1953 Royal HH #HHDP-15-5067466

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Kyle Oelofse (SaladKing)
Created: 08-08-2018 at 12:21AM
Last Edit: 06-26-2019 at 02:26PM

Description Hunter 14 Photos 0 Likes  Find on Ebay #AD  Find on Etsy #AD

Description:

Here's something that shouldn't be rare but apparently is: A Royal HH with a decimal tabulator.

Bought this machine on a whim when I was initially buying a Royal RE. I saw it on a nearby table at the seller's house, in fabulous condition, and noted that I did not yet have an HH or a typewriter with a decimal tabulator. The seller offered it to me for $45 and now here we are!

Several months later, I have yet to find another HH with a such a tabulator. Perhaps I just haven't looked hard enough - I can't imagine there aren't more out there considering the HH's proliferation. Yet of the other twenty six in the database, not one has a decimal tabulator. Neither have any of the others I've seen pop up on eBay or Goodwill. Go figure. UPDATE 20190626: Spotted one more decimal tabulating HH on eBay.

Note that the serial number features a four-letter prefix including the letter "D" instead of the normal three letter one. I can only assume the "D" represents the presence of the decimal tabulator.

The HH itself is a fabulous machine. It's easily one of the smoothest and effortless manual typewriters I've ever used. According to the seller, this machine sat as a demo machine in a Royal dealer's shop, but I have no way to verify that story.

UPDATE 20180811: Added rest of photos.

UPDATE 20180812: Improved flow of description.

Typeface Specimen:

Photos:

The HH in all its gray glory.

The front left corner.

This side features the large return lever, the line spacing adjustment, the left platen knob, the left Magic Margin, and the left carriage release.

Beneath the carriage here, one can see a small adjustment knob whose purpose is unknown to me.

On the back we have a modern interpretation of Royal's classic logo as well as the company crest. The decimal tabulator housing is also clearly visible here. It is designed slightly off center.

The crest shows the Royal 10, the company's first widely successful typewriter.

The back right corner.

Pretty much the same as the left but without the return lever and spacing adjustment.

The front right corner.

The age of metal-ringed glass keys ended for Royal when they brought out this machine. Manufacturers switched to plastic keytops both for cost savings and because it was easier on the fingers.

This set of keys are the reason I bought the machine; somehow I have yet to see another HH with this feature!

Royal introduced a new version of their logo for this restyled body, as well as on the QDL.

The serial number features a four-letter prefix including the letter "D" instead of the normal three letter one, presumably to indicate the presence of the tabulator.

The ribbon still prints pretty well despite being as old as it is.

Hunter: Kyle Oelofse (SaladKing)

Kyle Oelofse's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]

Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 382

I inherited two Royal KMMs as a kid. Over a decade later I started actively collecting and repairing in 2015 shortly after discovering the existence of "weird" typewriters like the Blickensderfer and Hammond, and finding a destroyed Super Sterling to experiment on.