Sunday, January 08, 2012

Smith-Corona Electra 220 with power return!


18 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:28 PM

    Love this, Cam! I have wonderful memories of my own electric typewriter and also of hearing my dad's whirring into the night as he wrote his book in his downstairs office. Power return! Yes!

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  2. GREAT design! This is the Cadillac of the Typewiters!
    Max

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  3. I haven't seen this SC model in this color before. Looks nice. I had a similar model for a while and I was also very impressed with the power return. Yep, power indeed!

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  4. Very nice typewriter! The typeface is also beautiful.

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  5. I love all the details, especially the "power" light. It's great that this find, at Christmastime, brings back such fond memories.

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  6. That is a great looking machine! The color combination is nice and I love the chrome and fake wood combination. It reminds me of the dashboard of a late '60s muscle car.

    The pilot light is kind of fun. I suppose hearing impaired users might want a confirmation that the machine is running; that is if the vibration didn't give it away! I wonder how hard it would be to add an analog voltmeter in the middle of the dash. Inquiring minds would want to know when the house current drops below 115V.

    Do you suppose the "flying return" is intentional, or should there be a rub strip slowing it down? My guess is the latter, but who knows what its engineers were thinking 40 years ago.

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  7. Just watch where you have the coffee cup sitting when you hit the power return.

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  8. What an interesting design, definitely halfway between the traditional machines and the fixed-platen, moving-carriage designs that would come later.

    That's a very nice find, indeed. Alas, we didn't have an electric machine when I was growing up, so all my homework projects and many a tax-return filings were made on a Olivetti Studio 46; but now that I've got my hands on a Smith-Corona like the one you got as a Christmas present, I wish we had invested in one of those machines back in the day. Surely it would have made the typing a lot less tiring.

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  9. Very nice!

    My manual Galaxie Deluxe has the Power Space, which I just love to push. Every now and then, I have to double-check and make sure its not plugged in:)

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  10. This one reminds me very much of my Coronet Automatic 12 machine, which does not have a power light and lacks the power space, but does have a power return. I do agree that that sudden catapult of the carriage when you press the power return is quite jarring the first few times. I kind of like it, though. It does seem pretty forceful, and now that you mention it I hope mine holds up as well.

    They are nice to type on, though, right? I love the little keys on the Smith Corona electrics.

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  11. I love the typeface on this one; it feels familiar somehow but is different from the usual pica. A bit low and broad, print-like, and nicely readable.

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  12. It's lovely! I like the jewel!

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  13. scott Olsen9:12 PM

    I've got one just like it...had it since it was new. This machine is actually circa 1972, not 1968.

    I don't miss typewriters though--not after typing 20 page term papers and finding out you've left out a word on page two.

    I do remember one thing--the power return was so strong that I had to duct tape the typewriter feet to my desk to keep it from sliding around.

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    1. Thanks for the manufacture date correction, Scott.

      Yes, the power return is indeed strong; needlessly so. If I ever use this machine for extended writing sessions, I will probably do it manually.

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  14. This machine will last forever. The entire typewriter is driven by one rubber belt. I have a similar model the SC "Super Correct". Should your belt break you can fix it yourself. I was fortuate to run across a great old man who has parts for all these dinosaurs. You'll his website, tons of info. No, I am not he.

    These machines will outlast you and I. Don't worry about the strong Power Return... that's a good sign.

    Check out the man who keeps all my relics going:

    www.willrepairservice.com/

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    1. oops, typo! Should read: "You'll love his website..."

      Ted

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  15. And, the two keys with white trim are interchangeable keys/typeface making it even more interesting. Mine does not have tem. But my 220 is cursive.

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  16. I had one just like this, which I bought from a local insurance company. They had bought it, to see if it could replace all the manual typewriters in the office. Like a dummy, I sold it to buy a Selectric, which I still have. A couple of years ago I bought an SCM Electra 12, with manual return. I love the cast metal ribbon cover, and the way it opens. Both of them are same color as yours.

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