Another unusual Bulgarian-made portable

Readers of my site are aware of the range of Bulgarian-made portables loosely affiliated by the name MARITSA, which is the name of the river that runs through the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. That city was the location of the "Typewriters Works" (sic) .. later called "Plant for Typewriters" .. which made two general ranges of typewriter over a yet unknown time period.

The two ranges were, first, a series based on the West German PRINCESS line, apparently after having acquired the tooling from Keller & Knappich, and second a range based on the Japanese SILVER-SEIKO small machines. Although neither of these Bulgarian-made series is common, they were in fact distributed at times the world over and an attentive collector almost anywhere can snag one. To learn more about these machines of both ranges, click here to see my long-standing web page.

This machine adds some information to the story, and yet asks questions we cannot answer. This machine, clearly Bulgarian-made even if not labeled as such, is a Montgomery Ward Model 101. Most machines distributed by this well known department store and mail order company carried the SIGNATURE name, but not all. The machine has its instructions, and is serial number 11176474. Now for the details.

The instructions for the machine include photos labeled "OMEGA 11," which in itself isn't surprising considering that very often any Plovdiv-made machine will NOT have custom instructions made for this or that end seller. What's really interesting is that the machine also has a warranty card -- a card addressed not to Montgomery Ward but to Cheromi, Inc. This company was one of a string who owned rights to the brand name OMEGA for typewriters, and in point of fact only had these rights after May of 1977, when the descendant corporation of General Consolidated conveyed rights. Cheromi gave rights apparently off and on to Allyn Distributing through 1994 when rights were finally assigned to Corpex International.

(At left, the manual that came with the Montgomery Ward 101.) We are assuming at this point that this machine is labeled as Ward's model 101 because prior to this, the Signature 100 was sold for years (and that machine was the small, flat, very simple original Brother manual portable relabeled for Ward's.) On the rear of this new machine is a label, with the following information:


Wards Manual Typewriter
Model # 101 DCG8001
Serial #97 3155

On the label, it's important to note that everything is printed in except the "3155" of the serial which is actually stamped. More research is underway on Ward's internal and - or catalog identification numbers to make sense of this label.

We might have a good date on the first use of Omega by Cheromi, since Richard Polt spotted an Omega 11 in identical color with a serial number about 1000 below this machine that went on e-Bay a short while back. It carried instructions labeled for the MARITSA. So we have a machine actually labeled OMEGA 11 with MARITSA 11 instructions, and within 1000 or so units a machine labeled for Montgomery Ward, carrying OMEGA 11 instructions.

While still puzzling in some ways, this machine does one thing; it pushes our conception of known Plovdiv production of the Princess-derived machine even later than we'd thought. We're almost sure it didn't appear in the 50's now, or probably even the 60's. More work must be done, but finally this unduplicated and somewhat rare machine has cracked the door a bit wider.

(Note: Serial numbers of machines on my site are as follows. Maritsa 11, tan color, serial number 11263536. Bundy, blue and white, serial number 11118151. Omega 30, blue color, 30242061. First two digits of serial are always Plovdiv model number.)

Imperial Good Companion 6

Here is a machine that I've been after for some time- actually, it's from a family that I've been after any one of for a long time. This is a British-made Imperial Good Companion 6, which is hard to find here in the U.S. since none of these was ever sold directly here. This example is serial number 6AG 816 and was manufactured in 1962. A similar 6T model, with tabulator, was also offered.

This general design for Imperial portables dates back to the early 1930's and incorporates a geared type-bar mechanism not unlike that found in Remington / Remington-Rand portables from the early 20's until 1949. On the Good Companion, the gear rack portion of the mechanism is fairly hidden by the distinctive type bar segment which is large and raised, apparently to provide better type bar alignment.

Here we see the machine, with (forward tilting) ribbon cover raised and a type bar at the print point. The black geared arc is visible sticking up through its slot in the segment. The action is taken off of the primary key levers by links that then actuate a series of bell cranks mounted in an arcuate, intermediate segment; the cranks are visible below the resting bar for the type bars. Interestingly, while the primary key levers at the center of the keyboard are essentially straignt, as key levers further from center are examined they display more of an angular nature from keytop to hinge as the hinge section is perhaps only half the width of the typewriter; outer key levers angle quite severely in toward the center as viewed from directly above, or below.

