January 2023 typewriter safari

Weekend before last, we did a tour of the local thrifts. Just to browse and see what was new. (New in the store, that is.)

First thing that caught our attention; a vast vista of milk-jugs and sugar-bowls.

Somebody must have been collecting these for years - and now all donated to the local second-hand store. A sight to take in.

Moving on from this sight there was the usual group of beige typewriters, with one early 1960s exception.

That was a minty and mint Hermes Media 3 portable typewriter!

Could not resist pushing back the jumbled type-bars - the machine was a bit stiff. The type was however very clean. With equally clean booklet, this typewriter probably was hardly ever used. Someone will get an amazing machine in this Hermes.

A few tables down was an older 1930s portable machine, in-scope for the collecting era. This Continental 350 was however most certainly not in mint condition. At EUR 30 asking price, also wildly over-priced I think.

In the other thrift-stores nearby was the usual sprinkling of beige 1970s and 80s machines. Generally with very modest prices in the 5 to 10 Euro range and all probably still excellent writing machines.

 

Enormous, plastic carrying cases generally hold equally plastic electric typewriters.

And the TA case indeed did.

More exotic, but still beige plastic, was this Samsung SQ-1000 electric typewriter wedge. Most remarkable for the written note with the machine: "there are a few keys that don't work, apart from that ok". 

Almost worth the EUR 3.50 asking price just to find out what letters one would have to do without. Writing texts without the Q or the Z might be doable, but missing the E or N would be more of a challenge.

Interesting sights this time, good photo-safari. (And no trophies were taken home :-)