Saturday, August 27, 2011

A Dry Spell at the Markets

Incredible but true: for the past couple of weeks, there has been virtually nothing to be found, typewriter-wise, at our flea market. What happened, you may ask? Well, it's August (vacation month), and it's been pretty hot. Many of the vendors are not showing up, and those who do come cower under umbrellas and complain about how the heat is driving away their customers.

A couple of weeks ago, these stenotype machines were all we found after combing the whole market... they count as typewriters, sort of, right?

And then last week, there was this - a bright orange Triumph electric typewriter. Looks just like the Contessa I once had, but bigger.

There was also this Hermes Baby that I considered for a good while, but ultimately decided I was having Hermes Baby fatigue! It was even harder to tear myself away once I discovered the techno typeface, but willpower prevailed in the end.

Disappointed with the yield of typewriter sightings at the flea market, I resorted to the thrift store, which turned up this Adler Gabriele 3000, with Italian qzerty keyboard.

You know it's a slow news day when this is my most interesting find: an Olympia Monica, which is just like an SM-5, but without the tab function.

And that is it! Today, we're off to try our luck at one of Switzerland's largest flea markets. I don't necessarily hope to buy anything, but maybe I'll come back with lots of pictures or at the very least, an interesting story to tell...

6 comments:

  1. Good luck! It's fun to see your finds even if they're not take-home-worthy.

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  2. Indeed! Dry spells are inevitable, but you always bring back interesting photos (:

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  3. Interesting photos indeed! Here in the Chicago, IL area there just isn't much at all to be had in the way of typers at flea markets. Actually, there isn't much anywhere else around here either. Count yourself lucky to have such a steady stream, all things considered! And keep those pictures coming!

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  4. I keep finding electrics.
    but I did pick up an Underwood Leader today.
    What does the key with four dots do?

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  5. pretty sure it's Margin Release.

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  6. I am so happy I found your photo of an Olympia Monica! I bought mine last May and being the "newbie" in the collecting scene, I was doubtful that it was an authentic Olympia because of the seemingly out of place Monica plate. It seemed like it was just added on later by the repairman or something. My Olympia has German umlauted vowels according to Mr. Polt but not the German QWERTZ arrangement.

    How I wish finding a good typewriter is also easy here in our country. My hands are itching to own a script font one.

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