1915 Fox 24 #75096
Status: My Collection
Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)
Created: 11-30-2025 at 03:04PM
Last Edit: 12-30-2025 at 12:16PM
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Description:
This is my 1915 Fox Visible Model 24 typewriter, S/N 75096. I won this machine online in the early years of eBay, on 9 December 1998. My winning bid was $76.00, and I paid $23.07 shipping, for a total of $99.07. This machine has the apparently less common variation of nickeled key tops instead of celluloid. It also has the typewriter decal within a Maltese cross, and very plain body decorations, as opposed to the fox-head decal and more elaborate decorations on the sides. This machine looks like it's set up to do financial arithmetic, as it includes "+", "=", "3/8", "5/8", and "7/8" characters, in addition to "1/4", "1/2", and "3/4"; for some reason, they left off "1/8".
As for the nickeled ring key tops, this appears to be the earliest serial number in the TWDB with this option. The Davis Brothers articles linked in the Fox section of TWDB indicate that marketing for this option started appearing in 1914-1915, but that actual machines with this option start at around S/N 110,000. This specimen seems to bely that trend. Either it was a retrofit (probably very unlikely due to the hassle factor, and why bother?), or it's just a very early specimen of nickeled key rings on a Fox Visible standard typewriter. Also, the TWDB indicates a break in serial numbers between 75,500 and > 100,000 in 1915, probably as a result of some organizational changes in the Fox Typewriter Company around this time. This specimen, at 75,096, seems to be near the end of the first series of production in 1915, before the plant was closed for reorganization.
Typeface Specimen:
Links:
Photos:
Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)
Brian Decker's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 1376
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. I still have my collection of around 57 machines, and now I have a renewed interest in getting some of them in good working and cosmetic order.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Fox 24 on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Fox Serial Number page and the Fox 24 By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
