the magnificent andersons - etcetera onlineetconline.org/backissues/etc026.pdf · the magnificent...

ETCetera #26 / March,1994 / 1

No. 26 ----- March, 1994

ETCetera Magazine of the EarlyTypewriter Collectors Association

The Magnificent Andersons

CONTENTSEditor’s Notes ...................... 2Anderson Shorthand TW ..... 3Cocoon for Shipping............ 6New Worlds ......................... 8Int’l. News ......................... 10Medley of Munsons ........... 10Letters ................................ 11Ads ..................................... 11Ribbon Tin Roundup ......... 12

Anderson’s Shorthand Typewriter, Ser. #807Full Story, p. 3

2 / ETCetera #26 / March, 1994

ETCeteraMagazine of the EarlyTypewriter Collectors

Association

Mar., 1994No. 26

Editor,Address ChangesDARRYL REHR

2591 Military Ave.Los Angeles, CA 90064

(310)477-5229

German SummariesSiegfried Snyder

2018-2020 James St.Syracuse, NY 13206

(315)479-6162

ISSN 1062-9645©1994 by The Early Typewriter

Collectors AssociationPublished four times per year in

March, June, Sept. & Dec.$15/yr North America

$20 overseas

Longtime collector/writer PaulLippman decided to end publication ofhis The Type Writer late last year. TTWwas the successor to Type Writer Times,which was the journal of the late“Anglo-American” collectors’ club. Atone time, this was an all-British ven-ture, but after a succession of editors, noone in England was willing to take thehelm of the club newsletter. Paulstepped in, and the group added“Anglo” to its name to accomodate thestate of things. Later, things failed towork out with the club, so Paul createdthe successor publication and issued iton his own.

We’ve all enjoyed Paul’s work, ad-vice and companionship over the years.While we’re sorry to see his magazine

end, take heart. Paul promises to keephis typewriter going, producing articleson into the future. We welcome Paul asa regular contributor and hope to see hiswork in ETCetera for a long time tocome.

†††

Can anyone guess the origin of thisillustration?

It appears to be a Williams musictypewriter, a previously undocumentedmachine of which no known examplesexist. Music typewriters, of course,were often adapted from alphabetic ma-chines, but until now, we’ve not heardof a Williams version. The pad inkingsystem would have been advantageousfor music writers, giving very clearimpressions.

The picture contains a hidden, orperhaps not-so-hidden clue to its truenature. If you don’t see it, see page 11for the answer.

†††

You read about it in ETCetera first!The Guiness Book of Records is nowplaying catch-up. Here’s a quote fromthe 1994 edition:

“Earliest Recordings The oldest exist-ing recording was made in 1878 byAugustus Stroh, but it remains on themandrel of his machine and has neverbeen played. The oldest playable recordis believed to be an engraved metalcylinder made by Frank Lambert in1878 or 1879 and voicing the hours onthe clock. The recording is owned byAaron Cramer of New York City.”

Frank Lambert, of course, was theinventor of the Lambert Typewriter.

The story of the famous recording wastold in ETCetera No. 21 (Dec., 1992).Lambert recorded the hours on theclock, because his device was madeunder anwith Thomas Edison to develop a “talk-ing clock” based on Edison’s originalphonograph.

†††

If you haven’t heard yet from BillKortsch, of Riverside, CA, you prob-ably will. Kortsch’s wife is a member ofthe Sholes family (via one of C.L.’sbrothers), and so he has been energeti-cally seeking out any machines with theSholes name, not to mention just aboutanything else! He’s probably one of themost enthusiastic new collectors tocome along in a long time. He’s alreadyassembled an impressive collection,and it’ll only get better.

†††

Try this! A Kee Lox ribbon tin in mycollection claims it will make 100,000impressions of the letter “e” withoutfill ing the type. Ready?eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....

†††

In print: collectible typewriterswere the featured subject of a coverstory for The Antique Trader’s finalissue of 1993. The resulting responsebrought in a number of new members tothe ETC, and we welcome them.

