1927 Underwood Portable 4 Bank #4B73289
Status: Sightings
Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)
Created: 10-01-2026 at 04:04AM
Last Edit: 10-01-2026 at 04:12AM
Find on Ebay #AD
Find on Etsy #AD
Description:
2026-OCT-01, 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 4-bank Underwood portable is the 62nd Meakin gallery I have added to TWDB. It was listed on eBay yesterday, 9-30-2026, and is still available as of this gallery creation. The attractive color scheme could be called "tiger maple", but I don't know offhand what the official Underwood color name is. The machine has a Pica typeface.
Typeface Specimen:
Links:
Photos:
Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)
Brian Decker's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 6720
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 Underwood Portable 4 Bank on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Underwood Serial Number page and the Underwood Portable 4 Bank By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
