1959 Royal HE #HE-13-6931735 X
Status: My Collection
Hunter: Erik Bruchez (ebruchez)
Created: 06-11-2021 at 05:01PM
Last Edit: 02-28-2022 at 12:28PM
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Description:
I had seen this Royal HE Electric advertised online at an estate sale and I knew it was something unusual. Luckily, nobody had claimed it and I got it for a really good price. No wonder: it is large and heavy (50 lbs/22.7 kg), didn't work and some might say not extraordinarily esthetically pleasing (opinions will differ on this).
It's unclear if the trailing "X" truly belongs to the serial number. I added it because Ian Brumfield added it to his serials.
Initially, the motor buzzed but didn't run. I found out later that the motor ran but rattled, due to a belt skipping, due to the fact that the fluted shaft couldn't rotate as all the cams were engaged.
The machine has the Merit Pica typeface.
In February 2022, I decided to tackle this machine and got it to work well enough. The machine is also now very clean, although it still has some cosmetic defects such as paint chips. I suspect that the front panel was once repainted, if pretty well: the paint is chipping in some areas and appears to reveal some underlying paint. Also, the machine doesn't have the 3 colored dots for the ribbon selector: either it never had those (although all the pictures I have seen of this model show them), or they were just painted over.
The machine is a pleasure to type with. It is very fast, and the double bell is really nice. The impression, with carbon ribbon, is great. The carriage return and tabulator work, although the carriage return is a little rough so I have been using my hand to return the carriage for comfort.
Functionally the machine is very rich, with all the bells (well, two!) and whistles you would expect for a solid business machine.
Do you like the look of this machine? It is very different from the early Royal RP, and from the really nice-looking Royal RE that followed it and just preceded the HE. I suspect that the trend in manufacturing at the time was to move away from the structural frame of the machine being also what you see from the outside, to having an internal frame with body panels affixed to it, therefore requiring Royal to make a drastic change in esthetics. This machine is in the latter category, while the RP and RE were still in the former category going all the way back to the Royal Standard from the 190x. I do like the majestic curved "ROYAL" on the front of the machine, as well as the straight one on the back. The three-color scheme is also nice.
- 2022-02-15: Progress made on repairs. Keyboard is unlocked, carriage moves, carriage return and tab work up to a point. It appears that the machine is just very gummy.
- 2022-02-16: More progress. Machine can now produce a typeface sample (see pictures)! I tried a carbon ribbon and a fabric ribbon.
- 2022-02-23: Cleaned and working!
- 2022-02-28: Added pictures after cleaning and fixing.
Typeface Specimen:
Links:
Photos:
Hunter: Erik Bruchez (ebruchez)
Erik Bruchez's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 11371
I started collecting my first pre-WW2 standard typewriters in 2017. Since then I have added a few machines to my collection, which now ranges from the 1880s to the 1980s. As of 2024, I have more big standard (desktop) typewriters than portables, a few standard electrics, and some unusual machines like Varitypers, uncommon IBM machines, and more. I am not a pro restorer, but I have restored a few of my machines beyond simple cleaning.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Royal HE on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Royal Serial Number page and the Royal HE By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
