Damage to the paint, probably of its period

Recently was acquired another Remington Portable #2 typewriter. 

Nothing remarkable in and of itself - these are still pretty common. Even today these regularly emerge from attics and closets to be put up for sale on one of the many online marketplaces. As was this machine.

The crisp serial number makes this a 1928 machine, the 6314th machine produced in January 1928 in the USA - then exported to Holland with an 'international keyboard'. 

It will require some cleaning; it clearly hasn't been used for decades. Also the rubber will require attention. The platen is rock-hard as usual plus the feet and bail-rollers have perished. These parts will need replacing, but then the typewriter should function fine. These are great machines, very sturdy and can be tuned to be a pleasure to type on. Marvels of 1920s product-engineering. (Quiet, however, they are not.)

It took a moment to determine what it was - that damaged 'matte' spot on the lifting tray. But what this looks like, is heat-damage. Very likely somebody put his (or her) cigarette away on the panel - "no ashtray... Oh, I can put it there and it won't burn the table" - and it caused an unsightly stain. Similar damage is also sometimes seen on older slide-rules, but then the person didn't pick-up the cigarette in time so that the burning reached the rule.

A damage that is perhaps in keeping with the period. We'll have to see how to tackle this - to bring this typewriter into its next century :)