The touch of the machine is light - much lighter than superficially similarly designed Remington machines. None of that "over the top" feel Remington portables are known for exists with the Imperial, making it a lighter and speedier feeling machine. That said, the type bar blow isn't nearly as hard and getting dark impression isn't as easy. The carriage shift moves more back than up, due to the design that essentially results in type slug impact on top of the platen, and this means that gunk or poor lubrication results in somewhat slow return of the carriage to lower-case position since gravity isn't as much of a help as it is in most carriage shifted machines. We're particularly fond of the design of the carriage return lever, which hinges down for storage in a unique way but flips angularly sideways (not unlike Halberg-derived machines) for line spacing. Its chromed slipper spoon appearance is very pleasing.

Overall we like this little machine, even though it is somewhat devoid of features for a machine this late. The keytops are comfortable, the look is very 60's and so can be made to fit in a wide range of (retro or modern) decors, the sound is very quiet, the touch is light and the machine operates well. It took us years to get one in good shape and we're glad we waited.

The last Smith-Corona Standard.

The machine you see here just arrived at the Works today. This is an SCM Smith-Corona Secretarial 76. This model name and number might not mean much to most readers, but this will: This is the final Smith-Corona manual standard (office, upright, whatever you want to call it) typewriter model. We're sure of it.

We knew when it appeared on e-Bay that it was late, and a check of the NOMDA serial lists revealed a cutoff of serial numbers at 6200M in 1966 and only references vaguely to any model numbers; by the 1985 date of printing of the NOMDA Blue Book at hand, SCM was long out of the manual office machine business. We knew that the machine was close to the appearance of the last model shown in Beeching, but we also knew that nothing definitive about any models beyond 72 or 75 was printed in any serial reference anywhere.

Smith-Corona dealer Jay Respler helps fill in the details. According to Jay, who has the complete Smith-Corona serial number listing, the final year of Smith-Corona standard, manual typewriter production is 1969 with the serial range of 7023966 - 7035812. The machine we just bought is serial number 76E12-7037845, which made Jay ask if we got the last one ever made! Jay's records indicate then that this machine was in all probability made in 1970 and that it is surely almost the last of its kind. The decor matches none of the 75 models we've seen so far and may be a last gasp at minimal redesign (mostly re-coloring, actually) for the new decade but we're not sure of that yet.

Jay recalls, concerning the end of production of Smith-Corona standard machines, that SCM considered itself as having made standard ELECTRIC machines for much longer after it dropped the manual and large original electric designs (and in fact we can back Jay up on that with advertising) because the company essentially took the mechanism of the electric portable and placed it in a larger body, calling it a 'compact office machine.' This would be the Model 8000, introduced in 1976, if we interpret Jay's observation correctly. Jay adds that Brother was big trouble for Smith-Corona, and eventually the competition led years later to Smith-Corona having to move production of (by then) electronic daisy wheel machines to Mexico.

All of this adds to the yet-not-fully-told story of the wind DOWN of Smith-Corona. So often we focus on the wind-UP and forget that history has a whole life cycle that we historians and researchers need to cover. What you see here is very likely the newest, last Smith-Corona manual standard machine you will ever see and it provides a bit of historical closure to this whole product line. And don't worry - this one needs some work, so you'll learn what's inside of it right here and become somewhat familiar with it.

The next post by Dave will show something he was buying about 20 miles south of his home, while I was over 180 miles away picking up the Secretarial 76 you see here. Stay tuned!

--edit to correct actual serial number, reposted.--

Adler J5 / ribbon vibrator

The Adler J5 you see here in pieces was displaying an odd problem; operation of the keys caused the ribbon selector switch to move wildly throughout its travel, and the ribbon selector switch had no 'notches' or detentes in its travel. Clearly something had gone wrong, and a look at the bottom of the machine revealed that a spring steel piece that provided resistance to an appropriately shaped tang on an extension of the ribbon selector and vibrator assembly had become bent to the point that it could not be re-bent without first having been removed from the machine.