EDITOR’S NOTES

URGENT!U.S. members have an NBC

boycott postcard enclosed in thisissue’s mailing. Please fill it out,put a 19¢ stamp on it and mail it.And when May comes around...don't watch NBC. Strike a blow fordecent labor conditions. NBC maypay its big stars millions of dollars,but it treats the rest of its employeeslike dirt. Here’s your chance to takeaction... and help.


Any typewriter collector who’s browsed through thepopular magazines of the 19th century has probablynoticed the occasional ad with a cut of a strange machineand the headline, “FASTER THAN SHORTHAND.”The ad is for the Anderson Shorthand Typewriter, thefirst such machine to print one word at a stroke, aprinciple eventually adopted as standard for machinestenographers.

There are a few Anderson machines scattered amongcollectors, and Larry Wilhelm’s discovery of the oneseen on our cover (Ser. # 807) prompts a closer look.What we find is a series of many different machinesissued by a professional reporter of unusual energy andindependence, who was a pioneer in his field and a manwho never stopped experimenting.

We begin the story with a patent filed in 1884 andgranted in 1885 to George Kerr Anderson of Memphis,Tennessee. This first of Anderson’s designs was a 13-keymachine printing stenographic symbols on a roll of paper.Each of the user’s ten fingers rested on one key. Twoextended keys were depressed by the heel of the hand, andone key, in the center, was depressed by the knuckle ofeither thumb (ouch!). Throughout his career, Andersonwent to great lengths to use the entire anatomy of thehand.

In a letter written to The Phonographic World in 1892,Anderson himself tells us this, his first machine, wasnever built, saying, “The ‘Reporting Machine’ patentedby me in 1885, was soon after transferred to a stockcompany, which buried it so completely that it has neverbeen heard from since.”

Anderson’s second machine, and first to be produced,was the “Shorthand Typewriter,” of which he wrote,“...my first ship having been ‘scuttled by its crew,’ I havegiven stock companies a wide berth, and no corporation,wealthy or otherwise, has invested one cent in ‘pushing’the ‘Shorthand Typewriter.’” Anderson’s attitude is im-portant. By pursuing his enterprise as an individualentrepreneur and limiting his association with outsideinvestors, production proceeded on a small-scale, per-haps explaining why the Anderson machine is relativelyrare today.

The second design was patented in 1889. It had 14keys and printed the Roman alphabet. Now, there werefour extended keys, operated by the heels of the hands(the thumb-knuckle key was gone). The keys had their

Fig. 2 - drawing from Anderson patent, July 28, 1885

Fig. 3 - drawing from Anderson patent, Sept. 10, 1889

letters indicated on little “tabs” so they wouldn’t be hidden byfingers resting on the keys. Finally, the machine printed bypressing blank type rods against a type plate, not unlike thefamous Hammond typewriter.

A brochure accompanying the Wilhelm machine showswhat is apparently the first model (Fig. 4), a solid devicemounted on a wooden base, and called the “Model of 1889.” Anillustration in Ernst Martin’s Die Schriebmaschinen shows asimilar model on what appears to be an ornamented metal base.I know of no specimens of either surviving today. A 1942 articlein The National Shorthand Reporter says Anderson sold thefirst model mostly by mail, operating from Memphis, where helived when his patent was filed.

While in Memphis, Anderson met a businessman fromLynn, Massachusetts, who bought into the enterprise. As aresult, Anderson moved to Boston, where an improved machinewas produced. The Wilhelm machine is apparently an example.

Fig. 1- Anderson ad from Harper’s, July, 1893by Darryl Rehr

THE ANDERSONSHORTHANDTYPEWRITER


Fig. 5 - Anderson ill ustrations in “ Die Schriebmaschinen.” Left: early,ornamented machine. Right: shift key machine of 1897.

On the base is the label reading “Anderson’s ShorthandTypewriter, Made and Sold by G.K. Anderson, Boston,Mass., U.S.A.” The base is metal, configured in a veryattractive design.

