Portable Typewriters by Brand

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Friday, October 25, 2013

1959 British Olivetti

I bought this typewriter in Snohomish, Washington. It was made in 1959 in Olivetti's Glasgow factory. It has a strange British keyboard, with French accents. I am still unsure of the market that it was designed for. If anyone knows, please post a comment. Its color was designed to not clash with any room. It came with its brushes and dust cover.
 (Nick Bodemer Collection)
 (Nick Bodemer Collection)
 (Nick Bodemer Collection)
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 25, 2013 at 12:54 PM

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  2. AnonymousOctober 25, 2013 at 12:59 PM

    First impression: Canadian. But it's not, because of no $. So my best guess: a scientific typewriter because it has symbols for micro and degrees. But it has French accents, too, as you note, so perhaps it's a custom hybrid (a truly French layout is AZERTY rather than QWERTY).

    I guess the two keys at top right, acute/grave accent and umlaut, are non-releasing keys: hit them once and then hit a vowel and you end up with only one character.

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