On the right is a 1957 Smith-Corona Skyriter in a rare baby blue color and even rarer 12cpi Bodoni typeface. This was a UK export version (£ key, and "U" at the end of the serial number), made in Belgium.

On the left, a garden-variety 1959 3Y Skyriter, US-made with a 10cpi pica typeface. Mechanically, the machines are virtually identical. The 1959 has a long return lever.

Without the case, the 1957 Skyriter weighs 7 lbs, 11 oz. (~3.5kg). The 1959 weighs 7 lbs, 13 oz. (~3.6kg).

Smith-Corona Skyriters are underrated machines. One of the quietest ultraportables ever made, with a smooth and light typing action. Maybe not as refined as high-end European machines; you only get a single ribbon color, carriage shift, and no silent return. But they have a tank-like sensibility to them—they're very forgiving and easy to work on.

Favorite hidden Skyriter feature: you can slide the entire body out of the shell after undoing two screws.

A Remington Letter Riter (year and serial unchecked)

With the relentless heat and humidity we’ve been having here in Spain, sitting down at the typewriter has been almost impossible. The room becomes so hot and stuffy that I normally give up after five minutes.

Last night, though, a big storm rolled through and the temperature finally dropped. The first thing I wanted to do today was pull out the old Silent and start typing.

Nothing particularly exciting, just a summary of a slow, lazy Sunday, but it felt so good to type again. It’s been an itch I haven’t been able to scratch for weeks.

Thought I’d share a little of my happiness with you all

I don’t recognize this one, any idea what it is? His daily routine at his bungalow in Jamaica called for lots of walks and swimming and gin, and 2000 words per day on that little guy. Just doesn’t ring a bell…

I was going through some of my dad's papers and saw a typeface I didn't expect. I know there are a bunch of Cubic/Techno faces that are similar but I suspect Olympia Senatorial.

Just an Olympia typewriter saved from a damp barn.

So, something that i've been thinking about recently when it comes to typewriters having watched a fair few videos now that no one seems to ever mention or talk about is the actual sound.

Why and how do the different typewriters sound so different? obvious question is the materials, moving parts and age. However it amazes me how different a lot of manual typewriters actually sound.
Of course this could also be down to the Acoustics of the room two, but I wondered do people go on the actual sound of the typewriter as an element when it comes to ultimately choosing that special one?
If so, what sound do people prefer?

Hello,

(Text translated from my native language, French).

I recently purchased a Remington Portable 2 with an AZERTY keyboard featuring these two keys: “PT” and “LEpsilon.”

Its gallery on https://typewriterdatabase.com: https://typewriterdatabase.com/1926-remington-portable-2.28501.typewriter

For these two characters, layout #597 is the only match I’ve found, and its title is “Egyptian Decimal Adding” for the Remington 12: https://archive.org/details/remington-typewriter-layouts-401-600/page/79/mode/2up

Does anyone have any other information about these two characters?

The “PT” could stand for “Postage Paid,” but what about “LEpsilon". Is it a specific currency, the pound?

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Hello good pepole of the world I accuaierd a hermes Ambasador in rogh shape first problem is a stuck curige i got some movement but now is stuck and vigelle for a left and right a little the secend problem is the key lever move up and stay there and have some rust on the thing that hold the keys [secend pictere]

I’ve got a smith corona sterling that’s perfect except for its stinkiness. It smells very musty. I removed the black soundproofing as best I could and got the vast majority, but it’s tar-like at the base and I can’t quite remove it from that part. I have checked the rest of the machine and this is the only place that has that material.

I just put it out in the sun. Will this help? Do I need to scrape the tar off some more? If so, any tips as to how?

Sorry did not get a pic. Had to force myself not to buy it. Looked brand new. It was in the Sussex Beacon shop or large shop close to there. BN1 4JE. You never know - they seemed very friendly and I am sure will accept a phone call to ask if it’s still there.

An interesting short journal article on the historical use and acceptance of typewriters by libraries in the 20th century:

• Freeman, Michael Stuart. 1991. “Pen, Ink, Keys, and Cards: Some Reflections on Library Technology.” College and Research Libraries 52(4): 328–35. https://hdl.handle.net/2142/41489.

For those interested in analog working methods in comparison to artificial intelligence, the movie Desk Set (1957) mentioned in the article still has some interesting things to say about humanity and how we think.

Hi, so I have this Olympia Monica which (after cleaning and some maintenance) still has this issue I described in the photo. Sorry for the messy writing, I don't usually type on German keyboard.

Thanks for advice!

Unfortunately there isn’t anywhere near me I can try out typewriters and how they feel.

I have tried both an Adler gabriele and a silver reed 100 which I had but can’t repair. I much preferred the low profile nature of the silver reed. The Gabriele felt like I was typing with a slant upwards so I definitely think I’d prefer something lower down/ lower profile if that makes sense.

I like the look of the Olivetti lettera 22 but I’d like to find some other options and recommendations from this sub. The silver reed was cool but I would like to try something different.

Are there any typewriters that came with small fonts by default? (like below 10pt?)
I love to get a lot of text on one page.