DELUXE - Deferred Repair Made Good

As some of our readers know, we have more typewriters around than you can shake a stick at.  Some of them have been received and been immediately unpacked and put on the Internet.  Some get put aside, repaired, and then examined for articles.  Some get shopped, commercially, where they're completely disassembled and tanked, then reassembled and adjusted -- while others (which you've seen on the old "Davis Typewriter Works" site pages) we do ourselves.  Some get forgotten entirely and then are unearthed as a sort of re-surprise.  Some are wrecked.  A couple, scrapped.

The sorriest category in some ways is that of machines in "deferred repair" status, which are those that we need to fix but just never get around to fixing.  Well, that category got reduced by one today.

Here's a machine I got years ago off of German e-Bay.  The machine was in perfect shape when auctioned, with carrying case and tool kit but no instructions.  The machine is simply labeled "deluxe" (note that in proper reference, these are all lower-case letters) and has no other identification on it whatsoever.  There is an interesting little gold crown on the paper table.  I have yet to do any real research on who distributed it.

The machine of course is a relabeled CONSUL, of the variety most normally known as a Model 1511 or "Consul Deluxe" if sold in original trim.  This example is not in original trim, carries no brand name, and in fact does not even say "Made in Czechoslovakia" on the back.  We know it was sold in Germany, and it has a proper German keyboard.  The two tone paint is quite attractive.

The serial number of this machine is ZP211239, which is among the very highest known to this author for any of either of the old-style Consul bodies.  (For a primer, see my old original page on Consul portables.)  Tilman Elster had a machine in the ZP range with a serial in the 216,000 range, labeled at Markus Elster's "plustype.de" website as a Consul Deluxe.  I can neither confirm nor deny that the Elsters' machine matches this one.

As you might be able to tell from the photos above, this machine was not received in operable condition.  Dropping of the not-too-well-protected box led to the front frame of the machine being deformed essentially in two ways; it was dished in along the front, more so to the right than in the center, and the entire front frame around the keyboard was translated to the left somewhat.  This rendered the frame of the machine into a rough parallelogram, instead of a rectangle.  It got put away just like that, but try as I did, I couldn't forget about it.

The photos above show the machine after I used a hand sledge on the machine for about ten minutes by myself.  (You'll want to use a towel on the machine to avoid damaging the paint!)  Remember in this type of machine the adage that if it got bent by being dropped or hit, it can get unbent the same way.  And "broken" covers all kinds of  "doesn't work" scenarios ...  and a machine with a frame bent badly enough to hold up the space bar and jam it into the lower row of keys (as this was when I started) is not going to ever get un-broken if you don't bend the frame back.

It turned out that one person wasn't enough.  I had to wait until Dave got into the act, so that one of us could hold the machine very steady up on the workbench, while the other hammered on it.  And look at the result from late this evening!

Here you see the machine this evening after a second application of force.  The frame is square -- we used the large carpenter's square to assure us of this.  Dave straightened the frame the rest of the way in steps, and then I re-formed the space bar support arms and a couple of key levers.  All of these work fine now.

Of more interest than that is the fact that the escapement of the machine was jammed prior to the second session.  I had determined that the space bar could move freely and could move the linkage to the rear of the machine, but nothing beyond would move.  I'd decided that after we got the frame square, I'd go into the machine to see what I could find.  Well, after the second session, when we sat the machine back on its feet, it worked!  Space bar and keys tripped the escapement, and the carriage advances smoothly and predictably.  Sometimes, a judicious application of force is just what the doctor ordered.  (Your results may vary.)

Since this is a Deluxe model, the platen pops right out with the action of one lever.  It also has the "magic margin" style lever-set margin stops.  All of this is visible in the shot below, which I took earlier today.  The cover over the mechanism just pops up and swivels back.

You might be able to discern that this example does in fact have the inscription "DE LUXE" in red letters on the type bar segment, below the print alignment fork.  On this model, the paper tray with rollers that you see lying in the carriage also just lifts right out.

So, now that it is fixed up, it'll be time to get a ribbon in and test it out.  Already of course I can tell that it feels just like the other machines of its ilk that we have, and so it'll be a good machine.  What is interesting to me about it of course is its different decor - which makes it all the better then that now it isn't one of those machines we regret not having gotten to sooner.

----------

For more information - there's also a CONSUL page at the European Typewriter Project website, which Thomas Furtig, the late Tilman Elster, and I built years ago.

10:40 PM 5/10/2013  - Will Davis

Klein-Urania

 

 

KLEIN-URANIA

 

The machine we review today is a portable manufactured by Clemens Muller A.G. Dresden, Germany.  This model, the Klein-Urania, appeared first in 1935 as a replacement for the very similar Urania Piccola which had been made from 1925.  The Klein-Urania was produced continuously through 1943, when production ended due to the Second World War. 

 

According to an online history of VEB Schreibmaschinenwerk Dresden, authored by H. Reckzeh, production of the Klein-Urania was restarted in mid-1946 (as was that of the Urania standard machine, the Model 9.)  Whereas production of the standard machine increased year by year, the Klein-Urania was produced at a far smaller rate and not for as long.  According to the work of Reckzeh, totals produced for the Klein-Urania were as follows:  1946, 705 machines; 1947, 1388 machines; 1948, 1541 machines; 1949, 687 machines.  At that time, production of the portable ended while the standard continued at increasing rate per year.  The company itself operated as VVB Mechanik vorm. Clemens Muller from 1948 through 1951, when it was completely merged along with Seidel & Naumann (makers of the famous Ideal standard and Erika portable typewriters) into VEB Schreibmaschinenwerk Dresden. 