Taking things chronologically, the next model we see isthe machine shown in the 1893 ad (Fig. 1), which, we’ll callthe “folding machine.” Here’s why. An example (ser. #1444) is owned by Mike Brooks of Oakland, CA (Fig .6).Anyone comparing the photo and the ad will see some bigdifferences. This is because the extended keys on the 1893machine were made to fold in half, so the whole device couldbe put into a compact case. The photo shows the keysextended, the ad shows them folded. In his letter to Phono-graphic World, Anderson says, “At first [the] machine wasopen to the objections of weight and bulk, but within a year,these disadvantages have disappeared, so that now its case iseven smaller than that of the ‘Stenograph.’” Since the firstmodel came out in 1889, this would indicate a 1890 date forthe folding model, and perhaps a late 1889 date for theBoston machine. The Stenograph, if you don’t know, was anearlier shorthand machine that printed one letter at a strokethrough a code of dashes (see ETCetera #16).

According to The National Shorthand Reporter,Anderson’s next major development was a machine pat-ented in 1897, but other evidence shows there were manyinterim models based on the earlier patents. Serial No. 1604(Fig. 7), now in the collection of Tom Russo, is essentiallysimilar to the folding machine, but with different keytopshapes. Then, there is Serial # 2299 (Fig. 8) from the Brookscollection, with a different base and keyboard layout. Thismachine appears to correspond to a Scientific Americanillustration in 1893 as well as a magazine ad of 1895 (Fig. 10,left). Another magazine ad from 1896, shows yet anothervariation (Fig. 10, right). Finally, a third machine in theBrooks collection (Ser. # 6005) shows a still differentkeyboard layout and a different base, with markings show-ing New York as the machine’s origin (Fig. 9).

The Anderson patent of 1897 shows a new machine,similar in appearance to the third Brooks machine, but verydifferent in nature. A cut of this machine appears in Martin,and is adapted from a photo in an 1897 issue of Scientific

Fig. 6- Anderson machine, ser. #1444 (Brooks coll.)

American. This must have been a remarkable device indeed.In its 1942 article The National Shorthand Reporter de-scribed it as, “undoubtedly the most fascinating shorthandmachine ever invented, for it made possible the recording ofspeech in notes that could be read by any literate person.” Asin other machines, the ends of key levers pressed against atype plate, but on this machine, the type plate was dividedinto three sections:

Sixteen printing keys were operated by the three middlefingers and thumbs, while four shift keys were operated bythe pinkies and outer edge of the hand. The shifts operatedeach of the three type segments independently. Andersondeliberately arranged the letters to occur as they most fre-quently do in spelling, and with such a variety of combina-tions at the user’s command, virtually any word could beprinted (essentially one syllable at a time) and read byanyone willing to tolerate the expedient misspelling. Noshorthand code was needed.

A tantalizing remark in the NSR states, “These machineswere more difficult to manufacture and to operate than those

Fig. 4- Illustration from Andersonbrochure, 1889


Fig. 9- Anderson machine, ser. #6005(Brooks coll.)Fig. 7- Anderson machine, ser. #1604 (Russo coll.)

Fig. 8- Anderson machine, ser. #2229 (Brooks coll.)

of the code type. Only a few were sold, and it is quite possiblethat the shift-key machine now [Apr., 1942] operated byAnderson in his reporting work is the only one of this designnow in use.”

It seems quite remarkable that this brief survey whichincludes five machines in private collections should revealno two machines exactly alike. Though not conclusive, thisevidence points to a wide diversity in Anderson machines,something never before documented.

There is room for much more work in discovering thenature of the Anderson machines, and as readers commenton this article, we’ll accumulate additional information anddo a future follow up. The National Shorthand Reporter tellsus that George Kerr Anderson was quite a remarkablefellow, who kept working well into his old age. The conclud-ing paragraph from the NSR article reads, “Although thekeyboards of his various machines differed greatly fromeach other, he became proficient in the operation of each,and with the development of new models he promptly forgotthe old keyboard and learned to use the new one. From thetime he applied for his first patent until the present–almost

sixty years–he has been actively reporting conventions of allkinds, some of the most technical nature, and doing it well.”

