1905 Fay-Sholes 6 #17212
Status: My Collection
Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)
Created: 10-18-2026 at 06:30AM
Last Edit: 10-18-2026 at 06:57AM
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Description:
2026-OCT-18, Gallery Creation.
This typewriter is from the Mike Meakin collection. Mike was the owner of Abacus Office Machines in Spokane, WA, which he started in 1961. Mike retired in 1992, leaving the operation of the business to his children. In addition to running a successful office machine business, Mike was an avid typewriter and adding machine collector, whose collection grew to over 450 machines over time. Mike passed away in 2025, and his children are now gradually selling off his collection. His daughter, Trudy, has graciously allowed me to create TWDB galleries for Mike's machines, to add to our knowledge base.
This Fay-Sholes No. 6 is the 70th Meakin Collection typewriter I have documented on TWDB, and the first one that I will be incorporating into my own collection. It appears to be complete, and Trudy shared a video with me of her typing on it; so, I know that the keys and carriage move freely. However, there is a crack in the frame casting to the rear at left. I am optimistic and hopeful that I will be able to repair this as part of the restoration process. The gallery images as of this creation date, 10-18-2026, are from Trudy Rogers; I will be adding images and updating the gallery after I receive the machine, and as I work on it.
I pick a manufacture date of 1905 because of the intermediate serial number for my machine, #17212. Remington-Sholes was forced to change their name to Fay-Sholes due to a lawsuit from the Remington Typewriter Company; this name change started in 1901, from what I can gather. 1909 was the end of the road for Fay-Sholes as a going concern. Therefore, 1905, +/- 4 yrs, kind of brackets the whole range of time for Fay-Sholes branded machines. Of the six Fay-Sholes machines in TWDB so far (including this one), the serial number range is from 4817 to 29970. Intriguingly, there are a couple of galleries under Rem-Sho for foreign-market examples of this type, a No. 11 owned by Milan Berta (#31171), and a very similar-looking machine with no model designation visible, owned by Maxim Suravegin (#31814). I would expect these represent attempts to market this type overseas near the end of its life, therefore dating from 1909 or thereabouts. It's interesting that the moniker "Remington-Sholes" resurfaces, perhaps in consequence of legal restrictions on that name usage not being applicable overseas.
Typeface Specimen:
Links:
Photos:
Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)
Brian Decker's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 7248
My interest in typewriters started in 1997, when I was in graduate school at the University of Georgia. I purchased and read Darryl Rehr's book, joined ETC, and started reaching out to known collectors. I had several email interchanges with Richard Polt dating from that period. I also bought some of my first machines from Bob Aubert, and visited him at his home twice. After marriage and relocation to New England, I continued visiting antique shops and eBay, until other priorities put my typewriter hobby on hiatus around 2008.
In late 2024, I started up again, working on my machines and having some of them serviced professionally by New England Typewriter (NET) LLC (Merrimack, NH), until they closed their doors in December of 2025. Since mid-2025, I have been adding to my collection again, first with a Hermes 3000 purchase from NET, then with various auctions and purchases on eBay, when I find something that catches my eye.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Fay-Sholes 6 on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Fay-Sholes Serial Number page and the Fay-Sholes 6 By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
