1962 Smith Corona 200 #6L R138715

Status: My Collection
Hunter: James Grooms (jgrooms)
Created: 03-19-2025 at 07:22PM
Last Edit: 03-25-2025 at 08:48AM

Description Hunter 34 Photos 0 Likes  Find on Ebay #AD  Find on Etsy #AD

Description:

The first fully electric portable, the "Compact 200' (see ad) and the successor to the 5TE Electric Portable. A historic machine in typewriter development that is largely overlooked. This basic configuration would be around twenty-five plus years until the mid 80s. On this foundation, S-C would dominate the affordable office category and sell millions of them. Spinoffs in a multitude of options would also rule the consumer market while everyone else, except IBM, went belly up. A prosumer product before the phrase was coined. By 1974 they had sold 2 million versions of them. Only Brother had anything to compete with it and they didn't have the name recognition or dealer network.

Sold from 61-63 in sierra tan, dawn gray and spring green, this nice example has the added bonus of a not often seen typeface, plus 1/2 line spacing. The turbo carriage return wasn’t available until the 250s? This one still has an original gray latch case that are more often than not broken at the latch.

Typeface Specimen:

Links:

• Empire no 65.
• gen 1 250
• Mark II 1969
• no longer top of line - 250
• essentially a 5TE but wide
• more power
• still going - Caro
• The Best
• Office Upgrades
• 400 and 200

Photos:

The ad is incorrect. The 200 came out in 1961. And while it may have been primarily marketed as an office machine, it is a portable.

Hunter: James Grooms (jgrooms)

James Grooms's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]

Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 11278

As with many, the bug is back there somewhere due to an Underwood No. 5. My grandparents had a No 5. My parents had a yellow Royal Safari that I used to index card everything, including a beer can collection. Collection syndrome clue! A casual interest in typewriters started with a garage sale 3 bank simply because it said Underwood on it. Typewriters were found here and there , but I wasn't actively looking for them. The long dormant collecting tic was activated when my neighbors left a Remington Quiet Riter on the curb when they moved.

Typewriters are the perfect blend of using one's technical skills, history and functional purpose. My goal is type tested machines. My interests are not isolated to anyone area. For example, I am a big fan of Smith Corona electrics, mid century electrics and all things Royal.