1934 Royal H #H-1703012
Status: My Collection
Hunter: James Grooms (jgrooms)
Created: 11-26-2024 at 06:30AM
Last Edit: 02-22-2025 at 05:14AM
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Description:
So much more than an updated 10. The Underwood killer that took Royal to number one in sales. The 'Victory' model from Royal's ad campaign for winning a 1935 speed championship. It is interesting that this limited ad campaign sticks and today people still tag the H with this name.
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A KMM that was a nice typewriter before it was moused out provided a platen and nice feet. With the aluminum feed roller and front rollers from a 440 the paper feed works as new.
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Spotter's tips: Note the plated carriage side covers and the collar on the end of the platen. This is an interesting bit and I think it was some sort of sound dampener. Whatever was in it turned to powder and might have been asbestos, so look out for this if you have an original platen. I took the remaining paint off the left glass side cover and didn't repaint it.
It turned out nice and types well with a good impression.
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This is where Royal really separates itself from the pack. Like the KMM that will follow it, sales exceeded manufacturing capacity.
For the H/KH/KHM total, roughly, 586, 000. By counting 34 and 38 as half years for a 4 year production run you have 146,500 units per year.
THE LONGER VIEW:
Royal goes to segment shift for 1931 in the middle of the Great Depression. Sales of their high margin standard dropped 67% in 1932 right when you'd imagine they would have a price increase for a significantly more complex and feature rich machine. Next up they must have had the keyset tab in the pipeline and another increase in their manufacturing cost was added on in the midst of a global economic meltdown. So a solid theory would be they couldn't move K series machines and went back to S models without the keyset tab mechanism. Why didn't they release the H model with a keyset tab?
The economy recovers and they release the H/KH/KHM and by 1937 sales have improved six fold over the 1933 nosedive. In addition, Royal had pulled nearly even with Underwood, who in 1928 had sold twice as many standard machines. It will only get worse, as they have no competitive answer for the KMM.
For comparison, Royal sold 1.6m KHT/KMMs with an additional 965,000 KMGs to dominate the last era of the standard manual typewriter's dominance before the IBM onslaught.
Typeface Specimen:
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Photos:
Hunter: James Grooms (jgrooms)
James Grooms's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 10714
As with many, the bug is back there somewhere due to an Underwood No. 5. My grandparents had a No 5. My parents had a yellow Royal Safari that I used to index card everything, including a beer can collection. Collection syndrome clue! A casual interest in typewriters started with a garage sale 3 bank simply because it said Underwood on it. Typewriters were found here and there , but I wasn't actively looking for them. The long dormant collecting tic was activated when my neighbors left a Remington Quiet Riter on the curb when they moved.
Typewriters are the perfect blend of using one's technical skills, history and functional purpose. My goal is type tested machines. My interests are not isolated to anyone area. For example, I am a big fan of Smith Corona electrics, mid century electrics and all things Royal.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Royal H on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Royal Serial Number page and the Royal H By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
