1930 Underwood Portable 4 Bank #494740

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Truls Henriksson (Kebabrulle4869)
Created: 12-31-2020 at 04:54AM
Last Edit: 02-19-2021 at 03:20AM

Description Hunter 18 Photos 1 Like  Find on Ebay #AD  Find on Etsy #AD

Description:

A gorgeous Underwood that became my fifth typewriter. I was very happy to find such an old model in such good condition. The paper in the keys haven't turned yellow by the sun, probably because it has had its case on for most of its life. One of the ribbon caps was missing when I bought it, and the ribbon is fairly dry, but otherwise it works fine!

I have found all my typewriters so far in thrift stores, and when I do I always wonder why they were turned in in the first place. This machine had a loose spring that meant the ribbon wouldn't move, but after fixing that I couldn't find any other problems with it. I don't really understand why it was turned in for such a small issue. My best guess is that it was an antique from someone's grandparents that wasn't being used anymore, and when the owners died it was given to the thrift store for someone else to find. And that lucky person was me!

I really like how this looks. This could have been found by someone who would use it as a decorational piece for their antique shop's storefront, which is why I'm so happy to finally be able to put it to use again.

Something curious about this machine that I wasn't aware of at first is that the carriage return lever moves the paper down two whole lines. The platen can stop on single lines like shown in the typeface specimen, but if you use the return lever, you have to move it two lines at a time. [Edit] I've been told about the line spacing lever! It's on the left side, below the platen knob. It was so tiny I missed it. With that, you can select either one or two lines margin.

Typeface Specimen:

Photos:

I find it interesting that the shift, caps lock and backspace keys are all in Swedish but "Ribbon reverse" is written in English.

The lever to the right is the paper release lever, and the tiny lever above the platen roller is the carriage release lever.

The case has seen better days...

Serial number on the bar to the left of the basket. The last 0 was barely visible before I scratched some dirt off with a nail.

Hunter: Truls Henriksson (Kebabrulle4869)

Truls Henriksson's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]

Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 204

Young typewriter collector from Sweden. I've always been interested in tinkering with mechanical machines, and typewriters are perfect objects to tinker with, as you can get so much use out of them. I've always loved the primitive complexity of the machine that could make letters appear on a paper entirely mechanically, and that's why when I saw a Facit TP1 in a thrift store in February 2020, I knew I had to buy it.

And that's where this all started for me. Now I'm interested in the history of typewriters, and especially how the layout of the Swedish keyboards evolved and were standardized over time. I'd like to someday have a machine from each major era in typewriter history, so that they together tell a story of how they were developed. But I also like to use typewriters, and that's why I will happily get any typewriter that's unique among the ones I already have, whether that means having a wider carriage, being really quiet, or just being really good-looking.

And yes, that's my cat in my profile picture. Isn't he the greatest? :)