1940 Underwood DeLuxe Leader #E1330417
Status: My Collection
Hunter: Ted Snyder (tricosene)
Created: 04-02-2026 at 04:47PM
Last Edit: 04-02-2026 at 04:47PM
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Description:
“The typist should study the machine and understand it…” – How to Use the Underwood Portable Typewriter
Features: Pica, carriage shift
Missing Features: Bell, tab, right margin, bicolor and stencil settings
This came to me via Facebook Marketplace along with my Royal KMG.
It’s strange to type on, since it is so stripped down. Mine has excessive play in the carriage return lever (see Repairs / Replacements below), which I’m sure doesn’t help. Overall, it does not feel inspiring to use. Perhaps with more cleaning this might change. Or not. As a stripped down model from the end of the Great Depression era, this typewriter is an artifact of how Underwood adapted and produced lower cost models, and because of this, it doesn’t need to compare to post-war typewriters. Using it can be an act of remembrance. A way to experience how people survived. And despite the cost-cutting measures, this typewriter has survived, as well. (Note - I don’t have a source that says this typewriter’s design was the result of cost-cutting, I’m just assuming based upon the year and the missing features compared to earlier and later models. Feel free to correct me in the comments if you have documentation otherwise.)
Repairs / Replacements
The carriage return was repaired in the past using ordinary screws in place of the original tapered shoulder screws. As a result, it has a lot of play. I’ve done some work to get it operating again, but it doesn’t feel quite right. Phoenix Typewriter has a video where a similar model has a spring setting over a screw. Perhaps I might try that. Although, I found someone on Reddit who has this same model, and he did not have a spring there. He also has a small plate that mine is missing. Things to ponder. I’ll post more photos later.
The spring is missing for V, so the key returns too slow.
The feet were missing when I got it. Interestingly, without the feet it sits canted forward a little. This throws off the mechanism for the space bar and it wouldn’t work. After an embarrassingly long time trying to clean the linkages for the space bar and noticing that it would work at certain angles, I finally realized the problem. New feet from Toronto Typewriters solved this issue. Note that the back feet go over a post and the front feet pop into a hole.
Typeface Specimen:
Hunter: Ted Snyder (tricosene)
Ted Snyder's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 37
Back in high school, my dad would bring home one of the office typewriters, a Brother daisy wheel with a built-in word processor, for me to use. That might be my first typewriter. I don't know what happened to it. I bought a Cannon Starwriter afterwards to take to college. Fast forward to 2025, and I started wondering if there could be benefits of using a typewriter in my writing routines.
Little did I know that typewriters have the ability to reproduce. A Remington Quiet Riter led to a Royal KMG and Underwood De Luxe Leader pair, and the process continued. Now I have a dozen.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Underwood DeLuxe Leader on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Underwood Serial Number page and the Underwood DeLuxe Leader By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
