Typewriters!
Events - Giveaways - On My Desk Today - My Collection, Grouped by Model - Typewriter Posts
In-Person Typewriter Events
Typewriter Letter-Writing - Saturday, October 11th, 2025, 1:00pm - 3:00pm, The Paper Mouse Atelier, West Newton, MA. Tickets still available. 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm, free open house.
Roslindale Open Studios - Saturday, October 18th, 2025, at 5 Birch Street, Roslindale, Joann Rossman’s store. From 11:00am to 5:00pm. Stop by and write a letter using a vintage typewriter. Materials provided. For adults and supervised children old enough to write. This program is supported by a grant from the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture and the City of Boston.
Boston Type-In! at The Substation, 4228 Washington St, Roslindale, MA. November 2025. Date and details to come. This program is supported by a grant from the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture and the City of Boston.
Giveaways
Once a year, I give away a typewriter, and monthly, a book or an analog tool. Find out who won and see the current giveaway here.
Entry for subscribers only. Not yet a subscriber?
Machines Out for Use Today
On my art studio desk: a 1960 Hermes Rocket ultraportable with Elite typeface.
On my bedroom's folding Victorian sewing table: Olympia Splendid 99—a robin’s egg blue ultraportable, made fresh with a silk ribbon. As seen in the NYT!
Collection by Model
Tap the ‘+’ for any section, and it will expand. Linked to the Typewriter Diary for that machine, once written.
List updated 9/25. Will continue updating with each machine’s year.
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Facit 1620, this Swedish typewriter is in perfect shape and in a great leather case. For typewriter events. 1970 machine.
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Hermes 3000, my daughter loves this machine so much, it makes her cry to use. New platen.
Hermes Rocket, 1960, Elite typeface. New platen and rubber feet.
Hermes Rocket, 1961, Pica typeface, both from the same seller. New platen and rubber feet. Needs a replacement case handle.
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The one and only, but oh, what a story!
'The Good Companion', the earliest model. Found in the backstreets of the East End of London; restored, with cork platen.
Imperial 200 (really, a disguised Royal from Japan), Dutch keyboard. 1980? -
MP1 ICO, black, with French AZERTY keyboard. The hardest repair ever. No case.
Lettera 22 with a Venezuelan keyboard, an absolute favorite machine for daily use. Congress elite typeface. Also, has a ‘Bs’ key (Bolivares currency, but hey, every typewriter needs a BS key.)
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Possibly the best-engineered typewriters for long-form writing
1956 Olympia SM3 in creamy yellow and burgundy. My first typewriter! Pica typeface. New platen. From Cambridge Typewriter in 2017.
1958 Olympia SM3, grey with burgundy keys. From Jean, a Parisien collector who lives in the Boston area. For typewriter events.
1960 Olympia Splendid 99 in robin's egg blue, British keyboard, bought from Tom Furrier.
1967 Olympia SM8, elite No. 66 typeface, earlier body style.
1968 Olympia SM9, lovely elite No. 60 typeface, earlier body/later key color. Needs a case.
1972 Olympia SM8, cursive typeface, later body style. From the office of a Harvard Square letterpress print shop of old.
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Remington Portable #2, recovered platen; a best-beloved machine, esp for typewriter poetry.
Remington Portable #2 in Mountain Ash Scarlet, the last machine fixed for me by Tom Furrier
1929 Remington Portable #3 in two-tone lavender called Duotone Orchid; tiny typeface, a favorite at typewriter events
Remington 5 - Streamlined with Touch Regulator, rescued from the trash, handsome matte black
April 1939 Remette, gift received at the closing of Cambridge Typewriter
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Royal KMM standard, a daily typer on my basement desk. Bought in Quincy, MA, a few blocks from President Adams’ house, Peacefield, in honor of David McCullough after he passed away.
Black Royal 'P' belonging to Red Sox Hall of Famer, Bobbie Doerr, a stunning eBay find, repaired twice by Tom Furrier.
