Thrift Store Traipsings, Bern

This is (or was) my sewing machine - plastic fantastic does not even begin to describe it. Cute in a peculiar way, but felt - and behaved - more like a toy than anything one could do serious work on. Definitely the Olivetti MS-25 of sewing machines, when what I needed was a Studio 44, if you know what I mean.

Given the space constraints at home, I had in mind something small and portable as a replacement sewing machine, and the Bern stores did not disappoint, turning up at least three Elna Grasshoppers. This one seemed to have a rather antiquated plug, and I wasn't sure whether we could get it working. The thing about buying from a thrift store is there isn't much chance of trying out your (electrical) purchase. Typewriters are much less complicated that way.

This seemed to have a more modern plug, but then I started asking myself questions about the knee bar (most later sewing machines have a foot pedal). How did that work? Would I hate it? I didn't want to carry this all the way to Geneva and realize I didn't care for it. Besides, at $50, it wasn't all that inexpensive - a fair price, I'm sure, but I felt that after a tiring day of thrift store hopping, it had to be a really good deal to justify the effort of carrying it all the way back (while they are small, the all-metal construction and case results in a pretty hefty machine). Anyway, I have seen Grasshoppers in the Geneva market and I was confident that if I really wanted one, it would turn up closer to home eventually.

So we left Bern without a sewing machine, but I was satisfied with my sightings. There was a Bernina somewhere on this shelf (bottom right, large green suitcase):

And for a very reasonable price of $30. But by then I didn't feel like dragging it out and examining it, as a newbie to sewing machines I wasn't sure what I would be looking for (and how to test it thoroughly, assuming the store would let me), and if I had thought the Elna was heavy, this was much bulkier. Also, my goal was to avoid a space hog and this seemed much too large.

But, what do we have here, next to the sewing machines? Lots of typewriters! Indeed, I have noticed many thrift stores keep them close together. There wasn't anything on the shelves that I felt like photographing closely; all of them are fairly common: Hermes Ambassador, plastic Hermes 3000, Hermes Standard 4, a couple of electrics. Also a Lettera 35 just out of the frame, I think.

We found this in another part of the same store, and I thought it was definitely worth photographing: this was my first time finding a Studio 46 in the wild! I had not realized how much like a Lettera 35 its case is, and that the body of the typewriter is all-metal. Peculiar styling, though, and not really to my taste (sorry, Ton), although I can appreciate the lovely blue color.

On the other end of the Olivetti spectrum, the same store also offered a Studio 42 for the highly optimistic price of $100. Especially considering that the paintwork on this was in the worst condition of possibly any typewriter I have ever come across. A closer look:

Yikes.

A quick run-down of the other sightings: I thought it was fun how this thrift store had nicely integrated typewriters into their office furniture display.

The first typewriter is a Hermes standard, and there was also a wedge-shaped Brother electric, a plastic Hermes 3000 (techno typeface), and an Adler Primus:

Another desk displayed an Orga Privat:

And a Remington Noiseless Standard:

In another store we sighted this fluorescent orange electric Facit:

And that was it for the Bern sightings. I didn't purchase any machines, but the nice thing about sewing is that one can always find useful odds and ends in any thrift store, so my trip wasn't wasted - I came home with a few lengths of fabric to play with.

Remington Portable No. 1 - During and After

Some of you are wondering whether the red Remington Portable No. 1 in the previous post is actually a custom paint job - the answer is yes! I am glad the end result looks nice enough to pass for original, though, and indeed I wanted a red one because I knew there had been some red No. 3s made that I liked the look of, but my chances of finding one of those in the wild here are slim to none.

When I told J I thought the original scratched black finish of this typewriter (as I said, it seemed as though a previous owner had been at the logo with steel wool, completely obliterating it) would look better painted over in red, he whipped off the case so quickly I barely had time to take "before" pictures.

So here are a few blurry pictures taken in progress - this is the body of the typewriter, nowhere near as bad as the ribbon cover, though.

Still, it would have looked half-hearted to paint just the ribbon cover, so we did the rest of it too. There is a two-tone effect at the back I will have to show you sometime, as J masked off the Remington logo in order not to paint over it.

Here it is immediately after the paint cured and J put it back together. Ever the perfectionist, he wasn't 100% happy with the result (apparently he had not let the paint dry completely between coats and there were a few areas where that showed), but I think on the whole it looks very nice and your comments reflect that!

Like Peter, I wonder how this will hold up with regular use - so far I have not held on to the other typewriters we painted (the infamous Lettera 35 and a Hermes Baby in 2010), but I have no plans to part with this one just yet, so we shall be able to see how the paint ages.

Seeing Red

Typing this post, I realized why we were able to get this typewriter so inexpensively - the right shift key is missing! I suspect it broke off at some point, since there is a discernible, but subtle "scar". It makes for an interesting typing experience - not ideal, but tolerable for a few sentences. Oh well, at least the paint job matches the small vinyl case for brushes that came with it.

There were better pictures taken, but it seems I accidentally deleted them from the SD card before saving. Oh, well, these will do for now. The paper table was left intact as J couldn't figure out how to get to it. Also, the carriage return lever was salvaged from a Lettera 35 parts machine, as the original one was broken.

Next up for a coat of red paint is this Remington Portable No. 1.

This is a slightly less common model than the Lettera 32, but the original paint work was quite scratched up and the decal was gone entirely - a previous owner seems to have been handy with steel wool...

The metal tray underneath the keys (which pops up to type) was left black. The inspiration for this paint job was Alan Seaver's excellent two-tone Parnelli Monarch, which is well worth a gander if you haven't seen it already.