195X Zeta 1501 #ZA-228937
Status: My Collection
Hunter: Vlastimil Novak (Schrei112)
Created: 10-27-2015 at 07:59AM
Last Edit: 06-08-2023 at 01:55PM
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Description:
These are my two Zetas. The whole gallery is dedicated to the green one because it is in better shape and newly cleaned and restored. I will maybe sometimes create a gallery for the grey one, but all differences are only in colour, some plastic parts and small rollers above the platen.
The grey one (serial: ZA-235510) is my beloved first typewriter. I like its worn-out condition and dirtiness and I don't know if I want to clean it or leave it as it is.
I was in the middle of elementary school when I persuaded my father to "borrow" an old typewriter from his office, where it was only catching dust. It survived my childhood, hundreds of pages, and my first exploration with a screwdriver. A few parts were missing from the beginning, but after these years it is still working perfectly.
The green one is my 25th typewriter and I got it as a gift from my friend. Her father is working in a scrapyard and this machine has been simply thrown away. The best things are for free! After cleaning, it almost looks brand new. I was quite surprised that it is the first machine with an elite typeface in my collection.
It would be appropriate to say something about history, but I am ashamed that I don't know much. The Production begins in 1948 in Zbrojovka Brno. This office model and portables(the portables were produced in Vyškov, but I don't know if the production was separated from the beginning or later on). The brand name Consul was in its beginning an export name for portables, in Czechoslovakia still sold as Zeta. In 1960 the name Zeta was completely abandoned and all machines were labeled as Consul.
Under the iron curtain, Consul and only some German machines like Robotron were sold here, therefore there are still thousands of them, dirt cheap.
The typewriter itself is a marvelous machine. It takes (I swear to God, that is true) only a minute to disassemble it like in the last photo. It is not supposed to be the prettiest machine under the sun, but the firearms factory quality inside is fantastic. I have not ever experienced any malfunction with my grey old friend. The typing action is light and precise, a simple machine designed for everyday hard work.
Typeface Specimen:
Photos:
Hunter: Vlastimil Novak (Schrei112)
Vlastimil Novak's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 1749
If you want something, contact me: Vlastimilnovak12@gmail.com
I am a passionate amateur mechanic from the Czech Republic, and I have always mesmerized by the complexity of typewriters since my childhood. The first one (Zeta 1501) was just a toy to me in the beginning, but by every year I got older I got also better at understanding how it is working and how to disassemble it and assemble it again. The second one was Ideal DZ33 which started my love for antique machines with all the chrome and glass keys.
My machines range from mint ones through a majority of well-used machines to piles of rust that I have repaired to be typewriters again which is a lot of fun for me.
I am quite obsessed with the beauty and technical genius of standard Continentals. I love how they were producing one model of a typewriter from 1904 to the '50s with constant changes in design and my goal is to collect every decal and every major variation of them.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Zeta 1501 on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Zeta Serial Number page and the Zeta 1501 By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
