1940 Hermes Baby #223110
Status: My Collection
Hunter: Sebastian Kleinschmidt (SebastianKleinschmidt)
Created: 07-23-2026 at 01:23PM
Last Edit: 07-23-2026 at 02:04PM
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Description:
This is my Hermes Baby S from 1940. I got it late last year for €15 from two young home owners who found it in their basement when they bought their house.
It is a simplified version of the Hermes Baby. No specific carriage return mechanism or line space selector. No paper support, a real simple ribbon carrier. I already got 2 Hermes Babies from the 50s and this doesn’t feel like them at all. The platen is really small and the typing action is not that good. This might be due to rust (the outside is quite rusty) but I cleaned it properly and it should work better. Maybe it’s just this machine or these early Hermes Babies were not that great.
The s slug is also loose, I’ll have to find someone who can solder it back on properly.
Typeface Specimen:
Photos:
Hunter: Sebastian Kleinschmidt (SebastianKleinschmidt)
Sebastian Kleinschmidt's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 596
I'm a typewriter collector from the West of Germany (living in Wuppertal) and I am interested in various kinds of brands and types from pre- and post-WW2, particularly focusing on Seidel & Naumann (Ideal & Erika), Triumph-Adler and Smith-Corona (my favourite brand!), although I own some other brands and am looking at some others (Underwood, Remington). I particularly like portables, my favourite pre-WW2 typewriter being the Erika 5 and my favourite post-WW2 typewriter being my Smith-Corona Silent-Super. However, I most often turn to my Hermes Baby from the 1950s when travelling.
I got into this mess (i.e. collecting typewriters) when I got an Ideal DZ33 in mid-2020. It arrived damaged, which made me sad. To cheer me up I got an Erika 5 after that and then I couldn’t stop. As of July 2026 I own 30 complete typewriters, 1 in parts (an Oliver) and gave away 3 typewriters.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Hermes Baby on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Hermes Serial Number page and the Hermes Baby By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
