1967 Royal 440 #440 13-8638683
Status: My Collection
Hunter: James Grooms (jgrooms)
Created: 06-20-2025 at 06:49AM
Last Edit: 06-21-2025 at 04:50AM
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Description:
These were mainstays in journalism and any place that required heavy use. Underwood is dead. Remington can't compete with a Model 24. Smith Corona is focused on dominating the affordable electric market. And of course IBM owns electric standard sales. SG-3s make some noise, but they don't have Royal's name or dealer reach. For example, watch the best typewriter movie ever made, All the President's Men, and see all the Royal HH, Empress, 440 and 470s. And Woodward, the Ivy league boy, is on Olympias and a Hermes 3000. The blue collar Bernstein has a beat up HH at home for what is the best typewriter cameo in film.
It is a shame they stuck the great mechanism in a body too big for it trying to make it look like an electric. What could a designer have done with a clean slate?
This one fits the workhorse bill, as it came out of a CPA's office. Check out the service decal. It shows the scars. The lever was bent at some point and heated up to get it back in place. The paper bail mechanism needed some parts and is still off a bit. The platen shows signs of heavy use. Otherwise, it cleaned up easy and after some detailing looks pretty good. And it types as you would expect for something based on the best typewriter ever made.
These make excellent first time typist's machines. They are cheap, readily found, and probably one of the easiest standards to get apart and service. When you are done, you have the outstanding Royal touch, paper management and ribbon setup and an otherwise fine machine.
You can see in small ways the cost cutting underway. The Empress has the rubber coated return lever. That was ditched early on for the 440 and you have an FP lever. The only insulation in the 440 is the carriage cover. The Empress has it in the ribbon cover and body sides. It would be an easy project to add some EVA to the 440s.
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Hunter: James Grooms (jgrooms)
James Grooms's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 13948
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.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Royal 440 on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Royal Serial Number page and the Royal 440 By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
