1981 Olympia SG3 #6127197
Status: My Collection
Hunter: John Munroe (jamunroe)
Created: 11-01-2015 at 01:26AM
Last Edit: 10-25-2018 at 08:16PM
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Description:
I dub thee: "Sir Gerald"
This monster typer came in its original box and styrofoam packing with 20 metal spools and nylon ribbons, mostly black but one brown ink, plus an unopened box of at least six more ribbons and spools - plus a dozen or so large microfiber cloths and half a dozen printer cover cloths. Sadly, the paper support was missing - until about a year later, Typer Maestro Gerald Cha sent me one free of charge! Hence the name change from "Mortar Shell" to "Sir Gerald."
Needed some serious cleaning (finally got to use my Zippo lighter fluid and pipe cleaners to great effect on the vibrator mechanism) and she is now working. The bell is less like a typewriter and more like a ship's bell. LOUD. Ugly, massive, loud - what's not to love?
As in TIME Magazine's second rule concerning James Michener's novel Chesapeake (the first being "don't read it"):
"Don't drop it on your foot."
DO type with it though, I tell myself. And obey.
Typeface Specimen:
Photos:
Hunter: John Munroe (jamunroe)
John Munroe's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 4151
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
From Toronto Canada. Tokyo-based entrepreneur since 1998 and meditation teacher since 2000. Learned to type in Grade 9 following mind-altering lunches and still experience flashbacks while typing. Mother did shorthand and typed 90 wpm as stenographer, dad pecked out haiku on his old typewriter as long as I remember. Moved to thermal printing, 8-character display CanoWord Pen 24 in 1986 when my typewriter broke, then to FujiXerox, Mac and iPhone. Bought my first typewriter of the new millennium (a Lettera 32) in March 2015. Muscle memory has graduated to neural reboot--every moment at the typewriter brings back fresh memories of type-happy childhood and visions of literary grandeur. Use typewriter for inspiration/rough drafts and computer/iPhone (Scrivener/Evernote) for polishing.
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Olympia SG3 on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Olympia Serial Number page and the Olympia SG3 By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
