Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Typewriter safari - a manual (was that a Royal?), an electric and an electronic

Spotted on a thrift-store safari this morning - a Roytype typewriter. It is in a display cabinet behind glass in their office, not for sale. One of the items kept in their own collection :)

The Roytype branding was used by Royal for their ribbons, but not for typewriters. The machine was difficult to see, but seemed to be a bit different from the common models of 1930/40s Royal portable. (Royal Roytype typewriters were indeed made, but much later.) What Royal portable machine then is this - with that carriage sloping and an extra panel. Surely it is not a knock-off? It has a qwerty-keyboard and overall fairly Royal-y 'squarish'. Thinking of Rooy and their later run-in with Royal about their name (with swirly R), but the Rooy portables of the 1940s are quite different in style - sharp edges. Hard to credit that this would be a knock-off. More likely a regular Royal portable, one that I failed to identify seeing it only from behind - and from behind glass :-) 

In another store; an electric SCM Coronet in a quite hideous, large, plastic suitcase.


And in yet another store, on a dark bottom-shelf an electronic Philips typewriter from the end of the typewriter-era.


All machines left where they were, a photo-safari only :-)


Posted by at

6 comments:

  1. Mei TravisMay 4, 2022 at 8:03 AM

    If for sale, the Roytype would be a nice score. Smart move on leaving the other two behind.

    ReplyDelete
  2. John CooperMay 4, 2022 at 8:42 AM

    Yeah, to my mind the Philips is a typewriter the way the Kindle is a book.

    According to the TWDB, RoyType typewriters were made by (the European company) Triumph, makers of the Perfekt and Durabel. Maybe this video from Poland shows a similar typewriter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe2rkDFy6eA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RobertGMay 4, 2022 at 9:03 AM

      That's it! It is a Triumph - a Norm 6 or similar. The slanting profile of the carriage and the top-cover are exactly that.
      The only Roytype machines i could find so far were indeed in Denmark, but with another body-style (the older Triumph style)
      Weird - how/why did Triumph license the Roytype branding? Very puzzling, interesting puzzles... :-)

      Delete
    2. RobertGMay 4, 2022 at 10:32 AM

      The Roytype's i found are noted as from Max Bodenhoff, Copenhagen. Max Bodenhoff was an agent for Royal - maybe his store was the source, that he re-labeled.

      Delete
  3. Richard PMay 4, 2022 at 5:23 PM

    Aha ... so did Royal have a stake in the Triumph/Adler company?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RobertGMay 19, 2022 at 9:53 AM

      Ah, they might have had. They bought it in the 1960s I think.
      Remington got Torpedo, Underwood took Mercedes, Royal would've been active too I guess.
      And Bodenhoff was not doing this without Royal's nod, he worked with US Royal - see e.g. The Royal Standard of November 1922.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)