Royal 'P' with Vogue typeface and woodgrain finish! No case.
1931 Black Royal 'P' found in a summer barn in Vermont; perfect decals and types like a dream; repaired at Cambridge Typewriter. For events.
1935 Royal 'O', just a shiny black one, that I simply love the shape of, from Brimfield Fair. For events.
1949 Royal Quiet DeLuxe, Dreyfuss model, with surprising painted case, for typewriter events.
Royal Quiet De Luxe, Turquoise with Canterbury typeface. Has issues.
1956 Second Royal Quiet De Luxe, Turquoise with Canterbury typeface. Does not have issues.
1965 Royal Safari, tomato red, and beautifully restored; a favorite at events.
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1980 (I think) Silver-Reed 720, bought from Type Townsend in Port Townsend, WA. Refurbished at Cambridge Typewriter. A special machine more for a story from my UK childhood, coming soon. Grey metal body, grey keys. Ribbon selector. No tab. Pica typeface.
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1922 Folding Corona 3, shift keys on left side only; a late production date for this configuration.
Corona 4, black, early model spool covers.
L.C. Smith & Corona Typewriters Inc. Silent 8 standard with right-hand return arm.
Silent-Super, Seafoam Green with a blue-green ribbon, needs repair.
1956 Silent-Super, Alpine Blue with a blue-green ribbon.
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Tippa Triumph, early 60s, two-tone beige travel typewriter. From Type Townsend in Washington.
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1929 Underwood Standard Portable with a green woodgrain finish, from Cambridge Typewriter
1931 Underwood 4-Bank, two-tone green, another absolute looker, bought from Tom Furrier
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Given as gifts or sold
Remington #2 Portable, group gift that I organised, to an artist in Wales.
Olivetti Lettera 22, blue; given to organizer of The Salty Quill Writing Retreat for Women.
Olivetti Lettera 22, rebranded as a Sears Tower. Great machine. Gifted.
Olivetti Lettera 35i in grey. Loved this machine! Given as a college graduation gift.
Olympia SF in steely grey. Given as a gift and taken to the UK.
Hermes Ambassador. Perfection on a monster scale, seen in this TV interview. Sold.
Torpedo 18b, wide carriage machine with a math specialty keyboard. From the math department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Sold.
Remington Portable Noiseless with a perfect shine. Sold.
Royal 10 standard. Gift.
Royal 'O' in gorgeous shiny green with chrome trim. Sold.
Royal QDL in elegant grey. Sold.
Smith-Corona burgundy flattop. Sold.
Corona 4 Professional, in a depression era 'travel case'. Sold.
Smith-Corona Sterling, blue. Sold.
Smith-Corona Skyriter, repainted deep red, with green keys. Gift.
Triumph Tippa 'S' Portable in black. Gift.
Underwood Champion in shiny green, pictured two images into this Cambridge Typewriter Instagram post, an absolutely perfect mint machine. Gift.
1959 Hunter Red Smith-Corona Galaxie. Giveaway typewriter. To Colorado.
1960 Hunter Red Smith-Corona Galaxie. Giveaway typewriter, given to a MN typewriter poet.
Early Underwood with Greek Keys, including all the breath marks for typing Ancient Greek. Gifted to a student of Greek.
Montana Luxe Portable, a Hermes baby clone. Unrepairable. Given away for parts.
1970s metal red Brother with Greek keys, and English capitals. Sold to a retired theologian for creating collage art with Greek scripture!
1959 Hunter Red Smith-Corona Galaxie. 2025 giveaway typewriter. Shipped to Washington State.
“Collecting typewriters ... has tapped into a stream of pleasurable searching, finding, passing on, and filling my own tank along the way.”
Typewriter Posts
On Buying, Collecting, & Using Typewriters
Typewriter Diaries
The story of each typewriter in my collection. Includes a link to the manual, where to buy a ribbon, serial number location, and a list of writers known to have used that typewriter model.
Look for the series to resume in a few weeks.