1954 Royal Quiet De Luxe #RA-2948625
Status: My Collection
Hunter: Mei Travis (meilynne)
Created: 11-18-2020 at 08:37PM
Last Edit: 03-20-2021 at 09:35AM
Description:
My first old American typewriter! I purchased it locally for $30 from a man who bought it at a yard sale with the intention of fixing it up and using it but instead stuck it in his garage for 8 years. I can't wrap my head around that because when I get a "new" typewriter, I'll drop everything to bring it back to life. Sadly this Royal was beyond me with its rusting paint job that I'm hesitant to learn how to repaint. Yet it is so interestingly educational and steampunk without the body that I transformed it into my sexy naked typewriter by making a few adjustments, like a clip to hold the spacebar level and dabs of removeable paint indicators on the levers. It's just as quiet without the body and has a hint of Blick to it now. It's a perfect portable typewriter with one of my favorite features, the end-of-page line indicator. My only gripes are that it's only whole-line spacing and my favorite is 1.5, there's no paper support without the body and the typeface has gone a little crooked over the years, but that adds a charming character and proof that the written work came from an old typewriter.
Typeface Specimen:
Links:
- The Royal “RA” prefix Quiet De Luxes and the “Speed Selector”
- Unraveling the Royal Quiet De Luxe – Part 1: Ancestry (Model P, O and B)
- Unraveling the Royal Quiet De Luxe – Part 2: Birth of the QDL (and siblings)
- Unraveling the Royal Quiet De Luxe – Part 3: The Post-War Royal Portables (A, B and C Models)
- Unraveling the Royal Quiet De Luxe – Part 4: The Colorful End of the QDL, and What it Became
- Unraveling the Royal Quiet De Luxe – Part 5: Reprise – The End of the Royal “A” Model?
Photos:
Hunter: Mei Travis (meilynne)
Mei Travis's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 1265
During the quiet summer of 2020, I longed to use a typewriter again. After some online research and browsing, two Brother machines landed on my doorstep. A 1971 Montgomery Ward's Signature 511D and a creamy 1985 Sears ultraportable both ignited a fire I haven't felt in a long time. I quickly found Ted Munk, the Facebook groups, and the rest of the typewriter online community, where I learned how to fix them and appreciate them. By summer's end I had collected 20 typewriters to cure my pandemic blues. Now I'm obsessed about the different styles, the mechanics & repair, and their important history. Typewriters are an endless source of fascination as a literary medium, for creativity, a tinker-fest for machine geeks, and they still contribute to the economy. I truly enjoy learning how to bring mid-century or later typewriters back to life, even the electric ones, while completely in awe of the unique antiques that folks brilliantly restore. It warms my heart that there are others, and here we are sharing the same passions about typewriters together.
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.