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1910 Erika 1 Serial # 1198 1910 Erika 1 typewriter, Serial # 1198 Mark Schrad's 1910 Erika 1 typewriter. 2025-10-04 From the Virtual Typewriter Collection of Mark Schrad: 1910 Erika 1 Serial # 1198 This is Wilhelm Gustav Passek's Erika 1 portable typewriter. Yes, it is a gorgeous, folding Erika portable--the earliest one listed on the database (SN: 1198)--and with italic typeface, but the backstory is so much richer than even the rarity of the machine.

The case is adorned with travel stickers, including one from the steamship Tayio Maru, which includes the name Wilhelm Gustav Passek. Who was Wilhelm Gustav Passek? Well, apparently he was a German-born businessman in Manchuria who was witness to the atrocities of the Russo-Japanese War, but this article from 1934 in the St. Louis Post Dispatch suggests so much more: https://archive.org/details/per_st-louis-post-dispatch_1934-04-08_86_215/page/n63/mode/2up?q=%22Wilhelm+Gustav+Passek%22

In brief: as a 15 year old German boy from Silesia, his uncle took him to London for a dog show in the 1890s. There he met a 14 year old girl from Ireland, whose uncle also took her to the dog show. They fell madly in love, and wanted to wed, but their parents wouldn't allow it.

"It was the Victorian age and no one thought it stilted when Gustav turned to the weeping girl and quoted: 'Oh, ever thus from childhood's hour...'" Lillian left back to Ireland for a convent, and Wilhelm Gustav Passek returned to Prussia, heartbroken. Neither would wed.

With German openings in the Far East, he moved to China and became a successful businessman, traveling across Siberia, Korea, and South America. In 1925, he emigrated to the United States from China, and applied for citizenship. In looking for housing in the New York suburbs, he happened to board with a immigrant from Ireland--Lillian O'Brien--and, though they didn't recognize each other at first, a memory of long ago was jogged when Wilhelm Gustav recited the poem with the line "Oh, ever thus from childhood's hour..." The two--separated by decades and worldwide travels--wed and settled down for a life in America.

Thanks to internet sleuthing, we are able to trace this remarkable story through history, through this particular typewriter. And in a trip to Long Island last March, I was able to take some pictures of Wilhelm Gustav Passek's typewriter outside the home where he registered his residence during World War II: 152 S. Park Ave., Rockville Centre, New York.

1910 Erika 1 #1198

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Mark Schrad (MLSchrad)
Created: 10-04-2025 at 02:31PM
Last Edit: 10-04-2025 at 02:32PM

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Description:

This is Wilhelm Gustav Passek's Erika 1 portable typewriter. Yes, it is a gorgeous, folding Erika portable--the earliest one listed on the database (SN: 1198)--and with italic typeface, but the backstory is so much richer than even the rarity of the machine.

The case is adorned with travel stickers, including one from the steamship Tayio Maru, which includes the name Wilhelm Gustav Passek. Who was Wilhelm Gustav Passek? Well, apparently he was a German-born businessman in Manchuria who was witness to the atrocities of the Russo-Japanese War, but this article from 1934 in the St. Louis Post Dispatch suggests so much more: https://archive.org/details/per_st-louis-post-dispatch_1934-04-08_86_215/page/n63/mode/2up?q=%22Wilhelm+Gustav+Passek%22

In brief: as a 15 year old German boy from Silesia, his uncle took him to London for a dog show in the 1890s. There he met a 14 year old girl from Ireland, whose uncle also took her to the dog show. They fell madly in love, and wanted to wed, but their parents wouldn't allow it.

"It was the Victorian age and no one thought it stilted when Gustav turned to the weeping girl and quoted: 'Oh, ever thus from childhood's hour...'" Lillian left back to Ireland for a convent, and Wilhelm Gustav Passek returned to Prussia, heartbroken. Neither would wed.

With German openings in the Far East, he moved to China and became a successful businessman, traveling across Siberia, Korea, and South America. In 1925, he emigrated to the United States from China, and applied for citizenship. In looking for housing in the New York suburbs, he happened to board with a immigrant from Ireland--Lillian O'Brien--and, though they didn't recognize each other at first, a memory of long ago was jogged when Wilhelm Gustav recited the poem with the line "Oh, ever thus from childhood's hour..." The two--separated by decades and worldwide travels--wed and settled down for a life in America.

Thanks to internet sleuthing, we are able to trace this remarkable story through history, through this particular typewriter. And in a trip to Long Island last March, I was able to take some pictures of Wilhelm Gustav Passek's typewriter outside the home where he registered his residence during World War II: 152 S. Park Ave., Rockville Centre, New York.

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Hunter: Mark Schrad (MLSchrad)

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Professor of Political Science and Director of Russian Area Studies at Villanova University. Writes about alcohol politics, Russia, and international law when not refurbishing old typewriters.


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