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| 1955 Smith-Corona Silent-Super 5T 319569X |
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| 197X Smith-Corona Classic 12 6LTV-5622168H |
The light was a bit too strong for these pictures, I think, but you can see the Fuji X10 difference already. :D It handles different light situations better, and has improved detail all 'round.
Produced with my new sans-serif Smith-Coronas
[EDIT] I just realised a few days after posting that right there plainly in the big blue type, an elementary grammar error. It's "Its" not "It's"!
[EDIT] The typeface is actually Numode, not Pica Pride
[EDIT] I just realised a few days after posting that right there plainly in the big blue type, an elementary grammar error. It's "Its" not "It's"!
[EDIT] The typeface is actually Numode, not Pica Pride
What a great find, and funky colors too! :D
ReplyDeleteSo does that 6-pitch Galaxy drive like a truck?
I *love* both of those fonts, and I think those are the first of both samples I've seen from a real machine. It's great that you have them now.
Note: I've noticed that Tower machines are constructed of lesser quality materials in some areas that the equivalent Smith-Corona. I've seen plastic mainspring housings in Towers years before they showed up in Smith-Coronas. The dating on them is still somewhat of a mystery whether they follow the Smith-Corona serial numbers or not.
I love how the browns and oranges started to come out in 70s typewriters, really rich browns rather than the greyish poopy ones of the early 50s. XD (And the revival of woodgrain too! I know some hate it but......)
DeleteDrives more like a tractor, I think! But once you get used to it, it's surprisingly comfortable.
Pica Pride is just so pleasant to read. When I found the Classic 12 I knew that I basically had a choice between two typefaces, the thin one and the bold one and I'm really glad it was the bold one!
It really is a shame since Towers often look better. I haven't noticed a quality gap in the Galaxie style Towers, but I need to get one myself to find out for sure.
Congratulations on those fantastic finds! I have never seen (or at least remember seeing) a white Silent-Super. the type faces on both are wonderful. I set my standards (since buying too many typewriters too quickly) to only those which have special font or other rarity. The Classic 12 is especially nice. SCM had a wide variety of font styles available for those too.
ReplyDeleteI have run across several Classic 12 machines with Gothic and other fonts to my desire yet I have not bid on any. Of teh 2 Classic 12 machines I have I really like them, but they do vibrate (as the carriage moves to the next letter or space) more than any other machines I have.
The larger fonts were popular with broadcasters. Several of the radio stations where I worked had at least 2 of them (one in Sales and one in News) for writing on-air copy. It is much easier to read Sans-Serif font on the fly than any of the serif fonts and the larger the better. Public speakers also liked the machines with larger fonts as they did not need to be as obvious when they glanced at their notes while speaking.
It is the normal beige one, it's just super clean and a bit washed out due to the lighting when I took the photos.
DeleteThe large carriage later Smith-Coronas have kind of a mixed review, in my opinion. They're great to type on but they definitely have that jolt to them. Even more so with the larger typeface.
Hence the name Speech-Riter.
Wow, two excellent finds. Neat!
ReplyDeleteFantastic! And the mixing of the faces on the same typecast (and colors) brings the whole thing to a level of class some of us will never obtain. :-)
ReplyDeleteI couldn't resist! But the ultimate level of class would be as follows:
DeleteAny large typeface for headings. Then....
Olympia Continental Elite with Italic Elite and Congress Elite for emphasis, perfectly lined up both lines and columns. That is something that is probably near impossible to attain. I think I want to do that some day before I die.
I like the large type one, it's awesome. I have a Silent-Super I want to give away but I don't think it's pristine enough for you. It's a normal pica. My first ever rescue from the bins.
ReplyDeleteWith the more common machines I have to be ever so selective or else I'll accumulate them faster than dust can accumulate on them once I've got them...!
DeleteYou are an excellent example of a "lucky fellow". I admire your perseverance though, naturally, am staggered at the rate of your acquisitions. I don't normally like the body style of the 50s Smith Coronas (no offence intended) but it is either the milky cream or the photography that makes it look very good indeed.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I decided to cut back on my aquisitions because I knew they were coming in at too fast a rate, I was thrown into a pit of special typefaces, and those are my weakness. It's like they were just waiting all my life until I said "I guess I just won't be finding any" and decided that was a good time to spring. Yes, there are more to come.
DeleteI've never enjoyed this body style too much in the original colours, but once they got past the green keys and dark dirty-looking paint, they have a nice, rather comforting look to them. It is whiter in the photos than real life, but it definitely is less of a beige and more of a cream than I had expected.
Using those machines in conjunction has worked out very nicely. Such great machines!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how common Smith-Coronas are at all in Australia, but they are probably the most common ones here so if I'm going to buy one, it has to have something special about it!
DeleteMeeeeep! The cream SC has got me knees wobblin'!
ReplyDeleteThe 6CPI Classic 12 is also, very classic. :D
San serif has to be my favourite typeface, congratulations on the awesome finds!
It's quite close to white (I recently found that S-C called it "Antique White"), which really was a surprise to me! I'd always thought these were more tan, looking at other photos.
DeleteThough I think my actual favourite might be Continental Congress Elite, I definitely search out the sans serif typefaces most on typewriters.
I know I'm several years late commenting on this post, but I just found a Smith-Corona Classic 12 with what I believe to be Pica Pride typeface. I think what you have above is Numode, not Pica Pride. Still rare but different from Pica Pride. Notice the small "t" is curved at the bottom and not straight up and down. That's more indicative of a Numode typeface. Great blog. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteA. J., you're right that it's definitely Numode. I also recently picked up a machine with Pica Pride. It's an uncommon typeface. It looks like Smith Corona used Financial Gothic, Olivetti for Elite Pride, and then stretched it horizontally and less vertically to make Pica Pride. I'd like to know more about the machine you found it in. I know someone who would love to find that face an it would help narrow the search.
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