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1957 Olympia SM3 Serial # 837028 1957 Olympia SM3 typewriter, Serial # 837028 Anthony Mindling's 1957 Olympia SM3 typewriter. 2013-05-24 From the Virtual Typewriter Collection of Anthony Mindling: 1957 Olympia SM3 Serial # 837028 Why on earth enter an auction for an Olympia SM3 seemingly identical to the one I had owned since 1957? Perhaps I was influenced by my love of the precision and sturdiness of these somewhat stodgy looking machines, and perhaps the possibility of a bargain as well. Their muted colors and fairly plain looks fail to provide a clue to their fine innards to those inexperienced with the soul of these machines; as a result selling prices are often quite low. This one was had for $29.

It arrived in perfect working order, and was immediately brought into the office to join the elite group of daily typers. It was no surprise that it did not need to join the sorrowful crew of machines in the workshop, needing new feed rollers, major cleaning, and repair of a variety of other mysterious ailments. The pleasant surprise was that it has an elite typeface, my current fav, in contrast to the pica on my old friend.

I think I'll use it for this morning's letter.

1957 Olympia SM3 #837028

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Anthony Mindling (tmindling)
Created: 05-24-2013 at 07:59AM
Last Edit: 05-24-2013 at 08:00AM

Description Hunter 3 Photos 0 Likes  Find on Ebay #AD  Find on Etsy #AD

Description:

Why on earth enter an auction for an Olympia SM3 seemingly identical to the one I had owned since 1957? Perhaps I was influenced by my love of the precision and sturdiness of these somewhat stodgy looking machines, and perhaps the possibility of a bargain as well. Their muted colors and fairly plain looks fail to provide a clue to their fine innards to those inexperienced with the soul of these machines; as a result selling prices are often quite low. This one was had for $29.

It arrived in perfect working order, and was immediately brought into the office to join the elite group of daily typers. It was no surprise that it did not need to join the sorrowful crew of machines in the workshop, needing new feed rollers, major cleaning, and repair of a variety of other mysterious ailments. The pleasant surprise was that it has an elite typeface, my current fav, in contrast to the pica on my old friend.

I think I'll use it for this morning's letter.

Typeface Specimen:

Photos:




Hunter: Anthony Mindling (tmindling)

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Almost at the same instant that the idea occurred to me of how much fun it might be for my children (7) and grandchildren (13) to get letters - real letters in the mail - i went digging through the dusty nether regions of our storage area to pull out my beloved 1957 Olympia SM3 Portable and the old Royal 10 I'd rescued from a neighbor's garbage can in the 1960's. Refurbishing them triggered a typewriter obsession. Don't tell my wife, but i believe there are now about 20 of them.

I love their looks, their intricate and precise mechanisms, and dinking around in the workshop tuning them up and bringing them back to life. i also, unfortunately, love the thrill of the hunt on eBay. But all of them are put to use for correspondence and my new hobby of decorated art letters. And sometimes they even inspire a bit of poetry.


RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Olympia SM3 on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Olympia Serial Number page and the Olympia SM3 By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.

Typewriter Hunter Merch!