Monday, August 17, 2015

Typewriter Safari: Royal Flatbed


I have been continuing my search for typewriters in "the wild." I just came back from a fantastic trip with my family to New Mexico and the southern tip of Utah (Arches & Canyonlands National Parks). My wife and daughter were tolerant enough to let me stop at the GoodWill in Santa Fe with the promise that I would take charge of bringing a typewriter back on the plane as carry on luggage. I never found a portable but did find a Royal FP in Santa Fe that looked to be in great shape but it was way too heavy to carry on a plane. It's a shame because I had fantasies of re-painting a Smith Corona Super 5 in southwestern colors. Back at home, I did come across a very interesting Royal Flatbed in Heidi Harvey's shop Seasoned Antiques. She was nice enough to let me take a picture which I took home to do a bit of typewriter research. The machine turns out to be either a Royal 1 or a Royal 5 - one of the earliest of the Royal line. I wish I had gotten a shot of its front so I could have identified it by its label. The machine needed work but was in pretty good shape with the carriage sluggishly moving as I typed on the space bar. I'll leave this machine for you to find in Waterbury, Vermont as the price was higher than my $5 - $10 target and the machine would need more caring than I knew I could provide. Still, pretty nice example of a very early Royal!

4 comments:

  1. I love the look of the Royal flatbeds - I hope to bring one home someday.

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  2. I'm thinking it's a Royal 1, as the decal on the side doesn't match that of my Royal 5.

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  3. Yep. That's a late Royal flatbed one. These guys can sell for quite a bit, and you are unlikely to get one for $5 to $10.

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  4. It's going for just under $200 if anyone is interested. Not in my budget right now!

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