While I was out of town at the holiday wintering grounds with my herd, Moe from my favorite junk shop called and left a message: could I please come to her shop and take a look at a typewriter?
When I got back into town, I dropped by Moe’s. She had sweet little baby blue Royal Quiet De Luxe that a lady wanted to buy for her daughter, but it was all “jammed”.
The carriage lock was engaged. I unlocked it and all was well.
I remember when this typewriter had come in – before Thanksgiving it was. The carriage lock was engaged then, and I unlocked it so that people could test typing on it. I guess someone locked it again.
The typewriter was very dirty and needed a new ribbon, so I asked Moe if I could bring it home and clean it up. Of course, yes.
The serial number is AB3175632 which would make this a 1956 Royal QDL.
I brought the typewriter home and looked it over. I washed the outside down with soapy water and used my new favorite dollar-store degreaser on tough grimy areas, LA’s Totally Awesome.
The blender photobombs AGAIN
The key tops had a resistant gray and white film that took a lot of scrubbing with green ScotchBrite to remove. I was careful around the printed letters.
The machine had chunks of greasy lint hanging from its insides. I first blew out the machine with compressed air and then doused all the internal mechanics with mineral spirits and then blew wet, dirty chunks out with more compressed air. I don’t usually use mineral spirits, but I wanted to use something that wouldn’t evaporate quickly.
While I scrubbed the type, I noticed that the typeface was something a little different. I couldn’t wait to throw a new ribbon in and see what printed out.
What typeface is this? Herald Pica?
I fell in love a little with this Royal portable. The machine seemed just keen to please and was so pleasurable to type on.
After the clean up, I took the Royal QDL back to Moe’s. Moe’s shop was its usual jumble of fascinating objects perched in precarious positions. There was a new arrival, a golden Olympia Monica, hanging out on a couch in the shop.
The Monica was beautiful shade of yellow/gold. I took a closer look:
Someone will sit on it if you leave it here, Moe.
It worked great. German keyboard. The label says that was made in the United Kingdom:
Hmm. The serial number is 5693315. I will go back and take some more (less blurry) pictures and add it to the TWDB.
I poked around in the Olympia for bit, but then it was time to leave. It was with a reluctant heart that I left the baby blue QDL at Moe’s, but I was grateful for the experience of it. I had scrubbed the carry case and attached care and feeding instructions.
Goodbye, Baby Blue.
Time for a sing-along:
i
myoldtypewriter 
Great restraint. I would have somehow ‘lost’ it on the way home and Moe would be none the wiser.
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This one was a tough one to let go…
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Glad to hear the Great Migration was a complete success! And yet another wonderful clean-up job. Those mid-century Royals are one of the few post-30s machines that pique my interest, truth be told. I’m still waiting for you to get a call to clean up some odd, unwanted machine Moe gets in. “Blickerdoodle Electric, or something” she’ll say.
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The weirdest things come through Moe’s shop. I would not be surprised if she called up and told me she had a Dayton typewriter that she wanted me to look at.
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I’m with Rob here 🙂 Nice smooth paint and a beautiful typeface.
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It was with great regret that I let this little baby blue go.
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That one oughta fetch a pretty penny, lucky little girl (:
Great visitor to have over the holidays too 😀
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Any thoughts on what the typeface might be? Herald Pica perhaps?
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Utterly gorgeous! Another typeface to add to my wishlist too – whatever it is.
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I love the typeface. I am doing investigative work on its name.
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Holy smokes. This shop has the greatest finds!
Both of those would’ve went home with me. Those mid-50 pastel machines go for so much nowadays. More importantly, they’re lovely to look at.
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I never know what will appear next at Moe’s.
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Lovely machine and typeface! But that German keyboard Monica is something I’d really love to have.
Meantime, I am becoming a fan of your Zelig-like blender.
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Ha! I think my blender might have photobombed the Yalta Conference.
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Beautiful! I happen to have a turquoise QDL with the same typeface. Unfortunately, mine has some sort of carriage advance problem that I can not seem to fix myself. I’m going to have to take it to someone. It is a gorgeous typeface though, and I’m excited to see an actual block of text in it, as I can’t get mine to do more than a few letters!
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I am sorry to hear that you are still having problems with your QDL. I am definitely interested in hearing what the problem and solution are when you take it in.
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Did it get put on ebay? http://ebay.to/1Zdjgpv
Great job, by the way.
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Goodness! That’s it! That Moe! I hope she gets what she’s asking for it.
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My goodness, Moe’s shop sounds like a magical place! I would have had a hard time letting that blue baby go (even though I have no more room). What a near typeface. I hope the blue and the Monica went to loving homes.
How has your experience with the Awesome cleaner been so far? I have used it just a little, on machines I am not afraid of damaging. Are you diluting or using full-strength? It can be pretty strong-smelling.
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That LA’s Awesome is awesome stuff – it really strips off the grime. I use it full strength. It is probably incredibly toxic, so in the future I plan to use it with gloves and a mask (to protect my face from spray) and outdoors for good ventilation. I don’t know what’s in that stuff, but it can’t be good for you.
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Good plan… I’ve tried cleaning horrid grime in the house with it full-strength and drove myself out of the room! We’re having some nice days this week, so maybe I’ll take the Consul out to the porch and see what I can do with the Awesome.
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