Royal Royalite Ads from The Oregonian

Bremerton Office Machines

My refurbished Royal Quiet Deluxe, which is from Bremerton Office Machines

Mr. Montgomery was reluctant to put this sticker on this typewriter.

I recently purchased a refurbished Royal Quiet Deluxe from Bremerton Office Machines. Bremerton Office Machines is operated by Robert Montgomery, who has run his shop since 1948. His father operated a typewriter shop beginning in 1908. During World War Two, he repaired typewriters while serving with the United States Army. He had the opportunity at the end of the war to tour the Olympia factory (later Optima) in Eastern Germany. According to Mr. Montgomery, Olympia's employees were moving as much of the machinery from that factory to their factory in Wilhelmshaven (in Western Germany). Olympia's typewriters had all of their parts machined, to make them smoother, while Optima's parts were not. It took the owners of Optima typewriters about three years of use for the parts to become as smooth as those of the Olympia.

Originally from Tacoma, Montgomery went to high school at Broadway High School in Seattle. He worked as a typewriter and adding machine repairman as a teenager before getting drafted by the Army soon after the United States joined World War II. He fixed typewriters for eight months at Camp Beale, Calif. before seing sent to Utah for training. After that, he spent a few years fixing typewriters at the Allied Headquarters in London - a job Montgomery calls the “chairborne infantry - swivel chairs, that is.” (Lynsi Burton, Bremerton Patriot, March 4, 2011) The full article is here: 

http://www.bremertonpatriot.com/news/117441173.html

Bremerton Office Machines is on the fifth floor of this building, which was completed in 1947.

Royal Quiet Deluxe ads, 1951-1952

 These ads appeared in The Seattle Times between 1951 and 1952. 

Royal Sahara Typewriter

What could this be?

 Open the three latches...

Lift up the top

It's a 1964-1965 Royal Sahara, in Pewter Gray!

This typewriter was only made for two years. (I think that this is because of the ridiculously round case, and the fact that it is essentially a Royal Safari, which sold for $20 less when it was new) Most of these typewriters are found in Royal's wedge-shaped case--the round case has a flimsy-seeming handle, and was not originally designed to be a typewriter case; it has a cushion that was placed in it by the factory to hold the machine in place. 

This was the standard Sahara ad that appeared in countless newspapers.  The case weighs roughly the same as Royal's more standard case.

Refurbished Royal Quiet Deluxe, 1951

This typewriter was manufactured in 1951, but has been thoroughly refurbished, to the point that it feels brand-new. 

I purchased my Quiet Deluxe from Bremerton Office Machines, located on the fifth floor of this building. My typewriter even came with a six-month warranty. 

This is the well-hidden dealer label on this machine. 

Bremerton Office Machines was founded in 1948, by Robert Montgomery. Sixty-five years later, Mr. Montgomery is still repairing typewriters. His father sold Underwoods, opening his shop in 1908. His website is http://www.typespec.com/typwrs.html . He wholeheartedly recommends the Royal Quiet Deluxe as a typewriter. He told me that the basic mechanical design goes back to the late 1920s. He also told me a story about Royal's fiberglass typewriter cases. The cases were custom ordered from a luggage manufacturer; each one cost Royal $24. Royal sued the manufacturer over the quality of the cases (they did not last well under heavy use)

If you are ever in the market for a refurbished typewriter, and are in the Bremerton, Washington area, check out Bremerton Office Machines.

1957 Smith-Corona Instruction Manual

This instruction manual came with my 1957 Smith-Corona Silent-Super. I hope it is useful to the owners of Smith-Corona Portables (in Holiday Cases) (For more on the Holiday Case, go to http://oztypewriter.blogspot.com/2012/10/on-this-day-in-typewriter-history-case.html )

Smith-Corona Skyriter

Notice the masking tape on the space bar. I taped the space bar to add traction to it--the space bar on Skyriters tends to be a little slippery for my taste.