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1960 Simpsons (Consul) 311 Serial # I Didn't Write It Down 1960 Simpsons (Consul) 311 typewriter, Serial # I Didn't Write It Down Henry A's 1960 Simpsons (Consul) 311 typewriter. 2022-09-07 From the Virtual Typewriter Collection of Henry A: 1960 Simpsons (Consul) 311 Serial # I Didn't Write It Down Simpson's branded typewriter

A brief write-up:

I bought it at a yard sale for $10 CAD. It came with 2 broken/missing platen knobs and a dry ribbon. It came with a leather(?) carrying case that was water damaged and the zipper was broken.

It was originally a Consul 311, rebranded to Simpson's, which I believe was a department store back in the old days.

Year is 1960 according to the serial number, but I didn't write it down.

Platen was rock hard, I hated typing on it. But I thank this typewriter for giving the idea to use it with my Beats Studio 3 noise cancelling headphones. Now I have moved on to above that and wear workwear earmuffs whenever I type with any typewriter!

I spray painted it purple, because I didn't like the grey colour. Took longer than I expected, isn't most things in life like this?

I ended up ripping off the old platen and stretched some old bicycle inner tubes over the wood core (that was A LOT of work and arm strength), it was a failure; the platen was now too soft.

As for the fate of this broken typewriter, I ended up trading it for another typewriter; a long story short, even though this Simpson's typewriter was broken, people do collect department store typewriters but I initially didn't' know that. I posted it up online for parts and someone messaged me offering me their semi-working typewriter for my broken one, so I thought why not right? We swapped typewriters and I am glad someone got what they were looking for.

PROS
- I really liked the minimalistic keyset and features. Only what is truly needed.
- The bottom of the typewriter is a design marvel, very simple to understand, for fixing. If only all typewriters were this well designed. I don't have a picture anymore, but my very low resolution avatar is all that remains of it.

CONS
- Key travel is a bit deep, I didn't like it. A bit surprising, especially for a portable.
- Carriage return lever is a janky design. A bit hard to explain, but it was like a friction fit that allowed some movement to tuck the lever arm into the typewriter side, so to fit into the case, but it will eventually get loose and the side screws will have to be re-tightened, especially if you use the case a lot. The lever also scratches the side of the typewriter too.

This Simpson's typewriter does seem to be a bit rare (correct me if I am wrong) so I thought it was best for everyone if I uploaded the pictures, for future collectors.
This site forces everyone to upload low-resolution versions of any photos, here are the originals if anyone is interested: https://imgur.com/a/s8haV18

1960 Simpsons (Consul) 311 #I Didn't Write It Down

Status: Sightings
Hunter: Henry A (h)
Created: 09-07-2022 at 05:57AM
Last Edit: 09-07-2022 at 06:05AM

Description Hunter 4 Photos 0 Likes  Find on Ebay #AD  Find on Etsy #AD

Description:

Simpson's branded typewriter

A brief write-up:

I bought it at a yard sale for $10 CAD. It came with 2 broken/missing platen knobs and a dry ribbon. It came with a leather(?) carrying case that was water damaged and the zipper was broken.

It was originally a Consul 311, rebranded to Simpson's, which I believe was a department store back in the old days.

Year is 1960 according to the serial number, but I didn't write it down.

Platen was rock hard, I hated typing on it. But I thank this typewriter for giving the idea to use it with my Beats Studio 3 noise cancelling headphones. Now I have moved on to above that and wear workwear earmuffs whenever I type with any typewriter!

I spray painted it purple, because I didn't like the grey colour. Took longer than I expected, isn't most things in life like this?

I ended up ripping off the old platen and stretched some old bicycle inner tubes over the wood core (that was A LOT of work and arm strength), it was a failure; the platen was now too soft.

As for the fate of this broken typewriter, I ended up trading it for another typewriter; a long story short, even though this Simpson's typewriter was broken, people do collect department store typewriters but I initially didn't' know that. I posted it up online for parts and someone messaged me offering me their semi-working typewriter for my broken one, so I thought why not right? We swapped typewriters and I am glad someone got what they were looking for.

PROS
- I really liked the minimalistic keyset and features. Only what is truly needed.
- The bottom of the typewriter is a design marvel, very simple to understand, for fixing. If only all typewriters were this well designed. I don't have a picture anymore, but my very low resolution avatar is all that remains of it.

CONS
- Key travel is a bit deep, I didn't like it. A bit surprising, especially for a portable.
- Carriage return lever is a janky design. A bit hard to explain, but it was like a friction fit that allowed some movement to tuck the lever arm into the typewriter side, so to fit into the case, but it will eventually get loose and the side screws will have to be re-tightened, especially if you use the case a lot. The lever also scratches the side of the typewriter too.

This Simpson's typewriter does seem to be a bit rare (correct me if I am wrong) so I thought it was best for everyone if I uploaded the pictures, for future collectors.
This site forces everyone to upload low-resolution versions of any photos, here are the originals if anyone is interested: https://imgur.com/a/s8haV18

Typeface Specimen:

Photos:





Hunter: Henry A (h)

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RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Simpsons (Consul) 311 on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Simpsons (Consul) Serial Number page and the Simpsons (Consul) 311 By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.

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