14 May 2013

Underwood and the Golden Touch

1958 Underwood Quiet Tab Ace DC2939927






I will now be adding a simple grading scale to all my posts about new typewriters. It will judge the touch, print quality, aesthetics, and condition of my example. It will be on a 1-6 scale with 6 being nearly unattainable perfection. My Underwood does suffer on the print quality scale, unfortunately.
[EDIT: I have decided against the grading system because I was not being very accurate at all, eventually lumping all the ratings around 5/6. Therefore all ratings are deleted.]

Typed with eager participation of my Underwood Quiet Tab Ace

10 comments:

  1. I'm glad you found a good '50s Underwood portable. They don't have a great reputation, but I've found that the quality varies a lot -- it may be that some of them have a tendency to get out of adjustment over the decades, but those that have stayed properly tuned-up do great work.

    Yes, they did make that cool typeface in elite size -- I've got one.

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    1. I wonder if it would be the ones that stayed in use the longest would be better now, or the ones that were stored away earlier and left with less use.

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  2. Yes, Underwood portables of this "last Gasp" late-50's stage are very nice to type on, and they are quite often found with this unique "slab serif" typeface. I also have one in Elite Slab Serif. It's a keeper! (:

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    1. That elite is absolutely a must-have now! I like how it looks better than my pica version. Also, yours seems to have a bit better print quality, too.

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  3. Caranuba car wax may restore the shine to that gold panel, though you may have a time getting it out of all those little textured crevices.

    I use "Mother's" brand to polish up my enameled machines: it's always startling how much grime it lifts off a supposedly clean, shiny typer.

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  4. Believe it or not, I was the one who sold the Underwood to the Seattle Antiques Market--I am very glad you like it! It was made in September, 1959 (according to Jay Respler). My research on it can be found at:
    http://underwoodresearch.blogspot.com/
    Did you notice the plaid case that it comes in?

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    1. You gave me a momentary scare there! I thought you said you were the one who sold it to me, at first. I couldn't believe such a person could ever be part of the typosphere. I don't know how you dealt with him. o.o

      I dated it to 1958 using the Typewriter Database, but I might have been wrong then. Either way, close.

      Of course I did. :)

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    2. He gets better when you get to know him.

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    3. I've given it a few tries, haha.

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