Continent and was being distributed both directly by the maker and through other channels such as wholesalers and retailers.

At left, further early advertising artwork courtesy Thomas Furtig (as is all ad art for the ABC in this series) from 1957. The original machine's external design is very striking, as has been mentioned and in fact many collectors finding or seeing their first ABC are surprised that the machine is as large as it is; for some reason, the styling implies a compactness which tricks the mind into assuming petiteness which does not exist. Further enhancement to the appearance sometime after introduction was made through the introduction of "hammertone" paints which gave the exterior an appearance of great depth and which in fact is superior in appearance to any automotive paint. Very few typewriters have ever been marketed with this expensive finish style. Several styles of case were also available, up to a deluxe leather case.

Retrospectively we can identify an 'early phase' of production, which might better be described as the 'main phase' since it appears to have lasted the longest, which lasted from the introduction of the machine in 1955 through 1963. During this entire time period, only one model of the machine was available at any given date. However, modifications, improvements and changes were made to the machines over time so that alterations are easily noted - but again, during this phase, there are no model names or numbers to help differentiate these. These machines almost always have a single digit preceding their serial numbers, and in the main these prefix numbers do correlate to a set of characteristics... but some of the changes are seen on scattered machines of the preceding prefix number which confuses matters.

It is for these reasons that the previously employed method of describing machines by their serial number prefixes is now discarded by us, and replaced with a much more complicated set of characteristics which identify a specific machine. However, trends and commonalities are visible after compilation of a large database of serial numbers and characteristics and the viewing of very many machines, so that a complete discourse is possible without attempting to enforce model designations retroactively that are essentially inaccurate.

THEN, it follows that first we will describe the 'early phase' of production, whose main characteristics are as follows:

-Production of the machines entirely in W. Germany
-Wagenfeld body design used on all machines
-No model name or number appears on any machine

This early phase of production saw a number of modifications to the mechanical design of the machine, which include the following major changes:

-Alteration to change from 86 characters typed to 88 characters
-Concurrent keyboard rearrangement
-Move from original with no multi-color ribbon and only a stencil cutout switch to a ribbon selector lever on the right side, and later a ribbon selector dial on the front right

We will describe these changes concurrent with the photo montages to follow, and will give serial number breakpoints for changes in that material.

All of this first phase of production in Germany used the same key lever and type bar mechanism, shown in motion in this illustration from an ABC sales brochure. The intermediate link that actuates the type bar is actually pulled by a short link that has, by virtue of the lever design and proportion, a much higher angular rotative speed than the primary key lever does which helps lead to the snappy motion these machines are often described as having. Distinctive when observed on these machines is the prominent drive bail on TOP of the entire mechanism, unusual in that day since most were concealed below in all other designs made elsewhere.

NEXT TIME: Photo montage of the early phase of production including rare name variants and very many color combinations.

The ABC typewriter in detail: Introduction

Quite some years ago, I was fortunate to acquire my very first Cole-Steel portable. The machine was wonderfully styled, compact, well thought out, and seemed to have more than the usual amount of design focus applied to it than you normally find with typewriters that didn't appear until well after the end of the Second World War. That began a fascination with this line for me - one that continues through until today.

One of the first things I discovered of course was that this wasn't the root brand for this machine. Norbert Schwarz, one of my very earliest collecting friends over in Germany, identified the machine as an ABC, made by Koch's Adlernahmaschinenwerke AG of Bielefeld, West Germany. This led to general inquiries that found the machine to be in some collections in various places already - people liked the design and certainly the variety of colors these seemed to be in. Further work with Norbert and later with our late friend Tilman Elster developed the story much more fully, and of course we had a number of US contributors too. This link takes you to the final incarnation of that original website effort.

Late last year, another good friend, Thomas Fuertig, also of Germany, began work with me on a far more intense study of this entire line of machines which has revealed previously unsuspected variations, details and information of all sorts that allows us to fairly clear the fog surrounding the production of the companies involved, if not their motives. Thomas and I (in the grand old fashion) exchanged many e-mails, data tables, spreadsheets, photographs and web links until we were fairly sure we had the story straight.

This whole story and description will be accompanied by more photographs of this line of typewriter than has ever appeared anywhere in print or on the internet, coupled with our complete dissertation on the mechanical variations and their correlation to serial numbering and model delineation. This will take many more than just two blog site updates and we hope that portable typewriter fans will find this in-depth examination of what has, over time, been proven to be a very popular typewriter with collectors to be of interest and worth reading and commenting on with further information, update, and discussion.

I intend to make the first installment of this series later this evening. For those familiar with my web content on the main site to date, it might be worthwhile to note that the information you will see here will not simply supplant the original content but will in many particulars improve upon it and in several should be considered to supersede it. ABC (and on this side of the Atlantic, "Cole-Steel") fans should get ready to be excited!