Fig. 11- Drawing from Anderson patent, Apr. 27, 1897


Step 2:Cut out corners of cardboard as shown,close to the corners of machine’s base.

Step 3:Curl up front and rear flaps, folding themagainst the machine’s surface. At thispoint, stuff newspaper into the machine'scavities to keep parts from rattling duringshipment.

Step 1:Cut open a carboard box and lay it flat.Put the machine in the center.

What? No case? Then, make...

For ShippingYour Typewriter

A Cardboard

Cocoon

Cut outcorners


Step 4:Press front and rear flaps closed and securelywrap tape all the way around the folded frontand back flaps and the package bottom. Thenstuff some more newspaper in from the sidesto add extra cushioning between the carboardand the machine.

Step 5:Fold the two side flaps upward. They shouldtouch the sides of the machine and/or newspa-per padding. Keep it tight.

Step 6:Fold corners of the side flaps flush against thesurface of the package. You may be workingagainst the grain of the cardboard corruga-tions, but force it so the package is tightagainst the machine surfaces or padding. Tapethe side flaps securely all the way around thepackage.

Pack the cocoon inside a larger box withplenty of padding, just as you would pack amachine which has its own case.


Look at the line cut (fig. 2) and you’ll see the machineillustrated by the engraver. This cut comes from a Worldbrochure owned by Larry Wilhelm of Wichita Falls, Texas.The brochure was probably published in 1887, though wecan’t be certain. Schindler’s machine bears a plate on thewooden base reading “The World Type-Writer, Pat. Oct. 12,1886.” We see the same inscription on other Worlds, but itis almost always on the swiveling part of the type head (the“sweep”), and the word “typewriter” is not hyphenated.Since every other known single case World has the 4o’clock/8 o’clock spokes, the Schindler machine may wellbe the earliest version.

If you take the trouble to count characters, you’ll also seethat the Schindler machine has 42, while others have 44. It’sunlikely that the makers would have taken a step back to 42characters, so this is further evidence that the Schindlermachine is earlier.

There is also no bell on the Schindler machine, althoughit’s unclear whether it is missing, or was never there in thefirst place. The illustrations and patent drawing of this“graceful” World all show a bell. Only the drawings in thevery first World patents show a machine sans the bell.

A machine with some more subtle differences surfaced

To most collectors, there are basically two differentWorld Typewriters: the single-case and the double-case.Earlier articles in ETCetera, however, have shown numer-ous differences. Now, Lou Schindler, of Colorado Springs,Colorado, has some upon a machine previously undiscov-ered.

For those that have not been following the “World” story,let’s recap. All previously-known single case Worlds featurean index mounted to the typehead assembly with two widespokes, in the 4-o’clock and 8-o’clock positions. Mostadvertising illustrations for the World show that configura-tion. A photo of such a machine is seen in Fig. 1. In fact,many illustrations show the same spokes on double-casemachines as well, even though most of the known machineshave the whole typehead assembly on a single plate of sheetmetal with a different appearance.

A different single-case World is seen in some advertisingcuts, a machine with a more “graceful” appearance. Wementioned this machine in the World article in ETCeteraNo. 20. The “graceful” World corresponds not only tocertain advertisements, but also to the drawing seen in thesecond World patent, filed Sept. 9, 1886 (granted in 1891).This is the machine Schindler has discovered.

