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Home » Smith Corona » Electra 220 » 1972 #6ELO 118371
1972 Smith Corona Electra 220 Serial # 6ELO 118371 1972 Smith Corona Electra 220 typewriter, Serial # 6ELO 118371 Michael Hoehne's 1972 Smith Corona Electra 220 typewriter. 2020-09-21 From the Virtual Typewriter Collection of Michael Hoehne: 1972 Smith Corona Electra 220 Serial # 6ELO 118371 Found at a thrift store. Practically unused. Script font, elite pitch, on an electric. The inspection slip has a note on it: Bought 12/21/72---a Christmas present? It had a blue ribbon on Smith-Corona spools. Ah, those were the days. This is super-clean and works very well.

Because it has a script font:
* It must use a single-color ribbon because of some descenders in the font. The ribbon color selector only has [Color] and Stencil; no red.
* It has vertical spacing of 4 lines per inch with 1, 1-1/2, 2, and 2-1/2 line spacing.
* It has no provision for Change-A-Type, even though it is a late model. They didn’t make script-specific Change-A-Types and apparently thought that the roman versions did not work well with script.

It also has redesigned plastic carriage release levers to avoid the breakage that is so common; this should have been a universal upgrade, but ... See this and other interesting notes in the gallery pics.

1972 Smith Corona Electra 220 #6ELO 118371

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Michael Hoehne (mhoehne)
Created: 09-21-2020 at 06:01PM
Last Edit: 09-21-2020 at 06:23PM


Description:

Found at a thrift store. Practically unused. Script font, elite pitch, on an electric. The inspection slip has a note on it: Bought 12/21/72---a Christmas present? It had a blue ribbon on Smith-Corona spools. Ah, those were the days. This is super-clean and works very well.

Because it has a script font:
* It must use a single-color ribbon because of some descenders in the font. The ribbon color selector only has [Color] and Stencil; no red.
* It has vertical spacing of 4 lines per inch with 1, 1-1/2, 2, and 2-1/2 line spacing.
* It has no provision for Change-A-Type, even though it is a late model. They didn’t make script-specific Change-A-Types and apparently thought that the roman versions did not work well with script.

It also has redesigned plastic carriage release levers to avoid the breakage that is so common; this should have been a universal upgrade, but ... See this and other interesting notes in the gallery pics.

Typeface Specimen:

Photos:





Here is the solution to all those broken carriage release levers!  Why did they not switch to this? Note also the protective(?) tab; did this always occur on the examples with the good levers?
Here is the solution to all those broken carriage release levers! Why did they not switch to this? Note also the protective(?) tab; did this always occur on the examples with the good levers?

This hard-to-see label warns against using a two-color ribbon.
This hard-to-see label warns against using a two-color ribbon.

... otherwise standard ....
... otherwise standard ....

So little used that the sticker is not even worn off the spacebar! It points out the Touch Control under the keyboard.
So little used that the sticker is not even worn off the spacebar! It points out the Touch Control under the keyboard.

Here's the level of refinement in this Smith-Corona---this strap prevents the lid from crashing open and also reduces the fatal wear on that notorious "Perpetual" hinge. It looks like you could add this to any of this type of case.
Here's the level of refinement in this Smith-Corona---this strap prevents the lid from crashing open and also reduces the fatal wear on that notorious "Perpetual" hinge. It looks like you could add this to any of this type of case.

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 Smith Corona Electra 220 on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Smith Corona Serial Number page and the Smith Corona Electra 220 By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.