The Typewriter Database News
Added: Serial numbers for SILVER REED Thu, 18 Dec 2014
OMEF 1980 happened to have a section of serial numbers on Silver Reed, so I added them.
Olivetti page completely redone! Thu, 18 Dec 2014
The Olivetti page has been completely redone. With the addition of OMEF 1980 and a re-examination of Schramm 1962, quite a few numbers have changed and a lot of models have been added. Additionally, I've added Platen Diameters and some notes from OMEF 80 that state in no uncertain terms that dating an Olivetti from the serial number past 1978 is pretty much impossible.
That bit about "past 1978" is the bad news. The good news is that we've made *some* inroads on Lettera 22 serial numbers, Added or expanded on Linea 88, Linea 98, Linea 98 Special, Studio 45, Lettera 25, Lettera 31, Lettera 32, Praxis 48, Editor 3, 3C, 4, 4C, 4 Special, 4C Special, 5, Lexicon 90, 90C, Lettera Electric and Lexicon 83DL. I've also added a huge and badly needed swath of new numbers for Studio 42 and 44!
There are still some holes, and the whole Lettera 22 issue is still up for grabs as OMEF and Schramm still disagree between 1954 and 1956. I'm feeling that Schramm may have those years right, or alternately there were two different serial numbering schemes in those years from two different factories. Schramm makes more sense given some of the L22 examples in the gallery database. If you have a Lettera 22, please re-check your serial number against the new list. You may find it now makes a little more sense.
Mercedes Page Updated! Thu, 18 Dec 2014
Prompted by an article on Robert Messenger's blog indicating that the DB has errors in this list, I took a look at what data I had on Mercedes. I have none of Schumann's original sources, but I do have Schramm 1962, which verifies most of the numbers already there, and adds quite a lot more for Models S6, S6A, SE3, SE4, SE5 and K45.
Messed up the Last Modified timestamps in galleries Thu, 18 Dec 2014
which just means that the order on the front page is a little screwey until more activity occurs. I was fixing a problem with something else, and well - you know...
Added Pages for many manufacturers of plastic wedges Thu, 18 Dec 2014
What the heck, they're typewriter manufacturers too! (:
Added Swintec, Canon, Panasonic, AT&T, Xerox, Sharp and other manufacturers that pretty much only manufactured daisywheel typewriters.
Discussion Threads for Galleries Thu, 18 Dec 2014
Open to Typewriter Hunter level members only, there are now Discussion Threads added to each Typewriter Gallery.
Added pages for Messa and Harry A. Smith Thu, 18 Dec 2014
Added pages for Messa and Harry A. Smith and the various Marques that they were labelled as and that they labelled other machines as.
Added pages for Nakajima ALL Thu, 18 Dec 2014
Added Nakajima ALL and some Marques thereof that Robert Messenger knew about. No serial number data yet, sorry.
Points now compiled nightly. Thu, 18 Dec 2014
Points are now being compiled nightly for Typewriter Hunter members who have uploaded typewriter galleries or have added links anywhere on the site. Currently, the points are compiled as so:
Gallery entry: +1 point each.
if it includes front-facing photo: +3 points.
if it includes type sample: +3 points.
each additional photo uploaded to gallery: +2 points each.
Links added anywhere on the site: +1 point each.
Added Marques of Talleres Alonso S.A. of Valencia, Spain Thu, 18 Dec 2014
Added Marques of Talleres Alonso S.A. of Valencia, Spain, including: Regia, Junior (AKA Winsor and Turia), Talbos, and Andina.