Patria (Swiss) Typewriter Serial Numbers

"...I just had Peter Birchmeier on the phone, who was the last owner of Birchmeier's Sons, the Swiss manufacturer. He told me, and this is the bad news, that when the company closed down around 1980, all records were "disposed of". So, with all likelyhood, there is no Birchmeier archive with a complete list of serial numbers etc."

"He also told me that when he entered the company around 1960, the Swissa piccola was not in production any more. Birchmeier had started off as one of three licencees for the "Patria" typewriter (the other one being the Spanish production line, and a third one he did not remember). Over the years, the basic mechanics stayed the same, exception for small improvements. Only the outward design changed. The "piccola" was followed by the Jeunesse, Junior, and Diplomat models, with various colours, keyboards for export, and about 10 different fonts. He remembers that Fins liked to order their machines in light-blue colour. For the Arabic market, also the direction of the carriage had to be changed. Overall, Swissa was exported with good success all over the world."

"Right before closure, Mr. Birkmeier worked with only three more employees, using the left-over parts before definitely shutting down in 1980."

"...at some point in the Swissa Junior series, the numbering jumps from 6 to 7 digits. The 5 and 6 digit numbers follow consecutive numbering. Here, we only have approximate reference as to production years (Birchmeier Patria: ca. 1945 - 1950; Swissa piccola: 1950 - ca. 1958; Swissa junior: from 1958). However, starting with the 7 digit numbers, determining the year of construction becomes easy, as the the first two digits indicate the year. Ex. sn 6410092 was produced in 1964; sn 7102390 in 1971."