Sears Tutor Portable Typewriter

In 1938, a new compact portable typewriter was introduced by the L.C. Smith & Corona Typewriter Company. Called the Zephyr, it was designed to fit under a train seat. It was discontinued in 1942 with the onset of World War Two. In 1949, it was redesigned and reintroduced as the Smith-Corona Skyriter. By the late 1950s, production of the Skyriter had been moved to West Bromwich, England. By 1960, the Skyriter's design was showing its age. David Chase and Philip Stevens were hired to redesign the Skyriter. In 1962, the end result was introduced. The new machine had an all-plastic casing, and a snap-on lid. It was called the Corsair. Later, other model names were introduced, such as the Smith-Corona Cougar, Smith-Corona Zephyr II, Smith-Corona Porta-Typer, Smih-Corona Skyriter, Smith-Corona Star-Riter, just to name a few. In addition to the Smith-Corona models, department store versions were also made, such as the Penncrest Jayvee, Sears Scout, and Sears Tutor. All of these typewriters were identical to the Corsair, with the exception of the Sears Tutor, which had a different ribbon cover, in a v-shape. There was another model, called the Attache, which was a white plastic version of the Tutor, which came in a metal attache case. (All of the other Corsair models came with a snap-on lid.) While most of the typewriters came in either beige or blue, the Tutor was available in a choice of "Medium Blue," or "Hot Coral" (a red-orange shade of pink.) Hot Coral must have been a  relatively unpopular color, as it was discontinued after a year. The Sears versions ended production in 1970, the Corsair in 1979.

The Smith-Corona Corsair in Aqua (photo by Richard Polt)

Smith-Corona Courier C/T (photo Richard Polt)

From 1979 to 1983, the Smith-Corona Courier was manufactured. It was designed to replace the Corsair, but used the same mechanism. Similarly, the Smith-Corona Electra used the same 1938 mechanism.

Sears Tutor Serial Numbers

Here is a table of the serial number ranges for the Sears Tutor portable typewriter. These numbers were provided by Jay Respler of Advanced Business Machines. The Tutor was introduced in 1966, and discontinued in 1969. It was available in a choice of medium blue or "Hot Coral" during 1966, and blue for the other years. 

Year	Lowest	Highest
1966	21000	47915
1967	39000	71945
1968	77000	96431

1938 E.W. Hall ad

From The Seattle Times, September 29, 1938

The typewriter shown is the Deluxe Model O.

My Model O may be from Frederick & Nelson

It should be noted that the "NRA" mentioned in this ad was the 

NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION

(Not the National Rifle Association)

The Dvorak keyboard was developed in Seattle by a University of Washington professor in the early 1930s. This ad was in the Seattle Times, September 9, 1934

University Book Store

The largest dealer of Royal Portable Typewriters in Seattle was the University Book Store, at 4326 University Way Northeast. In fact, it sold so many Royal Portables that the Book Store had a large neon sign installed on their awning, as seen in this 1930 photograph:

Below is an advertisement that appeared in the Brown Section of the Seattle Times on February 11, 1934

Notice that the first name on the list is that of the University Book Store, 4326 University Way.

E.W. Hall, 1111 2nd Avenue

E.W. Hall was Seattle's largest office machine dealer during the 1930s and 1940s. In 1938, Hall's moved from the Burke Building (now the site of the Jackson Federal Building) into the Taft Building, at 1109 2nd Avenue. They moved into their modernized home in 1938. They sold many brands of typewriters, and were the first dealer in Seattle to offer the Hermes portable. They moved out of the Taft Building in 1961. Below are some King County Assessor's photographs of the Taft Building (Courtesy of the Puget Sound Regional Archives):

The Taft Building, as it has looked since its 1970 remodel.

The Taft Building, 1951. For a Sketchup model of this building, go to:
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=db0ae03088d1b6a5d07d189c07d65d0c&prevstart=0

The Taft Building following the move of E.W. Hall. This photograph was taken in 1962.

The second-largest typewriter dealer in Seattle was Lowman & Hanford. However, neither of these dealers sold as many Royal Portable typewriters as the University Bookstore.

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.)