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1921 Remington Portable Serial # NA14170 1921 Remington Portable typewriter, Serial # NA14170 Brian Decker's 1921 Remington Portable typewriter. 2025-12-27 From the Virtual Typewriter Collection of Brian Decker: 1921 Remington Portable Serial # NA14170 This is one of eight first-generation Remington portable typewriters in my collection. This particular one was manufactured in December of 1921, according to the serial number information, and it's transitional between the earliest set of features and the final configuration for the Remington portable. For instance, it still has the curved paper table and left-only shift mechanism. It also has the centered guide with a spade-shaped cutout. I won this machine in an eBay auction some time between 7/8/01 and 7/13/02; more likely in 2001. My purchase records are lost on a crashed hard drive on the Toshiba Satellite laptop I was using to track my typewriter purchases some 20+ years ago. Of my eight Rem 1 portables, five date from Feb-Jun 1921 and have all the earliest features. I shall create new galleries for them on TWDB at some point.

This particular machine, NA14170, types in Pica. Yesterday (12/26/25) was the first time I ever typed more than a few characters on it. It has not been restored, and the platen and feed rollers need re-surfacing. It does not really feed paper, and I had to kind of wedge it in gradually. It types very well, though; I'm pleasantly surprised how well it handles, considering its age and condition. It also has a small crack in the body, along the front edge, shown. I have two sets of new water-slide decals for Remington portables, and this is likely one of the machines I'll refurbish, repaint, and apply those decals at some point.

1921 Remington Portable #NA14170

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)
Created: 12-27-2025 at 10:11AM
Last Edit: 12-27-2025 at 10:19AM

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Description:

This is one of eight first-generation Remington portable typewriters in my collection. This particular one was manufactured in December of 1921, according to the serial number information, and it's transitional between the earliest set of features and the final configuration for the Remington portable. For instance, it still has the curved paper table and left-only shift mechanism. It also has the centered guide with a spade-shaped cutout. I won this machine in an eBay auction some time between 7/8/01 and 7/13/02; more likely in 2001. My purchase records are lost on a crashed hard drive on the Toshiba Satellite laptop I was using to track my typewriter purchases some 20+ years ago. Of my eight Rem 1 portables, five date from Feb-Jun 1921 and have all the earliest features. I shall create new galleries for them on TWDB at some point.

This particular machine, NA14170, types in Pica. Yesterday (12/26/25) was the first time I ever typed more than a few characters on it. It has not been restored, and the platen and feed rollers need re-surfacing. It does not really feed paper, and I had to kind of wedge it in gradually. It types very well, though; I'm pleasantly surprised how well it handles, considering its age and condition. It also has a small crack in the body, along the front edge, shown. I have two sets of new water-slide decals for Remington portables, and this is likely one of the machines I'll refurbish, repaint, and apply those decals at some point.

Typeface Specimen:

Links:

Photos:

Front with typebars extended.
Front with typebars extended.

Detail of card guide and ribbon vibrator.
Detail of card guide and ribbon vibrator.

Detail of crack in body.
Detail of crack in body.

Serial number.
Serial number.

Right quadrant.
Right quadrant.

Right.
Right.

Back.
Back.

Left.
Left.

Left quadrant.
Left quadrant.

Typing sample.
Typing sample.

Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)

Brian Decker's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]

Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 825

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 Remington Portable on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Remington Serial Number page and the Remington Portable By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.

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