The carriage is easy enough to take off on this late-1970's Adler portable. Removal of the drawband from the carriage is easy even without pliers, and there's a slot to insert the retainer on the end of the drawband into the carriage rail assembly. Once that's done, two screws are all you need undo to release the whole carriage and escapement assembly from the machine - it lifts right out vertically. Then, with ribbon cover off, you will note four screws total holding the plastic exterior body shell ('mask') to the frame, which lifts off with a bit of wiggling to clear the ribbon selector lever on the left and the tab set/clear lever on the right. These operations left the machine in the condition seen in the photo.

Here we see the machine, lifted up, and we're looking up under the left side. Right by my thumb you can see the offending bent piece. Once you find the screw holding it down, you'll need a very thin long standard screwdriver to get the piece off. It was easy enough for Dave and I to get it bent back to the proper profile and test operation of the lever without the screw inserted; once the screw was back in (perhaps the trickiest part, and made much easier due to lack of clearance by using a magnetic screwdriver) the reassembly and test went without a hitch. Yet another archive machine returned to fully operative status!

ABC project behind the scenes

The blog has gone a little quiet all of a sudden the last few days, largely because fellow collector and long time collaborator Thomas Fuertig and I are engaged in yet another enormous research endeavor concerning the West German-made ABC portables. We're investigating all of the various changes the machines took over the years, as well as model variations that came later and the movement of production to Portugal in detail never before attempted. You will see the results here when we're through! Illustration from 1957 ABC brochure courtesy Thomas Fuertig.

Collegiate update

Our German friends at Historichesbuero have responded with some data. Thomas Fuertig informs us that the Collegiate I now have is also sometimes seen in Germany as the Neckermann Brilliant S. (Look here for more Neckermann Brilliant cross labeling instances.) The machine was never sold in Germany with the name Collegiate and so it's considered rare there - and it's rare here too considering that I've never seen one before! This machine is actually, in its original branding and in this decor, the early version of the ABC 1001. Look here for more ABC variants.

Newly discovered ABC variant

Just arrived here today, after an unopposed win on e-Bay is the COLLEGIATE, serial number 501963. I recognized the machine as some sort of variant of the ABC when I saw it on e-Bay (and that's "Cole-Steel" to those familiar with the variant normally seen here in the USA) and put in a large bid. The machine is different from all other ABC machines, and thus Cole-Steel machines in its exterior styling. A quick search of the European Patent Server produced lucky results; this styling was patented for use on the Koch's Adler ABC machine in 1960.

Here is a cropped view from one of the three drawing pages supporting the 1960 patent for Koch's.

This machine has 44 keys typing 88 characters, in an English keyboard format. Interestingly, the machine has no touch regulator and no ribbon selector and can thus be considered somewhat of a stripped model as compared with the other ABC / Cole-Steel machines normally found. The margin release doubles as a jam clear key, through use of a key lever extension that acts on the ribbon bail. As is clear in the photo, the Collegiate is in a very attractive "Hammertone" light green which is also found on the ABC / Cole-Steel. What differs is the casing in which the machine is contained. We have no data with the machine and have not on preliminary examination discovered any affiliation with the "Collegiate" name but will continue looking. It's very fulfilling to know that even at this late date there are yet-unseen and unidentified machines out there to find.

Form / Function; Will's five picks

Dave's recent post comparing form vs. function for typewriters generated a comment asking about five top picks -- that is to say, five great looking machines with details of the operation of each. Dave told me that I should give it a whirl, even though it was his topic, so here we go. In no particular order after the first one..

1. ABC / Cole-Steel This typewriter, introduced in the 50's in Germany and before the end of that decade here by license, was styled by Prof. Wagenfeld in a very modern and smooth style for that day. In fact, the styling of the machine isn't what we'd think of here as "50's" .. it's in advance of it in some ways, behind in others and frankly just timelessly classic. What's even more impressive is the total perspective approach that Wagenfeld took with the casing which means that the machine is attractive from all angles and elevations. Normally, the carriage side or rear of a typewriter is fairly uninspiring but on the ABC the machine is appealing stylistically from all 360 degrees of view. The optional hammertone paint colors available make the move from attractive to almost stunning. Operationally the ABC is a smooth, accurate machine with a fairly positive key action, fairly solid carriage operation and decent if not excellent auxiliary controls. It could be said that the machine looks better than it types, but it would be really difficult to match the styling with any typewriter that would fit the size envelope.

