Notes

Short content: a microblog of status updates or short notes
 Since October 7th, my blog has now drawn 17 generative AI comments on posts which have made it past spam filters. Their comments and questions have been fairly natural sounding, but are bland restatements of the posts themselves. All the websites and email addresses for these comments have been AI-related software and services or companies promoting AI in some manner. This will surely get worse…
I went searching at Star Typewriters yesterday for a nice mid-century Adler Universal.

As if he knew I was coming, Helmut had this lovely Royal/Triumph-Adler R 700 sitting right up front on the counter. It’s essentially a Royal-badged version of the Adler Universal 200 which was manufactured under the Litton regime. It’s a solid standard with some nice speed hiding under the hood. Helmut has added some nice touches of what he calls “lipstick” to zhuzh it up.

Frontal view of a Red and cream Royal (Triumph-Adler) R 700 typewriter

What is the prettiest typewriter typeface?

Typewriten sample of 7 typewriter typefaces on the same page including an art deco Royal Vogue, a slightly italic, san serif and smaller Professional Elite No. 41, a san serif Hermes Epoca, a serifed Italic Pica No. 31, a blocky serifed Congress Elite No. 84, a crisp, san serif Clarion Gothic, and a computer-esque, san serif Numode No. 61.

I often see typewriter enthusiasts “debating” over which is the prettiest or best typeface, and often, they’re making their judgement on one machine they happen to have or really wish they had. Rarely are these judgements made with multiple typefaces on the same page for easier direct apples-to-apples comparison, so I threw together a small sample from a few in my own collection. 

Gut reaction time: Which of these is your favorite?

1971 was a year of change. It brought out boxier typewriter designs like the dense plastic body shells of this French manufactured Hermes 3000 and a very similar, but rarer Sears Newport, which was manufactured by Messa in Portugal.

Which one would you have chosen?

Angle on a Hermes 3000 (further back) and a Sears Newport (foreground) on an oak library card catalog.

A light green 1971 boxy Hermes 3000 with greyish-cream keys sits to the right of a 1971 avocado green Sears Newport typewriter

 

I’ve been thinking about typewriter stationery and carbon copies lately, as has our friend Joe Van Cleave. Has anyone used or had NCR paper stationery made for themselves?

I tried some half-sheet stationery at the International Printing Museum not long ago and that seemed like a lovely way to write and keep copies of typewritten correspondence. 

Of course recommendations for designers and printers for personal stationery is welcome here too. 

The Spring issue of Etcetera: Journal of the Typewriter Collectors’ Association arrived in the mail today! Just in time to celebrate National Typewriter Day tomorrow on June 23, 2026. 

Spring 2026 issue of Etcetera magazine on a library card catalog next to a Royal KHM and a gift bottle of scotch.

The Lindy Effect and Typewriters

A typed index card in the platen of a typewriter which reads: "The Lindy Effect | The phenomenon by which the future life expectancy of a non-perishable thing is proportional to its current age. | Thus the longer a period something has survived to exist or be used in the present, the ;onger its remaining life expectancy. | This bodes incredibly well for the life of my typewriter."
Typed index card in the carriage of an Olympia SM7 that reads: TYPEWRITER COLLECTOR'S MANTRA | "I needed a backup."—Frank Navasky portrayed by Greg Kinnear in You've Got Mail (Warner Bros., 1998)