Sunday, January 27, 2013

Royal Royalite, Second Generation, 1959-1963

In 1959 Royal changed the color of their low-priced Royalite from jade green to a modern two-tone gray color scheme. Gone were the flat green keys that were left over from the Halberg Traveler:
Halberg Traveler, 1954 Richard Polt Collection
In their place were new, taller ivory keys. The paper support from the Halberg was replaced with the paper support that would continue in production on Royalite typewriters until 1967. 
The "portfolio-type" case continued in production until 1963, when it was replaced by an attache-type case, as seen in the picture below:
Like the original case for the Royalite, this case is made of vinyl-covered cardboard. The typewriter in the photograph was manufactured in 1963, while the one in the first photo was made in 1962. Other subtle differences can be found between the two machines:
  • On the 1962 model, the lettering that says "Royalite" is centered on the paper table; on the 1963 model, it is on the right-hand side of the paper table. 
  • The label that reads "Made in Holland" is under the lettering that says "Royalite" on the 1963 model, while it is on the back of the 1962 model.
  • The lettering on the 1963 model is in the font Rockwell, while the 1962 (and earlier) models have their lettering in Wide Latin.
  • The 1962 Royalite's label says that it was made for Royal McBee Nederlands, N.V. (the equicalent of Royal McBee Netherlands, L.L.C.) 




2 comments:

  1. Hi, I have a typewriter like the last picture, and still works perfectly

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, I have the exact one in that picture, and still works perfectly.

    ReplyDelete