1948 Royal Quiet De Luxe #A 1506733
Status: My Collection
Hunter: James Grooms (jgrooms)
Created: 05-26-2025 at 01:40PM
Last Edit: 06-01-2025 at 04:34AM
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Description:
The average American is seldom far removed from Henry Dreyfuss's influence. When he picks up a Bell telephone, rides a John Deere tractor, scoots a Hoover vacuum over a rug, writes with an Eversharp pen, pounds a Royal Typewriter, awakens to a Westclox Big Ben, thumbs a Minneapolis-Honeywell thermostat, sprawls in a Statler Hotel room in Washington, yanks open the door of a GE refrigerator, focuses an Ansco camera, shoots a 105-millimeter cannon, he is utilizing Henry Dreyfuss's skill and paying him a tribute which runs annually into seven figures. For studious, 44-year-old Dreyfuss is one of the top practitioners of a unique American calling: industrial design. It is his job to study mass produced items and then make them look better, work better, and sell better.
Newsweek, Oct 1948
Dreyfuss' association with Royal goes back to the mid 30s and the design of the KHT/KMM. He's responsible for the crinkle finish after extensive studies determined that the glare of improved lighting was causing eye fatigue and headaches in the secretarial pools. A man who had no need to type, taught himself to do so to make a better typewriter. By 1948 he is at the top of his game making a $2m plus salary.
What does it say about Royal? Well Dreyfuss didn't come cheap and they weren't using an in house engineer team for design. And they sold a heck of a lot of typewriters, these second generation QDLs included.
This example has been sitting around because I thought it was worthy of new shoes and that funky Dreyfuss chrome lip (which he writes about) almost makes it
mandatory to have good feet!
It was. It doesn't skip and will only crowd with sloppy fast action. The case is from a 49 model and true to form, it's an ugly thing. Too bad Dreyfuss didn't do the case design for Royal. Personally, a 4 series Smith Corona was a better value then and will generally be in better condition today than the ave QDL. When you get to the 5 series, it is lights out for the QDL.
Typeface Specimen:
Links:
- the number one gallery
- Manual
- The Rise of the Phoenix
- gen 1
- Finger form keys.
- gen 3
- 4th gen RA
- QDL as Futura
- The sad end to the QDL
- The Gray Ghost
Photos:
Hunter: James Grooms (jgrooms)
James Grooms's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 13438
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 Quiet De Luxe on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Royal Serial Number page and the Royal Quiet De Luxe By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
