Scheidegger Princess Matic (1950s) with carbon ribbon

 

And here, some pictures of the machine in question:

 

The typeface on this one - you know, I'm really not quite sure. When I used it with regular fabric ribbons, it seemed like a print-like Congress* font. With the carbon ribbon, it looks remarkably like the typeface on the Hermes 3000 I wrote with yesterday. So, does that make this director pica? Or is the Hermes 3000 actually Congress*? Intriguing.

*Congress is the name Olympia gave to their print-like typeface.

The Princess 300 typewriter is a German-made machine, manufactured by Keller und Knappich in Augsburg sometime during the 1950s. Scheidegger, however, was the name of a typing school founded by a Mr. Willy Scheidegger in Zurich, and there were many of them all over Europe. In addition to re-branding several Princess 300 typewriters as Scheidegger Princess-Matic for use in the schools, there were also many Triumph Gabriele typewriters that were re-labeled Scheidegger. 

Between this and the wholly plastic Triumph Gabriele typewriter, there really is no comparison. This is 100% solid metal construction, and we were fortunate to score a specimen in great condition, with a Swiss-German keyboard. The bottom of the case is bolted to the typewriter and forms an impromptu typing mat. It is subtle, though, and nicely fitted.

 

The case is "leather look", and nicely done too, with stitching detail and a sturdy handle.