Brad Enslen

Feb 2019

Late 1940's Royal Quiet Deluxe Typewriter and Me

My 1940’s refurbished Royal Quiet Deluxe came in today. It’s a wonderful machine and it looks almost brand new. You can see my exclusive Yet Another Sideways Photo here Sigh

This was a model that I really wanted to have. Back when I was in grade school, reading Hardy Boys detective books and watching the 1960’s revival of “Dragnet” on TV I would start banging out my own detective reports on a kids typewriter which soon rattled apart. My mother, bless her heart, dug out two old late 40’s Royal portable Quiet Deluxe typewriters from the basement. These had been my Mom and Dad’s typewriters at university. Both needed service with keys sticking. We got got the better of the two repaired by trading in the other machine to the repair shop in return for service. So soon I was back to typing up imaginary police reports on rainy days.

I think my mother saw some value in this play typing. I started using a dictionary for one thing, that alone was a major breakthrough, and I was writing sentences even paragraphs because I wanted to not just because I had to for school.

I don’t know what ever happened to that old Royal, but if I was going to start collecting typewriters I wanted to replace it.

I bought this typewriter online from Kentucky Typer a typewriter refurbisher and repair store. The whole transaction went so smooth and the machine was just as described. Bookmark them. I recommend them highly.

Matt Huyck

I’m loving the typewriter posts. Here’s one for you: fgte.ch/2019/02/8...

Paul Craig

That’s a beautiful machine. And Kentucky Typer is legendary for their service and quality.

Brad Enslen

@fgtech Typewriter porn.

Oh, those lovely 1950's ? Smith Corona's. The curves. Ou la la!

Brad Enslen

@paulcraig901 Good, I'm glad others have heard about them. I will be ordering from them again.

Paul Craig

@fgtech That appears to be a very nice 1955 Smith Corona Clipper.

Pete Brown

@paulcraig901 With the Smith-Corona badge on the right, my bet is it’s a Sterling.

Paul Craig

@petebrown You could be right. The later Clippers had the badge on the right but so did the Sterlings. A serial number would lead us to the answer.

Matt Huyck

@paulcraig901 Here’s the serial number. fgte.ch/2019/02/1...

At first I thought it was the paper buried in dust but it didn’t make sense for a serial number to be on the case, so I kept looking. Stamped into the frame is: 5T 528190X.

Paul Craig

@fgtech Ah... a 5T series... that would be the Smith Corona Silent Super. It’s not one of the more popular models for enthusiasts. But I’ve always liked them because they’re tough, utilitarian and yet elegant. It’s a great great machine!

Brad Enslen

@paulcraig901 @fgtech Great investigative work.