1980 Erika 105 #6315594

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Germano Peres (Tatianinho85)
Created: 06-07-2022 at 12:47AM
Last Edit: 08-01-2023 at 12:30PM

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Description:

This is my first typewriter and called it "Frau Erika", inherited from my father and he bought when we lived in East Berlin. When transported from GDR to Brazil in '90 suffered an "airport mistreat" and ended up with some damage. One of the paper rulers and the sheet release lever was broken.

But the worst damage was the carriage that was violently taken away, that was fixed by an uncle but it didn't turn out well. The carriage was remain some tilted to front and the types don't impact correctly making a degradee effect from lighter to darker when it was more evident with a older ribbon, and sometimes the spacer was stucky.

When i was as child only play with her, but i forgot quickly by the computers and just used to print the diskette tags. The machine was archived for about 25 years when in my growing Ostalgie decided to restore and give her a new life.

It's a Perl (Pica) typeface, 12CPI. That is very strange to a mid-bigger machine, it is more closer to an portable Olivetti and the best for use in tiny tags. The construction is very robust and the feel of tipyng is well, and not much loudy. The tabulator is very intuitive and precise, had a lever on the right hand to set on and off. In resume, matches with German perfection standards.

Other item what caught my attention is the 4-point color selector, the intermediate prints half red-half black and not was for a supposed "tri-color" ribbon. In the GDR only-black ribbons was the most common and these point was designed to take more advantage to the "third track" of ribbon.

When take out of her letargy and aware that it has not received maintenance since '90, i cleaned it, rewinded the original spools with a newer ribbon and lubrified, i was surpresed before more than 40 years after still smells the original lubrication. I have the original portfolio suitcase and fixation table but i prefer to keep the machine away because have a lot of musty smell and not disinfected as well. Unfortunately don't have any documentation.

"Update 07-23"
Finally (several months ago) i got her repaired and now works as newer, and cleaned the suitcase. Now go in her cushion table.
I added more updated photos and a new typeface specime, testing a home-made ink.

Typeface Specimen:

Photos:

Under the hood. Original ribbon spools

The identification at tail. The Robotron address was at only 3 blocks away of Checkpoint Charlie

After reparation

Unfortunately the liberator lever stills broken, but is only esthetic and not functionally

Hunter: Germano Peres (Tatianinho85)

Germano Peres's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]

Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 170

A tipically 80's Cold-War boy. Brazilian born in exile, with the time i was interested with my homeland, GDR and the Eastern Bloc technologies, but didn't have old enough to live this. I grown up with computers and never had more than marginal contact with typewriters in my childhood, my passion was growing along with mine Ostalgie and started my collection sometime ago when withdrew my father's older Erika from its long letargy.

Since 2023 i'm a Right student, in path to be a lawyer and that re-inforces my passion with typeriters. I prefer the 80's portable models.

I will try to get information about the world of Brazilian typewriters, mostly not known outside South America.