Fig. 1 - Single-caseWorld showing usual4-o’c l ock/8-o’c l ockspokes holding index tothe typehead assembly.


last year in Germany. Figs. 5 & 6 show a single-case Worldillustrated in the Nov., 1993 catalogue of Auktion TeamKöln. This single-case World has 4/8 o’clock spokes, withthe name and patent date on the sweep. However, there isalso a base plate reading “Pat. Oct. 12, 1886, Pats. Pending,Made at Boston, Mass. USA.” The embossed details on thesweep seem a little bit more crude than most other knownmachines. Also the legend on the sweep reads “WorldTypewriter, Pat. Oct. 12, 1886.” A minor point, but the word“The” is omitted, a clear indication that this machine was

made at a different time than the vast majority of othersknown. Earlier would the the logical assumption, but there’sno hard evidence.

The World Typewriter has always been a collector’sfavorite, and it is giving us lots to consider as more variationsare discovered. Do you have one that’s even different? Doyou have evidence to give us some better dates on those thatare known? If so, let’s hear from you!

Fig. 2

Fig. 5 Fig. 6

Fig. 3Fig. 4

FIG. #2 - Cut of “ graceful” World takenfrom 1897 brochure.

FIG #3. - “ Graceful” World owned byLouis Schindler.

FIG #4 - Closueup of I.D. plate onSchindler machine.

FIG #5 - World sold at Cologne auction inNov., ‘93.

FIG. #6 - closeup of I.D. plate on Colognemachine.


better than one recent sale of a similarmachine (slightly lesser condition) inthe USA for $1000. Incidentally, thetop item at Cologne was an Enigmacode typewriter, which brought$15,576. This was the second Enigmato appear at the Cologne auction.

Also from Germany, complaintsabout the postal system (sound famil-iar?). Over there, the big issue is ex-pense. Peter Muckermann says hismagazine Typenkorb costs $3.50 eachto send by airmail to the U.S. The samemailing from the U.S. to Germany isonly $1.35. This adds an extra handicapto German editors trying to make theirjournals available over here. Also, Ger-many completely overhauled its postalzipcodes last year. Many think it wastotally unneccessary.

Despite the postal hurdle, Peter hasgreat news. His monthly magazineTypenkorb will include English sum-maries starting in March. This is a ter-

rific developement for American col-lectors, because Typenkorb has beenthe only German journal to be pub-lished regularly, with issues deliveredon-time (as you’re used to with ETCet-era). Currently, Peter has only 4 USsubscribers, but with the English sum-maries, that number should increase.He has made tentative arrangementswith ETCetera to have issues re-mailedwithin the US, to reduce postage, andperhaps the subscription fee.Typenkorb recently merged with theSwiss journal Typenhebel, an arrange-ment that will insure the longevity ofboth. Peter does a nice job, and hisproduct worth reading. The price is $55per year, far less than the $100 contem-plated by Historische Bürowelt, theother German typewriter journal. Tosubscribe: write to Peter Mucker-mann,Auf der Warte 34, 33378 Rheda-Wiedenbrück, GERMANY.

GermanyThe November ’93 auction by

Auktion Team Köln produced somevery interesting results. Looking at thebig picture, it may show that typewriterprices are on the rebound after fouryears in the dumpster. Generally, inter-national prices peaked in 1989, butwhen the Berlin Wall fell, so did type-writer prices. They seemed to bottomout at a good 1/3 below the peak, butprices for many middle level machinesat Cologne last November were signifi-cantly higher than previous sales. Oneexample: an Odell #1 (pat. pending/Lake Geneva, WI) achieved $2478 (in-cluding 20% buyer’s commission). Theseller also pays 20% at the Cologneauction, so the net to him would be$1652. Any way you look at it, that’s

Internat ionalNews

In ETCetera #18, we heard about aMunson No.2 that was never built. Itwas a strange machine with a 4-rowkeyboard, and two type cylinders onvertical pivots that swung forward tostrike the platen, much as the typebarson the Emerson. That machine was ad-vertised as the Munson No. 2, but noexamples have ever been seen.

