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1977 Smith Corona Classic 12 Serial # 6LTV-522353 1977 Smith Corona Classic 12 typewriter, Serial # 6LTV-522353 Steven Blake's 1977 Smith Corona Classic 12 typewriter. 2022-01-30 From the Virtual Typewriter Collection of Steven Blake: 1977 Smith Corona Classic 12 Serial # 6LTV-522353 “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That advice qualifies as the unofficial Eleventh Commandment of product design, manufacturing, and marketing. And yet, lots of companies are guilty of over-improving their wares in a search for some elusive sliver of additional market share. The Smith-Corona Classic 12 – like all of SCM’s portable typewriter siblings - represents a rare example of a manufacturer resisting the call to “fix” a product that had been selling well in many variations, and in mostly unchanged form, for decades.

Still, there were incremental improvements over the years. This Classic 12 included a couple of those newer features like a half-space key, which allows for easier insertion of characters into previously typed text. And the power space key on the opposite side of the space bar. Just hold it down and the carriage rapidly (and loudly) advances from left-to-right; one very fast space at a time.

This machine was manufactured in 1977, which means it came with the newer ABS molded plastic carrying case instead of the venerable Samsonite-style metal typewriter case that SCM made famous. It also sports the most common typeface available: 10 CPI (No. 1) Pica.

SCM’s portable typewriters were fixtures on mid-20th Century college campuses and in American homes of that era for good reason: they’re reliable, well-made, easy to set-up and use, and they produce a very good quality typed page. If Chevrolet made portable typewriters 50 years ago, my bet is they’d have looked a lot like Smith-Corona’s.

1977 Smith Corona Classic 12 #6LTV-522353

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Steven Blake (FloydGondolli)
Created: 01-30-2022 at 09:54PM
Last Edit: 01-30-2022 at 09:59PM

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Description:

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That advice qualifies as the unofficial Eleventh Commandment of product design, manufacturing, and marketing. And yet, lots of companies are guilty of over-improving their wares in a search for some elusive sliver of additional market share. The Smith-Corona Classic 12 – like all of SCM’s portable typewriter siblings - represents a rare example of a manufacturer resisting the call to “fix” a product that had been selling well in many variations, and in mostly unchanged form, for decades.

Still, there were incremental improvements over the years. This Classic 12 included a couple of those newer features like a half-space key, which allows for easier insertion of characters into previously typed text. And the power space key on the opposite side of the space bar. Just hold it down and the carriage rapidly (and loudly) advances from left-to-right; one very fast space at a time.

This machine was manufactured in 1977, which means it came with the newer ABS molded plastic carrying case instead of the venerable Samsonite-style metal typewriter case that SCM made famous. It also sports the most common typeface available: 10 CPI (No. 1) Pica.

SCM’s portable typewriters were fixtures on mid-20th Century college campuses and in American homes of that era for good reason: they’re reliable, well-made, easy to set-up and use, and they produce a very good quality typed page. If Chevrolet made portable typewriters 50 years ago, my bet is they’d have looked a lot like Smith-Corona’s.

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Hunter: Steven Blake (FloydGondolli)

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Lawyer and recently acknowledged typewriter addict. It all started with an IBM Personal Typewriter, followed by a Smith-Corona Galaxie Deluxe, an Adler Universal 20, and then, well, you know the rest.


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