1916 Royal 10 #X14-244372
Status: My Collection
Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)
Created: 12-23-2025 at 09:52AM
Last Edit: 12-23-2025 at 10:02AM
Find on Ebay #AD
Find on Etsy #AD
Description:
I purchased this wide-carriage (14") Royal 10 machine at an antique shop in Washington, GA, on August 29, 1998. It was my third typewriter acquisition of the ones that are still in my collection. The guy running the shop wanted $50, and I talked him down to $40. Unfortunately, this machine was the victim of a lot of early ignorance and foolishness on my part, as I tried to clean it, not knowing quite what I was doing at the time. The decals on the back of the machine are the worse for wear, thanks to my efforts. In 2025, I did purchase a new set of Royal 10 decals for this machine from Paul Robert in the Netherlands.
Also, I got it in my head to remove the carriage for some reason, so that will have to be repaired by a better me, or a better repairman, at some point. I think I lost one of the carriage ball bearings, but fortunately the Royal 10s are abundant enough that I expect I could source replacement parts. With a 14" carriage, this machine is imposing enough, and in good enough condition overall, that I think it's worthy of a complete restoration (hence the decal purchase). I have one other Royal 10, also 1916 but standard carriage, and by somewhat random chance with a serial number (X241543) less than 3000 off from this one. I say "somewhat random chance" because I was at the time looking for a standard carriage early Royal 10 with double beveled windows and pinstriping. The machine posted here needs a lot of cleaning & I can't produce a typing sample at this time, but it appears to be a standard 10 CPI/Pica layout (see photos).
Typeface Specimen:
Links:
Photos:
Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)
Brian Decker's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 690
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 Royal 10 on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Royal Serial Number page and the Royal 10 By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