Another Munson No. 2 is seen inadvertising cuts re-published in type-writer literature. This one looks verymuch like the familiar Chicago. Untilnow, no photo of an actual Munson No.2 has ever been published in collecting

The successor to the Munson No. 2was the Munson No. 3, which fromphotos, appears to be identical to theNo. 2 except for the ornamentation.Richard Dickerson, of Pasadena, CAowns No. 3, and he says the side leverappears to stop the carriage so that theuser can use multiple keystrokes in onespot. This would be useful for creatingdouble characters (“/ ” plus “–” for aplus sign, for instance), or for darkeningimpressions that are too light.

Now... are there any other Munsonsto be discovered?

LEFT TO RIGHT: Munson #2 owned byJohn Pace O’Shea; Munson #2 advertisingcut; Munson #3 owned by RichardDickerson

literature, but ETCetera has it here. Themachine is owned by John Pace O’Sheaof Malta. The machine is exactly thesame as that illustrated inSchreibmaschinen vor 1900 byFriedrich Müller.

The Müller illustration shows theinteresting paper-holding arrangement:two parallel bars through which thepaper is fed as it comes out of themachine. Neither the later Chicago northe original Munson has this feature.There is also a lever on the Munson No.2 at machine left which is not seen onthe Chicago.


W for west. No, there is no East-Ger-many any longer, say the politicians.But I think, they are ill a little bit.

Fritz NiemannDissen, Germany

Regarding your headline stating that theprice of an ancient calculator plunged98%, I found the same thing with adifferent collectible, an Audubon print,hand-colored, by a supposedly famousartist, marked with a $13,000 price tag.After seeing the print in one antiquesstore for a year and a half, I noticed itwas gone. The owner remarked that hetook it home because he found out it isa later print than what he originallythought, and that it is worth about $250.It just shows the old saying: “Let thebuyer beware!” But think of that poorbuyer who might have thought he got areally good deal if he got the priceknocked down 50% to a mere $6,500!

Jack CoverClovis, CA

LETTERSTypewriter sighting: Was watching

a rented movie, “Posse” with MarioVan peebles, the other night and noticedseveral scenes that showed what ap-peared to be a Noiseless office model inthe background. Only problem: themovie was taking place in 1892. Thefirst Noiseless was manufactured in1912. Hollywood strikes again!

As I look back over my old issues,which I do often, it’s really apparentwhat an incredible job you do. There’sso much information there, and pre-sented in such a professional manner.As one journalist to another, Bravo.

Ken GladstoneJacksonville, FL

How about this for a real 1990’s- kindof collection?:

Some news from Germany: Now Ihave a Laser Printer (Hewlett PackardLaserjet 4L) and a 256 freyhandscanner, a Pittsburg Visible 10 inexcellent condition and a Edelmann onwooden base.

Peter MuckermannRheda-Wiedenbrück, Germany

A few years later... thank you forhelping me get started in this area oftypewriter collecting. ETCetera is re-ally a “First Class” magazine! I do en-joy reading each copy and look forwardto each issue. Keep up the good work.

Ed ReisPittsburgh, PA

Just got around to looking at theDecember issue. I never cease to won-der where you are able to pick up thematerial. On your article “CollectingGoes Electronic”... I again shake myhead when I think of all the early modelsthat came my way and which I relegatedto the junk pile!!!!

Art NorthTamarac, FL

We got new zip-codes in Germany.We do have 5 digits now instead of the4 digits together with the O for east and

ADVERTISEMENTS

Musical Williams?No, the picture on p. 2 is a ma-

chine that never existed. It’s an illus-tration cooked up by typewriter col-lector Martin Howard, of Toronto,Canada. Martin was married last yearto Susan Suchard, who’s a singer.So, the Musical Williams was thelogical illustration for their weddingannouncement.

Congratulations!

to buy the whole machine). What doyou need? Darryl Rehr, 2591 MilitaryAve., L.A., CA 90064. Tel. 310-477-5229.

FOR SALE: Royal portable in RED.Linda Heath, 2628 Newburg Rd. #42.,Belvidere, IL 61008.

