Posted 4 years ago
Daisy1000
(122 items)
Royal Arrow Typewriters — 1930s & 1940s. Made in Canada. Both work very well in 2020, almost a century after manufacture. Actually they are both in near perfect condition. The darker typewriter is a prewar (WWII) machine; the lighter gray machine was manufactured postwar, approximately 1948.
Royal typewriters were among the most sought machines, by office workers ... and others in Canada and the United States, in the decade after WWII. Though the Arrow is often stated to be the favourite typewriter of American author Ernest Hemingway, it is truly the Royal Quiet Deluxe that Hemingway preferred; a visit to the Hemingway Key West House on Whitehead Street will show the QD in the above carriage house study where the Nobel Prize-winning author worked during his years in Florida. The Royal Typewriter Company was one of the longest lasting typewriter companies.
Great classic typewriters, wonderful finds. My dad was a Navy radioman (Morse code operator) in the Korean war, he learned to type on a manual like this and could go very fast on those hard strike keys!
Like everyone who ever dealt with one of these their's a story..They are a piece of history in so many ways ..nice save
Jenni — My, that sounds like such an interesting career. Morse code operators were highly skilled individuals. The Canadian Navy employed a great lot of women as such during WWII, and overall navy jobs for women were substantially more interesting, provided more opportunities for advancement than were the jobs for women in other branches of the services, during that earlier war. One of the more recent Vice Presidents of CN Rail up here states that it was his learning of Morse code, his only post-high school education that set him on his CN career path. So, good on your dad.
Alleycat1 — You are so right. And I think that there is possibly a 1940s - 1950s female steno pool (bonding/supportive) culture that occurred along with the click clicking ... that hasn’t really been well-explored in print or film. (Dolly Parton et al “9 to 5” culture came later, was empowered in a somewhat different way, and was electrified and feminism aware.) Thanks for your comment.
Thanks for the Loves:
AlleyCat1
fortapache
Newfld
Brunswick
EJW-54
I think I was trained on a manual typewriter, but truth is I cannot remember. Very cool machines !~
PhilD — Interesting. It likely depends on where you were, as much as anything. Our typing classes were on electrics, which were definitely easier to use. These two are a bit of a workout. Thank you.
Thanks for the Love, Trey.