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Home » Sears » Easy Touch » 1966 #NONE
1966 Sears Easy Touch Serial # NONE 1966 Sears Easy Touch typewriter, Serial # NONE Michael Hoehne's 1966 Sears Easy Touch typewriter. 2014-03-26 From the Virtual Typewriter Collection of Michael Hoehne: 1966 Sears Easy Touch Serial # NONE A modern 3-bank typewriter, from the 1960s I think. Comes “with foreign language type kit,” which is four changeable 3-character slugs and matching keytops; in use, they replace the =, /, and 3/4 characters. The system is an adaptation of Smith Corona’s design on this Made in Japan machine.

The design isn’t too bad but the execution should have used much more robust materials. The owner’s manual gives instructions for bending the typebars back into alignment! Alignment is problematic in any case as you see from the type sample; there are many spurious marks made by parts of the slugs hitting where they shouldn’t. Small type on what seems to be 8.5 pitch (It’s too inconsistent to measure.) makes for a very airy page. LOUD, too.

No one will be writing The Great American Novel on this and not least because the 1-1/2 inch spools hold only 8 _feet_ of ribbon and the ribbon reverse is manual.

There are no tabs and no margin stops(!) and the platen is just barely long enough for a piece of typing paper--I don't know how they managed with A4 paper.

The manual also advises us to use the cardboard shipping box as a carrying case!

1966 Sears Easy Touch #NONE

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Michael Hoehne (mhoehne)
Created: 02-18-2014 at 05:03PM
Last Edit: 03-26-2014 at 07:39PM

Description Hunter 16 Photos 3 Likes  Find on Ebay #AD  Find on Etsy #AD

Description:

A modern 3-bank typewriter, from the 1960s I think. Comes “with foreign language type kit,” which is four changeable 3-character slugs and matching keytops; in use, they replace the =, /, and 3/4 characters. The system is an adaptation of Smith Corona’s design on this Made in Japan machine.

The design isn’t too bad but the execution should have used much more robust materials. The owner’s manual gives instructions for bending the typebars back into alignment! Alignment is problematic in any case as you see from the type sample; there are many spurious marks made by parts of the slugs hitting where they shouldn’t. Small type on what seems to be 8.5 pitch (It’s too inconsistent to measure.) makes for a very airy page. LOUD, too.

No one will be writing The Great American Novel on this and not least because the 1-1/2 inch spools hold only 8 _feet_ of ribbon and the ribbon reverse is manual.

There are no tabs and no margin stops(!) and the platen is just barely long enough for a piece of typing paper--I don't know how they managed with A4 paper.

The manual also advises us to use the cardboard shipping box as a carrying case!

Typeface Specimen:

Links:

Photos:

3-bank made in the 1960s, right? Both FIG and CAP shift keys on both sides.
3-bank made in the 1960s, right? Both FIG and CAP shift keys on both sides.

In just looking at this, I thought they could have saved a lot of money by making those keys a half inch shorter, but no, the mechanism needs the full 13/16 inch travel to boost the slug up to the platen!
In just looking at this, I thought they could have saved a lot of money by making those keys a half inch shorter, but no, the mechanism needs the full 13/16 inch travel to boost the slug up to the platen!








Probably the cheapest possible typewriter; plastic segment and levers; very thin stamped metal frame and typebars; no tabs, of course, and what's more, i.e., less, is that there are no margin stops.
Probably the cheapest possible typewriter; plastic segment and levers; very thin stamped metal frame and typebars; no tabs, of course, and what's more, i.e., less, is that there are no margin stops.




At least the type slugs are metal.
At least the type slugs are metal.



Hunter: Michael Hoehne (mhoehne)

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While I find all of mankind's inventions interesting, I am most enchanted by the human-scale arts and devices, the ones that can be created (and repaired) in a home workshop or studio; the ones that can be understood by looking at them; the ones that do something useful or stir admiration. Typewriters work for me.


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

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