 

(Aside - This set of events was transpiring across the entire breadth of the typewriter industry that found itself "behind the Iron Curtain" in the GDR following the end of the Second World War.  All of the makers, including Clemens Muller (Urania), Seidel & Naumann (Ideal, Erika), Wanderer-Werke (Continental), Optima, Groma, and Mercedes were combined into VEB's and eventually the production of all typewriters was "rationalized" so that only the Optima-pattern standard machines were being produced, and only the Erika-pattern portables were being produced.  This rationalization took some years and production continued at all the firms for some time, and some crossovers did occur.  For example, there are known examples of the final metal-bodied Erika portable which carry the Optima brand name.  According to Wilfred Beeching's "Century of the Typewriter," nothing of the Continental brand ever reentered serial production under Soviet control; the portable plant had been moved to Belgium and was in private hands, while the tooling for the two Continental office machines, the Standard and the Silenta, was moved into the USSR and somehow just disappeared.)

 

The example we show here is one of the small number of post-war Klein-Urania machines.  Its serial number is 423875, placing its production in 1947 according to available records (which are reproduced at tw-db.com.)  The machine appears to be essentially the same as the pre-war production version.

 

Details and operation

 

The Klein-Urania is a portable of roughly average size and weight in the larger class of four bank portables offered in Germany and in the US before the War and immediately after.  The machine has 44 keys typing 88 characters in the conventional four bank single shift layout.  This particular example has the English-German keyboard in QWERTY style; at some time in the past, the furthest right type slug has been replaced (and the keytop legend replaced as well) with \ and $ symbols.  Backspace key is on the right of the keyboard; shift keys are both sides, with the shift lock being a lever style acting on the left shift key.  Carriage shift is employed, raising the entire assembly and rail.

 

Controls on the left end of the carriage are the carriage release lever (nearer the typist) and the margin release lever.  On the right, a line space selector is forward of the platen knob shaft, while the paper release is an unusual chromed crank instead of a lever.  A positive and sure carriage lock design, fitted to the right end of the carriage and to the machine body is a notable feature of the Klein-Urania.  Margin stops are set from the rear of the machine in conventional style; two fold up paper arms are attached to the rear of the short paper table.  The paper bail, with two rollers, flips up and away from the typist.

 

The ribbon selector is a three position dial on the left side of the machine.  Ribbon reverse is automatic, actuated by the ribbon forks. 

 

The machine in operation is fairly pleasant to use, striking hard enough with a normal touch to provide good impression.  Relatively high speed is achievable on the machine, and it was noted that the machine seems quite reluctant to jam type bars, even if deliberately poor technique is employed in order to force the issue.  Of course, it must be noted that by the time this machine was built, most portables of this size class had a tabulator available (none was on this machine,) and had more modern control arrangements; the use of a lever operated, carriage mounted margin release being noted as particularly archaic.  It must also be recognized though that when this machine was built, there was a massive shortage of typewriters in Germany specifically and in Europe generally so that any decently workable machine which could be built could also be sold.  Viewed in this context so unfamiliar to us today, the Klein-Urania can be found to have no real faults.

 

 

Collectors' notes: 

 

This machine has been modified at some time with a resoldered type slug, and replaced keytop legend.  The space bar shows wear; it is painted metal.  Pre-war machines had the name of the maker, Clemens Muller, on the front frame below the keyboard; either this machine was repainted or the decal was never there.

 

 

On the front of the machine is a small dealer identification plate which reads as follows:

 

J.C. Wiederholt

Gottingen

Buromobel-Buromaschinen

Prinzenstr. 14/15  Fernrut 2049

 

The machine is complete with case; the machine's four feet rest in circular depressions in the case base, to which the machine is attached by spring loaded flip up levers, one each side.  Case lid is separate.  Machine can be fully used still on base.

 

 

Commentary:

 

I myself believe this is a very collectible typewriter, and like it very much, because of what we find out about the history of typewriters in Germany, and then later in the GDR, when we look into its facts.  I am actually pleased that the machine is from the post-war period, because that period, even though newer, is far more rare in total of numbers made (total of 4,321 machines.)  Further, we have in the collection a "companion" for this machine - a post-war standard Ideal, manufactured by Seidel & Naumann which is the other company that was eventually combined with Clemens Muller to form VEB Schreibmaschinenwerke Dresden. 

 

In addition to the attraction due the machine's heritage, I also happen to like its appearance.  The machine is unusual in every way and dimension, causing the investigator to turn it round and round and examine all of its sides.  Doing so reveals the unusual design and placement of some of its controls, and brings up the unusual top casing surrounding the type bar rest.  The machine's operative features (and in some cases lack thereof) as well as its touch would not cause the avid collector - typist to deploy this machine first, or for NaNoWriMo, but the machine's operability is unquestionable, even if in a rugged no-frills sort of way. 

 

 

Background and more reading

Urania - European Typewriter Project

Urania- plustype.de

 

 

2:30 PM 10/19/2012 Will Davis