2. Alpina The Alpina in its most commonly seen form is attractive enough, but in the two-tone color schemes found on late versions is exceedingly attractive. There is something about the top cover styling combined with the other lines and curves on the machine that give it the exact, perfect 50/50 combination of stylistic elegance and mechanical impressivness / mass that you would hope for in the perfect portable. Once you take that exterior and combine it with the incredible quality and feel of the Alpina's internals, you have a combination that's very hard to beat. The only reason I put the ABC above this machine overall is that the ABC's styling is just that much more refined, thought out, and complete that it gets the nod.

3. Smith-Corona Super 5. I can't stand these machines with white keytops, but I love 'em with green or any other color. I prefer the earlier ones, like the original Silent as introduced at the end of 1949. I don't like the later pastel colors. Having said all that, you can mark me down as actually liking the styling of these machines. Compared to many other offerings, its elegance lies in the degree of understatement.

4. The late Underwood portables. See here. You can't get much more overstated than some of these, stylistically (especially some in the round-top variant) but all of them are somewhere from cool to fantastic, style wise. Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of these machines and their intrinsically weak shift feel. Definitely obvious why Underwood had lost the lead in sales years back and no amount of fabulous style could get around that. That said, I think they're very highly collectible and I look for them.

5. Consul 221. See here. This may seem an odd pick, but frankly this machine looks like it works and like it feels. Although ZB clearly didn't understand anything about colors that would work in Western countries' households before the end of the 60's, it got everything right with the 221. In either the two-tone white/gray or the gray/blue (see both at the link) the machine is attractive and modern-looking. (Modern in a late 60's sense, that is.) The combination of lines, the spaced letters spelling "Consul" across the front, the block keytops, and the cleanliness of the carriage details and controls (very cleaned up from previous models) gives a wholly satisfying look and a look that says that the machine is ready to work. Work they do- they're not Super 5's, but they're solid, tight, more precise than any other Consul machine, and as ruggedly attractive as earlier models were awkward. This might well be an award for "best style recovery."

I could go on and on, and could easily go to standards (Is there a better looking standard typewriter than the Victor No. 3?) but we did say five form/function comparisons. What would be interesting would be to try this the other way - are ugly typewriters always below average machines? Maybe that's another blog another day.

The End of Remington

At the recent collectors' convention I had the chance to mention, fairly in passing, my long-ago reporting on the very end of the Remington concern of long fame and found that a number of my colleagues weren't totally familiar with the admittedly obscure case. Since the end of companies is historically as important as the beginning, I'll give a brief discussion and then some links.

In 1979, Sperry-Rand Corporation spun off the business machines / typewriters / office portion of its business to a newly formed Remington-Rand, Inc. At about the time that happened the company had developed a single-element or "golfball" style machine along the lines of the well-established IBM Selectric; the Remington machine was known as the SR-101.

Now, the subsidiary of Remington in Holland was still around and was known as Remington Rand Holland BV. The initial arrangement was that the US firm would receive machines made by the Dutch subsidiary for sale here. In 1981, both firms declared bankruptcy; however, in June 1981 the subsidiary entered new ownership which then both began to develop a sales network of its own and cut off Remington Rand from receiving the machines that it had proprietary rights to. Further litigation and the horrible quality of the SR-101 doomed both companies.. but not before Remington in the US managed to get some SR-101 machines built in Italy under license. You'll also find, by the way, manual portables made by IMC but carrying the name REMINGTON distributed all over South America. Through the mid-80's Morse Distributing was bringing manual Remington standard machines into the US, according to NOMDA records and there are also records for Remington-Rand daisy wheel electric machines. It isn't clear at this juncture just which machines were licensed by which firm although it's a safe bet that any sold in the US were related to the US firm. One wonders if the IMC-derived manual portables in South America were creatures of the US, or of the Dutch, concern.

All of that stuff (those really late machines) however is minimal in impact and unimportant historically; Remington had really ceased to be any kind of a motivating factor many, many years before (perhaps even many decades before, really) and the Sperry Corporation spinoff that created the two firms carrying the Remington-Rand name in 1979 was really the end. To parallel Beeching's style in matters of this sort, at that time death had occurred and everything after was just the occasional twitch as far as the Remington name was concerned.

