So I bought this old manual typewriter (small dial-up warning)

[Orrex]

It's a Remington Standard, in a lovely shade of 50's office-green, but beyond that I know next to nothing about it. Here are a few pictures:





On the underside of the cover is the number 2-51447, but my perusal reveals no other serial numbers or the like. I'd really like to find out just how old this thing is and maybe where/if I can get a ribbon for it. It weighs about as much as a Volkswagen.

Anyone have any insights?

[reyd reid reed]

1. I can't even guess the age...

but as far as the ribbon goes, you're probably better off re-inking that one.

[Orrex]

4. I thought about that

Do I just use a stamp-pad re-inking kit, or is there a special typewriter-ribbon-rejuvenator that I should purchase?

I'm old enough to have taken my first typing classes on manual machines back in the early 80's, but I'd forgotten how different it is to use one of those. It's quite a workout to depress the keys sufficiently to hit the page, and a lot of the keys are in different places! Also, some of the cheating shortcuts I've adopted on a computer keyboard simply don't work on a manual typewriter. I guess I've been spoiled ever since my old Commodore64.

[reyd reid reed]

6. I'd think that a stamp pad re-inking kit would probably work...

it's worth a try, at least.

[SeattleGirl]

2. That's the kind of typewriter I learned to type on!

That's what they had at my school. My grandparents had one even older than that model. Pretty cool looking. It was similar to the typewriter on the left in the picture:

[reyd reid reed]

5. I've got my grandmother's portable somewhere in the basement...

I don't know how old it is, but she married in the 30s and when she married she stopped working so I'm thinking it's from...oh, hell. I have no idea.

I learned to type on a manual, too. Waaaaaaay back in the 8th grade. Back then, if you could hit 40 wpm on a manual, you were Good.

My parents had an electric -- not electronic, electric -- but I wasn't allowed to use that. It was cheating. Like using a calculator.

How things have changed, huh?

[SeattleGirl]

9. Yes, they have changed a lot.

Like computers -- I'm typing on my laptop, but the first computer I ever dealt with filled an entire 20'x 20' room and used punch cards! Dayam, I didn't think I was so old! :cry:

[anti-everything]

3. No idea, but

that rules. I would have bought it too. I'd say don't use it, hold on to it. Make up a story. It's a good conversational piece.

[darkstar]

8. Yeah..didn't William Burroughs type his will on that very machine?

I thought it looked familiar....

[Orrex]

11. Great minds

My wife and I had the same thought. She sometimes refers to it as my Clark Nova, and she advises me that "you'll do your best work on this machine."

So far, it hasn't given me any assignments nor ordered me to kill any other machines. But who knows?

[anti-everything]

13. If it orders you to kill,

that's just a bonus.
:rofl:

[darkstar]

14. Even the name...I can hear his crusty voice saying

"But the Remington Standard didn't make its scheduled stop in Algiers...."

:hi:

[trackfan]

7. We had that typewriter when I was a kid.

If I remember correctly, the ribbon was half red and half black (top/bottom) and there was a lever you moved to switch from black to red.

[ruiner4u]

10. Nice..

I googled a little and was surprised to learn that company later made the univac computer...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_Rand



be careful with the ribbon, they will fall apart when they dry for for a few decades..

I have a 1930's typewriter and i took the ribbon out one day to look at the gears and stuff, and the ribbon fell apart into dust...

[Orrex]

12. I have the feeling that the ribbon isn't original

It's still pretty supple and not entirely dry. Of course, I could be wrong, and it could disintegrate tomorrow, but I'm guessing that someone replaced it in the last decade or so.

When I bought it, the "1" and "D" keys didn't work, but I managed to tinker with it and get them back online, so to speak.

[mulsh]

15. beautiful machine

Here's a link to a site for typewriter repair shops through out the world. I still use a 1942 Underwood portable typewriter. your baby looks like an office or desk model. wish I had one. enjoy. Unlike computers they don't tend to crash and don't eat up electricity.
http://staff.xu.edu/~polt/typewriters/tw-repair.html

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

16. I wrote some of my best poetry on such machines

A trick- spray a little WD-40 onto the ribbon.

[Orrex]

17. kick, because I'd like to see if anyone else has further input

[ruiner4u]

19. Oooo check this site out..

http://staff.xu.edu/~polt/typewriters/tw-restoration.html


that should help you get it back to 100%

[swimboy]

18. Manual typewriter arrives with dial-up warning

Strikes me as funny. :D

Good luck with the ribbon!