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| 1978 Olympia B12 6000215 |
Compare the off-white back with the very yellow front.
Hard to believe I've had this for 8 years. Kind of frightening, actually. I don't think I'm that old!
I was eager to experience the wonders of Olympia, but I didn't know at the time what this really was. I think I might eventually do a few other feature posts on some of the typewriters I had collected before I began typecasting. But it's not like I don't have a lack of topics…aside from new typewriter features I have a list of 5 fairly interesting items to write on.
Sent from my Olympia B12
Never paid attention to the B12 but your pics actually make it look good.
ReplyDeleteStop this talk about being old. And I mean, now! (:
It's like all what the Safari should have been. XD As much as the Olympia branding is sadly not very elegant, it all works together fairly well and I'm really fond of the shape of the keys.
DeleteI say that with some amount of silliness, knowing that I'm in the top 5 youngest typospherians. XD
Some? I'd say copious amounts of silliness! (:
DeleteGood comparison with Safari.... makes sense.
The more silly the better? That can't be true. XD
DeleteA comment left on the typewriter database entry on this made the connection for me. I strongly dislike the Safari's looks, yet I'm very fond of this.
Really? I love the Safari's looks, I hate the typing action/feel.
DeleteYeah, Ton is right. Stop calling yourself old or Get Off My Lawn!
ReplyDeleteIt's a pretty good looking model that I haven't paid much attention to. For removing the Wite-Out, I find that Lectra-Motive Electric Parts Cleaner is fast and doesn't damage my typewriters (it's also great for flushing out old grease).
Wow - another post and another gem of useful knowledge. I've seen what I now realize is the silencing wire on Facits, wondering what it was for. And I've got at least one typer that works fine, but has that unpleasant sound on the return. thanks for the link to the article on the Polt Silencer!
ReplyDeleteQuick, time to change the title of my blog to "gems of useful knowledge"!
DeleteI'm really sorry I haven't replied to your last letter. I typed out page one and then forgot all about it! I'm going to pick up where I left of and hopefully get it out by week-end.
I had a B12 at one time. Nice, but I did not like the tinny sound and cheap feeling action. The Nakajima Olympias just do not measure up to the real Olympias made in Germany.
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice looking typewriter. Never seen one. And I DO like your new banner!
ReplyDeleteHurrah. :) I'm rather proud of it myself. Though, it's a little too dominated by one brand. I'll have to mix it up eventually.
DeleteFor mid-sized typewriters, Olympia switched in 1980/1981 from making their own designs to trading in other makers' models. As successors to the Monica, Monica S and Monica de Luxe, and the steel-bodied SM9, they switched to Olympia-labeled Erika and Nakajima machines. The Olympia B12 is identical with the Hermes 305 and German mail-order / department store marques like Brilliant (Neckermann) and Präsident (perhaps Quelle or Kaufhof etc.). This model also exists with Nakajima label. For Olympia the next step was a new body style, Carina, on the same inner works. At about the same time, Triumph-Adler ceased production in Germany of their Gabriele series, and very similar-looking Gabriele machines were made by, yes, Nakajima, on the same Nakajima inner works. Later the exterior was changed to a new style for the machines for Triumph, Adler, and Royal. So internally the machines of various fierce competitors of earlier years were the same, and from the same source: Olympia, Hermes, Adler, Triumph, Royal, the German 'private labels', etc. They presumably all have the same typing feeling! Nakajima also offered a flatter model, also in various body styles, like Adler Tippa etc. Olympia continued with the Olympia-designed Traveller (a.k.a. UNIS tbm) until the 1992 bombs on Sarajevo halted production. (Production of the Traveller range started c.1969 and was shifted c.1970 to UNIS in (then) Yugoslavia; a total of some 2,300,000 was made in some 23 years.)
ReplyDelete