Came into possession of a stunning Underwood Standard No. 6
typewriter. Thought I had been
transported back to 1931, the year of manufacture for this example. The typewriter came with cover, manual,
and looks like it had just been shipped from the factory yesterday.
I found the machine while browsing on Craig’s list. The single image of the typewriter was not of
good quality but even so, it looked very clean.
The seller had $40 on the typewriter and was located some 45 miles south
of me in a rural area.
I called the seller and after a couple of minutes I quickly
felt that this would be a desirable purchase.
Apparently the seller goes to estate sales and purchases items that
appeal to him. He then re-sells those
items. The Underwood had belonged to a
wealthy man who recently died, in a small town south of Kansas City. The items had been located inside the
dwelling and very well kept. The seller
stated that a couple of other people were coming the next morning to see the
typewriter. I knew I could not get there
for a day or so. I made the decision to
buy sight unseen. I obtained the sellers
PayPal account and bought the Underwood.
I drove to pick up the typewriter which the seller had in
his rental storage locker. I removed the
typewriter cover and could not believe what I saw, a new typewriter.
Back home I looked carefully to ensure that this was not a
restored machine. The NO. 6 was latterly
new in every way. The platen was soft
and had no marks. Paint was
undamaged. Nickeling was perfect with no
rust anywhere on the typewriter. It is
obvious that this typewriter had just barely been used and had been stored its
whole life carefully in a climate controlled environment. The only thing is that the ribbon was
absolutely dry.
I am very pleased with this find. More to come...................
Wow. I've never even seen an Underwood Standard in that good condition before! It'd make me want to break my no-standards rule. Just a bit.
ReplyDeleteThat's in amazing condition! What a great find (:
ReplyDeleteI know. I keep looking all over this machine, afraid I will find indications of restoration. Nothing so far.................
ReplyDeleteWhat a ripper of a machine! Beautiful. Something to be treasured!
ReplyDeleteYou really scored on that one. The condition is unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteNice No.6....I also just picked one up, thought it was complete, but it does not have the side closeout panels which represented a style change from the open frame machines.
ReplyDelete