1966 Olympia SM9 #3215653
Status: My Collection
Hunter: Brian Hagermann (bhagermann)
Created: 12-19-2024 at 08:22PM
Last Edit: 12-19-2024 at 08:24PM
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Description:
It took Olympia until 1964 to adopt a segment shift in a portable, something much of its competition had been doing for three decades. The body strikes me as a fairly conservative modern design but the real masterpiece is underneath its white and grey skin. The last great showcase of build quality in a manual portable typewriter. This particular typewriter was made in 1966 and purchased new by the previous owner, a library sciences graduate student in Michigan. She later worked as a library in and around Baltimore, MD.
Came to me caked in dust and eraser debris. After being disassembled, cleaned, adjusted, and reassembled--it's brilliant. I can generally type fast enough on a Olympia to occasionally crowd letters, but not this one! Standard US keyboard with 11cpi Elite No. 8 typeface, which is really a lovely compromise between Pica and traditional 12cpi Elite. Ubiquitous, unassuming machines but marvels nonetheless.
Typeface Specimen:
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Photos:
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Hunter: Brian Hagermann (bhagermann)
Brian Hagermann's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
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Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 155
I found my first typewriter, a 1949 Smith-Corona Clipper, in a dumpster in 2004. I've been fascinated by typewriters ever since--though it took quite a long time to accept the label "collector". I am mostly interested in typewriters that are linked to a place and/or a person and the research into their own histories is half the fun. Collecting typewriters remains a net-zero hobby for me, meaning I repair and resell to fund further purchases without (in theory) spending my own salary.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Olympia SM9 on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Olympia Serial Number page and the Olympia SM9 By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.