Typewriters and Typecasting from Winterthur, Switzerland

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Olivetti Graphika – Pictures

Olivetti Graphika - Pictures As promised in my last post, here are some pictures of my Olivetti Graphika. As you can see it is in a pretty good condition with only some minor optical flaws. The colour is the same pistachio green as any other Graephika (unless they are repainted). Besides these pictures, there is also another story involving an Olivetti to type about. I, once again, couldn't resist to make another addition to my collection and I went for another Olivetti, namely a Lettera 32. I got interested in this specific model when I read Richard Polt's recommendations in "The typewriter revolution" and also the "Top 10 Writerly Typewriters" on typewriterreview.com Both rated the Olivetti Lettera 32 among the best choices for portable type- writers. As I already own a Hermes 3000 which is the third best choice according to "Typewriter Review", the Lettera 32 which ranks second was the logical next step. Now I only need to find an Olympia SM9 to get to typewriter heaven. More with and about the Lettera in a next post. Typed on my Olympia Graphika Winterthur, 28. June 2019
28 June 2019 by Stève 1 Comment

The Olivetti Graphika

The Olivetti Graphika As the summer, which already had a difficult start here in Switzerland this year, decided to take another break, I finally found some time for the long promised post on my new Olivetti Graphika. As I wrote earlier, I had to travel to the other side of Switzerland to get this machine, but it was totally worth the effort. As you can see it is perfectly working and even features a fully functional royal blue ribbon, which in my opinion is a perfect fit for this classy typewriter. I've got it directly from its first owner and it included the original dust cover and even the instruction manual (in italian), which is really helpful as it lists the spacing of all letters to make corrections much easier. Typing on this machine is quite pleasant but requires significantly more force compared to my Hermes Ambassador or Hermes 3000 (and of course also than the IBM Selectric, which is a whole different story). But the result compensates for all the work you have to put into it. The typeface, referred to as "Olivetti N.82" in the manual was designed by Imre Reiner who was living in Lugano, just a few kilometers away from where I've got the typewriter, at the time when he designed this font for Olivetti. Even if I slightly prefer the other typeface which was available for the Graphika, the "Olivetti N.81" by A. M. Cassandre, this fact makes it a perfect fit for my machine. Winterthur, 22, June 2019
22 June 2019 by Stève 2 Comments

Win a Letter – Second Hint

Win a Letter - Second Hint As nobody even tried to guess what the "Bellinzona" Machine is, either there is no interest in the price, or the quiz was too difficult. So, here's a new hint: The typewriter is pistachio green. Typed on my Hermes Ambassador. Winterthur, 23 May 2019
23 May 2019 by Stève 5 Comments

Win a Letter

If you followed my last few posts, you might have read about the misterious typewriter whitch I've picked up in Bellinzona and brought back by train. Now before revealing its identity, I'll have a small competition: the first person correctly guessing the brand and model of the "Bellinzona" machine will get the first letter which I'll type whit it, plus a real analogue Polaroid picture of it. First hint: it didn't need to travel too far from the place where it was built to the city where I picked it up. At least another small hint can be found in one of my older posts. Rules: post your answer in the comment section, only one answer per person. If necessary more hints will follow, with the possibility for everybody to have another try. Typed on my IBM 96C with my freshly acquired Light Italic typehead. Winterthur, 19 May 2019
19 May 2019 by Stève Leave a comment

Photo Shooting

I finally found some time to finish my project of taking pictures of all my typewriters. I'll let the images speak for themselves today. More typing, and photos of the surprise I've got in Bellinzona, next time. Typed on my Erika 120 Winterthur, 13 May 2019

My new lime green Hermes Baby

Hermes 3000

Erika 120

13 May 2019 by Stève 2 Comments

Old Railway Technology

Today I was travelling back home from Germany by train. The fastest connection I could find was leading me through the Black Forest region on really small railway lines. I was just reading "The Typewriter Revolution" when I saw this strange and interesting installation at a small station. Probably strongly influenced by my reading, this sight reminded me of the wires used in the Selectrics and the type levers in mechanical typewriters. Only that these cables were some hundreds meters long and moving railway signals instead of types. A nice example of another technical system where the way it works is easily understood, unlike todays black boxes. Typed on my IBM 96C (aka Selectric) Winterthur, 10 May 2019
Railway technology close to Langenbrunn, Baden-Württemberg
10 May 2019 by Stève Leave a comment

A Hermes Baby – and a nice surprise

A HERMES BABY and a nice surprise Didn't I write that I was deciding which of my typewriters I would sell? So why am I typing this on a brand new Hermes Baby (serial number 9436329, which means it was manufactured 1976 or later, which is indeed as close as it gets to "brand new" when talking about a Hermes Baby)? When I was putting my Hermes 808 online for sale, I was a bit sidetracked which resulted in the acquisition of this nice green little machine. It is in almost perfect condition, I just need to get a new ribbon for it. But it got even worse. A much larger Machine which was on top of my whish list since I got into typewriters a few years ago also magically appeared on my screen and then after a nice train ride to Bellinzona and back also in my home. But more about that beauty in n next post. Today only two pictures to prove that it is possible to transport a standard typewriter by train. Winterthur, 4th May 2019
4 May 2019 by Stève Leave a comment

Winterthype is now Monospaced Blog

Winterthype is now Monospaced Blog With the fresh start of my typecasting activities I felt the need for rebranding my blog. The name Winterthype was starting to feel somehow too artificial. Welcome to the Monospaced blog! I have quite a backlog of new topics to type about, while keeping the same concept as before. So make sure to check back here soon, or even simpler, to follow this blog using the button at the end of the page. Typed on my Hermes Ambassador. Winterthur, 28 April 2019
28 April 2019 by Stève 1 Comment

IBM Selectric Foam Removal

25 April 2019 by Stève Leave a comment

Speed Tests

As a part of my process to decide which typewriters to keep, I've performed some speed tests with quite interesting results. I selected a random text with about 70 words and typed it using all of my working typewriters. And here are the results: IBM Selectric: 1:53 min Hermes Ambassodor 2:45 min Hermes 3000: 2:54 min Erika 120: 3:09 min Just to have a benchmark, I compared it with the time it took me to write the same text by hand and on my iMac, with the standard Apple Wireless Keyboard. Pencil: 2:29 min iMac: 1:40 min And then, just for fun, I tried to use the dictation function in macOS Mojave. I stopped this after several attempts which took way more than 3 minutes each to get to the correct text. But I am convinced that this technology will beat any of the other methods soon, once the recognition accuracy gets better. The time required to read the text, even slowly, being just about 40 seconds. So far, I draw three conclusions from these tests: 1.I definitely keep the IBM
2.Fast typing still beats dictation (for now)
3.I should get a decent keyboard for my Mac written on my IBM Selectric Winterthur, 18. April 2019

18 April 2019 by Stève 1 Comment

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