1959 Smith Corona Skyriter #3Y-207137

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Wayne Bouchard (azweb100)
Created: 07-26-2025 at 04:43AM
Last Edit: 07-26-2025 at 04:55AM

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Description:

For your consideration, one Smith-Corona Skyriter typewriter from 1959 (S/N 3y-207137), equipped with Elite 66 typeface (12 pitch, 6 LPI).

This is one of the better slim portable typewriters offered during the era. In a way, it was competing with the Hermes Baby/Rocket and the Olivetti Lettera 22. It's a great typewriter for the dorm room, home office, travel, or for correspondence. You can do a lot of work with this typewriter, but it isn't going to be suitable for heavy use, where an office typewriter would be more appropriate. Being a compact portable, it lacks certain features such as a tab system and bi-chrome. These are basically expected, but I do have objections. One feature I greatly appreciate here is the full sized return arm. This, as I see it, adds so much functionality to this typewriter, making it far more usable than the mini levers you see on others of the age. It just makes it feel much more like working on a full sized typewriter and greatly speeds work.

This typewriter includes a manual ribbon reverse (useful if you accidentally install a ribbon that doesn't have eyelets) but, given that the automatic reverse is reliable and, to do a manual reverse, all you need to do is open the ribbon cover and trip one of the reversing levers, I find this unnecessary and would rather the space and expense had been used to provide a bi-chrome instead. I can do without the tab system but I note that some of its rivals, such as the Lettera 22 did have these features. What really gets my goat on this is the fact that, while you have a centering lever to help you align the carriage for returning it to its "satchel" case, there is no real carriage lock. This, I find egregious since a portable typewriter is going to be subjected to motion and small impacts while being carried around. In this instance, a decidedly positive carriage lock becomes an essential feature.

Another limitation of these typewriters is found in the type basket. Due to the small form factor, the links on the outside have to be adjusted to odd angles (and in this case, including a second bend) which makes them a little less responsive and even somewhat springy, likely to rebound on the platen or bounce on return to the type rest and that can lead to certain issues in typing. This unit required considerable adjustment of these type levers and numerous tweaks to get every type bar to strike in the center of the type guide without glancing off the edge, which gave a very distinct "ping" as I typed. The short type bars also give the typewriter a stiffer feel normally, however here, due to the design of the key levers, this proves to not be the case and it still has a nice, easy feel to it which lets you work without having to adapt to the typewriter.

The typewriter presented here was well used during it's principle service life, as exhibited by the density of eraser shavings and ribbon that clearly showed that it had been flipped to allow for typing on the other half of it, extending the life. There are wear marks on the body from hands resting on it and, unfortunately, some scrapes on the ribbon cover from the folding type arm, both from being pressed slightly downward instead of straight across during return operations, and, more particularly, from impacts during storage and transportation in the case. Unfortunate, since touch-up on a colored case can be quite difficult for color matching.

Overall, though, even with the limitations, I still think this is probably my favorite of the slim portable typewriters I have, possibly even topping the Lettera 32 which held the position previously.

Typeface Specimen:

Photos:

Note the scratch on the ribbon cover from the bottom of the carriage return arm.

Here you can clearly seem the impact point from the return arm as it was banged against the typewriter while being transported.

The plastic ribbon spools are not entirely appropriate for this era, but not out of place either, as they started to gain traction in the 1960s. Note carefully that these are smaller than the standard ribbon spools and should be retained when replacing the ribbon.

Elite 66 type. 12 pitch, 6 LPI

Serial No 3Y 207137, located on the frame on the right side, rear. Visible by moving the carriage to the left.

A very handy case design. The stitches in the handle are a little frayed, but it is still in once piece and could easily be redone by someone with appropriate skills.

The original owner thoughtfully placed her address inside the case. This is across the St Lawrence river and a few miles south of Montreal, Canada. However, the particular address is no longer valid.

Hunter: Wayne Bouchard (azweb100)

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Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 1615

Collector of several things, including typewriters, slide rules, and mechanical calculators.
Started collecting typewriters in 2023 with a Royal HHE like the one I did my first book report on when I was in school and using my dad's old typewriter.