If you'd like some minute details you can look at this link and then you can look at this link and you'll see just what the situation for Remington Rand was at the time of the spinoff and SR-101 debacle.

Alpha and Omega, sort of

At the recent gathering that Richard Polt held at and around his home, I was treated to the sight of a Barr typewriter. The Barr, I thought... One of the biggest research articles I ever wrangled together (with the help of innumerable friends in the hobby who can always be counted on) was on the Barr; the history, the variants, the options, the colors. The whole nine yards, as always on one of those big projects, but on this one it was really big and the original article that first appeared around November 2004 ran eight pages.

I'd just gotten an early Barr (serial 2521, in red) a month before or so and was really intrigued by the machine and its design. Moreover, the machine's apparent superiorities in terms of quality vs. cost of manufacture made it seem as if it should have gotten a better shake. So the whole huge article gets done, and later there's more information and before you know it there are more Barr machines pictured on the net on that article than pictured total before, everywhere. But I only still had one!

Yes, there are colors and options and model variations and so on but I'd never pursued another one. However, at the meeting I was reminded that I had always .. "always" .. thought that I'd like to get a machine as late in the overall production (from Weedsport, to be sure) as my red one was early.

So you know that when I saw a Macy's Portable No. 1 show up "Buy it Now" on e-Bay and I was the sixth person to view the page, I naturally hit the BUY button. The price was fair... probably even good. Especially if you consider I wanted one very late; this one is serial number 39840 which is about as late as my red one is early.

We'll be featuring more on this machine from a technical standpoint -- that is, design, manufacture, and operation -- in the very near future. You can consider this to be "Barr 201" if you consider 101 to be the original article. So keep checking back.

Everest K3; an introduction

In June, Richard Polt held what has come to be known as an epic collectors' convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. Among many other things that happened there was the very kind offering by Alan Seaver, who I had long wanted and waited to meet, of his Everest K3 typewriter. I in fact settled the deal for a twenty, being very appreciative of his offer and hoping to at least partially compensate the fuel cost that a five liter Mustang might generate moving such a machine over about a fifth of the continent. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Some back story is needed; years ago, while commenting generally on the rather poor and rather large Everest K2 portables, I was met with a message that Alan had a K3. I hadn't heard of that model before, and when he told me that it was a rather flat machine and unlike the K2 or in fact any other Everest, I was intrigued. Years passed without any chance of seeing another one until Alan decided to generously allow me to have his.

The Everest K3 (launch into review here) is a compact if not flat machine which surprisingly incorporates segment shift. The example seen here is serial number 1101320, which according to the British OMEF Typewriter Age Guide means that the machine was made in 1962- the last of three years in which the K3 was made. Everest had at that time been bought out by Olivetti and production was running down; the standards and the larger desk-model K2 portable ended at this same time. The K3 is a fairly well made machine, with metal body and interesting plastic (lucite?) paper support. The segment shift action is positive in feel and in point of fact the machine is superior to a few contemporary flat machines, as for example the flat Royals from Holland, in touch. Clearly, if an Italian-made small portable were to compete with the Olivetti Lettera 22, it would have to be solid and segment shifted. The machine does occupy about the same footprint as the desk model K2, incidentally.

Having said all that, the machine is not in overall fit, finish and quality excellent but rather "acceptable." That may sound like a disappointment, but it's a lot better in its class than the K2 which is universally disliked for its dead feel. Seeing further that the K3 is the final new overall design from Everest, I'm inclined more to view the K3 as a collectible machine and not as a workhorse.

Back in action with new content!

For those of you who have been awaiting (or, perhaps, dreading) our return to "new content" action on the internet, the time has arrived! Dave and I have decided that the blog format - easily constructed and easily read - is probably the most popular format right now for such direct-to-web content as I've provided in the past; this new blog is the result.

Expect all of our new repair work and historical investigations to appear here (unless they appear in ETCetera.) We'll be making a number of posts here soon with some unusual typewriters.. and we have a large backlog of machines that members of my Portable Typewriter Forum are sure to enjoy. Stay tuned!