1963 Underwood Touchmaster Five #11-9045881
Status: My Collection
Hunter: James Grooms (jgrooms)
Created: 05-31-2024 at 02:07PM
Last Edit: 11-05-2024 at 02:54PM
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Description:
The last Underwood? Back when I had a more casual relationship with typewriters I'd see these things pretty much everywhere. I figured they must have been great because they sold so many. And I had a sentimental attachment to the brand.
Then I got my hands on a few of them and found this wasn't the case. So digging a bit deeper (Fortune, Forbes and Business Week), I was curious about this 'merger' with Olivetti. Well it wasn't anything like a merger. Olivetti had the controlling shares and bought Underwood for next to nothing just for the sales and distribution network. As it applied to the T5, it was a huge loss leader. They were desperate to keep the line running and leverage something out of the deal, so they undercut everyone on institutional accounts, i.e. school districts and flooded the market with them.
Some young historian should write a history of Underwood. There's multiple accounts on IBM and Underwood would be a great case study in hubris over decades.
"Hy Bane was Underwood—Gaze on ay Fate, ye Corporate Highty, and take Heed." Forbes. Vol. 92 (July 1, 1963) p. 15
Typeface Specimen:
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Photos:
Hunter: James Grooms (jgrooms)
James Grooms's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 7635
As with many, the bug is back there somewhere due to an Underwood No. 5. My grandfather was on a small town school board and used one for this. My parents had a yellow Royal Safari that I used to index card everything, including a beer can collection. Collection syndrome clue! The long dormant tic was activated when my neighbors left a Remington Quiet Riter on the curb when they moved in circa 2010, Yes a believe it or not story is next, when a Hermes 3000 comes home with the girlfriend from work for free. Yes, free! From there the addiction is full steam. And yes, I now have a No. 5. Typewriters are the perfect blend of using one's technical skills, history and functional purpose.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Underwood Touchmaster Five on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Underwood Serial Number page and the Underwood Touchmaster Five By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
