Captive audience

While attending a conference in this brutalist fortress in San Francisco, I found no escape from screens even in the elevator. God forbid that any human should spend a minute without digital information and entertainment! When I looked closer, I found that the elevator screen system has the perfect name.

 

Good mail day.

Now, that's what I call a good mail day.

OK, seven of these nine were waiting for me at Xavier after a month's break, so they didn't all arrive on the same day. But this still makes me feel great to be part of the typosphere.

A Lettera with ALL the trimmings

At the antique mall today, there was nothing rare—just a few Underwoods, a KMM, and a Lettera 22.

But this is a very special Lettera 22—or Lettera 22 package. I didn't buy it, as I really don't need it, but I documented it, because it looks like this machine comes with all the ephemera and accoutrements you could get. Thanks to a meticulous owner who purchased it around the time I became an embryo, it is a true time capsule from 1964.

The little metal stand is included. In its plastic drawer is a Smith-Corona typewriter brush.

The typewriter comes with a cover adorned with the Olivetti logo:

The carrying case is still in great condition. Often the zipper is broken on these.

Here is a little plastic case containing two brushes, an eraser, and an eraser shield.

Underwood-Olivetti Lettera 22 #1435435 was made in Ivrea, Italy, probably in 1964. It types nicely and everything seems to work smoothly. Olivetti had factories in many countries, but typewriter lovers tend to swear by the machines from the original Ivrea plant.

The factory tag is stamped with the serial number and indicates the "100" US keyboard (tastiera), the blue (azzurro) color, the "007" typeface (caratteri) (it's elite—and James Bond's favorite?), and the "AZ 60 AM" carrying case (valigetta). Is Maurer the name of the original owner? I can't say.

Before we get to more Olivetti ephemera, there's this Smith-Corona typing chart with exercises, dated 1925:

The typewriter must have been fresh off the boat from Italy when it was purchased at Shillito's on Monday, March 9, 1964. Shillito's was a major downtown Cincinnati department store, now converted to loft apartments.

Inside this Shillito's paper bag is the original Olivetti paper bag ...

... and some rubber pieces ("wedges" and "washers") that were used to protect the typewriter during shipping ...

... as explained in these instructions.

Here's a label used for shipping from the Underwood warehouse on Long Island to an Underwood dealer in "Cincinatti" (sic). The number 420 7140 doesn't match the serial number on the Lettera, so I'm not sure what's going on here.  

Olivetti bought a controlling interest in Underwood in 1959 and discontinued the Underwood portables. Imported typewriters were branded Underwood-Olivetti (like this one) for a few years, and then Olivetti-Underwood. The full merger was completed in October 1963.

There are two copies of a promotional leaflet. (You can click on all these images for a closer view, by the way.)

Here's the guarantee.

And of course, there is a user's manual. This charming little book doesn't exactly match the various Lettera 22 manuals on my website.

The selling price of $68.00 in 1964 is worthly roughly ten times as much now. I wonder which typewriter was traded in for $28; that was a valuable trade-in!

The price today for this "1950's [sic] Olivetta [sic] Tyrewriter [sic] & Stand" is $225, which I consider a nice deal. If you decide you want to grab it, it's at the Ohio Valley Antique Mall in Fairfield, Ohio, in the "Iowa Ave." aisle.

I hope you've enjoyed this time capsule. Reviewing all these objects gave me an appreciation for the entirety of the experience of buying and using typewriters in their heyday—and for the care shown by the owner of this Lettera 22, who clearly loved and respected this little writing machine.