Typewriters Part 2 - Underwood 1919 No.5

Also languishing up in the attique was a 1919 Underwood which I no longer remember how it was acquired. I have had it for as long as I remember. I can't imagine how I lugged that incredibly heavy cast iron framed monster from apartment to apartment, and to my house and up the steps to the attic! But today, I hauled it back down again, once again in risk of life and limb as I am 80 as of last week, and too old to be taking things up and down from the attic.

Although I managed to get it down and onto a shelf in my bedroom, emptied recently by my having donated most of my books to The Free Books Project of Camden, New Jersey, that's as far as I got. I am too tired now to dust it off and look for a serial number BUT a perusal of models indicates it is a No 5, and early model built in the first one or two decade of the twenthieth century.

Perhaps one of the reasons the typewriters have spoken to me so seductively is that I began my working career as a typist - first on an addressograph machine, another stalwart of the bygone era, and later, after a couple of years at Peirce Business School (now junior college) I became a secretary. By that time, we used electric typewriters. But these were the tools of my trade as the sewing machines were the tools of my grandmother's trades.

One line from a piece I found on the internet stood out - the evolution from manufacture of guns, to sewing machines to typewriters and then by World War 2, back to guns again.

John T. Underwood who founded the business built it from the manufacture of ink after he saw the success of Remington (yep the gun anufacturer) and soon, Underwood was the titan of typewriters in the WORLD. The Underwood 1919 5 was virtually indestructable which was part o its downfall as it never needed replacement. It was the tool of the governmental beaurocrat.

I began my typing life on a manual, befere the electric was available and I remember building up finger strength. At the peak of my office career as a secretary at W. B. Saunders Publishing Company in the 1960's, I could type 90n words per minute.

After I get the Rheinmetal repaired, I will see how fast I can type on it. The Underwood has a nice typing feel and a satisfying click, but I don't think I can afford at present to have them both restored.

Maybe at some point I will watch a YouTube and learn how to clean the old Underwood, and then find out how to get a ribbon or re-ink the one it has. It seems a fairly simple machine. (Yes, I know what a delusion this is!)

It is definitely in the realm of possibility however, that I will have the Underwood cleaned and restored at some point in the Philadelphia Typewriter Company that I will be visiting with my sister and the Rheinmetall next week.

It is interesting when you search the internet for some item and come across the collectors. I love reading the research they have done and engaging with their passion. My passion and interest for these items lacks their depth. I am a dilettant. Still, I say to my typewriter and sewing machine friends, nice getting to know you!

Happy Trails - wherever they may take you!

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