A Royal Start to the New Year

Greetings and salutations, and a Happy New Year! There has been a bit of a quiet spell around here, but I hasten to assure you all that it was a comfortable silence, not a sinister one, in which I sat back affably and took stock of my various hobbies, doing a bit of this and a bit of that, and sighing wistfully when the holidays ended and it was time to return to work. Ah, well.

There have been a few stories from last year that I never did get around to telling...

In October, for instance, I received a letter from fellow Swiss typewriter collector Herr Alfred Wepf, in which he expressed a desire to have the Armenian Royal Quiet de Luxe I had left behind, as you may remember from this post.  Now, I myself had little use for it, and even though a couple of other typospherians were intrigued, it seemed a bit hard to justify for them as well. But Alfred was smitten, so I returned to the store on a rescue mission... and there was the case, just where I had left it.

After bringing it home, I took the opportunity to take a few photographs before shipping it off. Here is a look at the label affixed to the inside of the case... as you can see, it was originally sold in New York.

It was just as well-maintained as I had gathered from my first impressions, with the exception of a few baby dust bunnies here and there. I don't have one of these tombstone Royals myself, so I was glad to get a closer look and try it out.

The winter light was not exactly ideal, but I did my best. Quite a handsome machine, and a pleasure to photograph!

I actually held on to this for quite a while before sending it. Partly because I wanted Alfred to receive it for Christmas, as a surprise gift. So a week before the 25th, I brought home a large moving box and a good amount of cardboard, and wrapped it all up. In my haste, however, I forgot to add a card...

And so while Alfred did receive this in time for Christmas, he also sent me, quite unbidden, payment for it. Sigh. If you're reading this, Herr Wepf - the next foreign language typewriter I find will be sent to you as a real gift, and this time I won't forget to include a note :D

Of course, I took a few typing samples before she left:

I merely did a run through of all the letters, in both upper and lower case.

Here is a closer look.

The type slugs didn't need much cleaning, either.

Fare thee well, Royal, and here's to wishing you a very happy 2013 playing a starring role in Herr Wepf's fabulous collection!