FOR SALE: Folding Corona, SmithPremier 10, Olympia Simplex, Rem-ington Port., Remington 3B port.,Oliver 2 (ribbon covers missing), Un-derwood 5. All in good condition. ScottRiewer, Total Office Products, Inc. POBox 364, Butler, WI 53007

WANTED: Early IBM TW’s (01, A, B,etc.) Good to ex. cond. Also, other earlyelectrics & electronic calculators. MarkRosengrant, 2339 Warrington St. #B,San Diego, CA 92107. Tel. 619-222-1234.

WANTED: operating manual, or ad-vice on how to work an OlivettiDivisumma 24. James M. Jackson,3699 Doyle Rd., Baldwinsville, NY13027-9410

FOR SALE: electric Monroe calcula-tor. Frank Elro, Route 1, Box 304,Mineola, TX 75773

WANTED: Yost 4 parts- ’?’ and ‘I’white keytops and connecting lever‘44’ [’N’]. Sandy Sellers, Box 35,Glenburnie, Ontario K0H 1S0CANADA. Tel. 613-542-5589

STILL WANTED: half of a Merritt togo with my half. Jos Legrand Keelstraat18A 3770 Vroenhoven BELGIUM

WANTED: any typewriter with nameSholes, by member of Sholes family.Bill Kortsch, PO Box 4667 Riverside,CA 92514. (909)687-1155/687-3625.

WANTED: inking wheel asembly for aSun Standard No. 2 Typewriter. Willpay $35. Can anyone help? MartinHoward, 40 Glen Manor Dr., Toronto,Ontario M4E 2X2, CANADA

FOR SALE: Blickensderfer, Ham-mond. Both for $250. ShirleyCopeland, 570 S. State. Hwy 3, NorthVernon, IN 47265. Tel. 812-346-3027

WANTED: Ribbon mechanism forFranklin 7. Peter Muckermann, Auf derWarte 34, 33378 Rheda-Wiedenbrück,GERMANY

FOR SALE: parts for Lambert #1. Ihave most of a machine for parts, whichI will sell by the piece (you don’t have


RIBBONTIN

TOP PHOTO: American Flag - red, white, blue (German);The Liberty Brand - red, white, blue (Steiner Bros., NY/);Bay State - metallic green, gold; Fox - white, blue, silver(Fox Typewriter Co.,/Decorated Metal)z; Stormtex - black,white (H.M. Storms/Decorated Metal); reverse of Stormextin.

BOTTOM PHOTO: Dominator - orange, ivory (GustavBierbrauer, German); Colibri - yellow, dk. green, lt. green,blue, red, black, gray, white, gold (origin unknown);Lindwurm - yellow, purple, pink, black, orange (German);Celesta - blue, yellow, white (German); Osiris - yellow, red,blue (Carbel-French)

A selection of unusualtins, domestic and foreign,from the editor’s collection.

Look at “American Flag.”It’s a German tin, and themakers made a mistake -- theflag is on the pole upsidedown! Truly a spectacular tin.Bay State, Fox and Stormexare all quite rare. Colibri isone of the most colorful I’veever seen - nine colors used inthe design. Dominator is agreat example of a commonEuropean tin shape: thedouble-spool size. Not socommon is the wonderful oc-tagonal Osiris tin from theFrench firm Carbel.

As always, we encourageyou to send in photos of tinsfrom your collection. Pleasephotograph tins close so thatsix tins fill up one frame offilm. Place them against aplain background and keepcamera square-on. Shoot out-side or near a window duringthe day, and don’t use flash, oryou’ll get hot spots. Also,avoid red-on-black tins—they don’t reproduce well inblack-and-white.

KEY:Brand - colors; descriptivedetails, if needed (Ribboncompany, if known/Tinmanufacturer, if known)

This back issue of

is brought to you by

The Early Typewriter Collectors’ Association

The mission of the Early Typewriter Collectors’ Association is to support

communication and interaction within the community of typewriter lovers

and collectors, and to encourage its growth. Our magazine, ETCetera, serves

that mission by gathering and sharing knowledge about typewriter history

with the community and beyond.

Learn more at

etconline.org

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