Machines of

Loving Grace


Contents:
Apologia

The Machines
Adlers

Olivers
Olivettis
Olympias
Remingtons
Royals
Smith/Corona
Underwoods
Catalog Brands
Others

Master Index

Links
contact

Galleries
Depression portables
3-banks

Evolution of the Sterling
All About the Remie Scout
Typewriters as InspirationEphemera

Other pages on this site:

Collapsing World
Collapsing World: a blog

Stapler Fetish

Conley Cameras
Conley Cameras

A Trip Through Sears, Roebuck & Co.

Greetings from Rochester
a history in postcards

Ocean Liner Postcards
Vintage ocean liner postcards


My non-typewriter photography


Genealogy, with a focus on the Seaver, Bilyeu, Amidon, and Lowell branches


This site is copyrighted. Please don't use any of the materials here without my permission.

Olympias

Just as there are Coke people and Pepsi people, Ford people and Chevy people, there are Smith-Corona people and Olympia people. Each feels very passionately about their brand of choice and would probably give up their favorite hunting dog before relinquishing their S-C Silent-Super or Olympia SM.

People sometimes wonder what the model designations SG, SM, and SF stand for. For the record, they are:

SG = Schreibmaschine Groß ("Big Typewriter")
SM = Schreibmaschine Mittelgroß ("Medium-size Typewriter")
SF = Schreibmaschine Flach ("Flat Typewriter")

Olympia Progress
Serial # 260856
1939
Olympia Progress

Olympia SM2
Serial # 114573
1951

Olympia SM2

Olympia SM3
Serial # 608175
1955
Emeritus Collection

A fine machine to write on, and popular among writers. The SM3 and SM4 have a clever leveling device built into the keys. Underneath each is a stiff spring, and the vertical portion of the bar is slotted into the horizontal, allowing the key to remain parallel to the tabletop when depressed.

Download the manual for this typewriter here.

Olympia SG-1
Serial # 7-388548
1958

Olympia SG1

Olympia SM4
Serial #s 1555015 & 1690159
1961

Olympia SM4

The SM4 differs from the SM3 primarily by the addition of automatic tab set/clear keys on either side of the spacebar. There is also a little handle on the side behind the right-hand platen knob that clears all of the tab sets at once.

Olympia SM5
Serial # 2149471
1962

The SM5 was the last Olympia of this style before it was superceded by the SM7. The main way to tell a SM5 from a SM3 is the glossy paint. On closer inspection, one would also notice that the margin sets have been tucked down behind the paper feed just above the manual tab sets. Under the hood, there is also no touch selector or soundproofing material. Less obvious is the lack of the individual spring levelers underneath the keys that made the SM3 and SM4 so finger-friendly.

Olympia SF
Serial # 95-712275
1963
Olympia SF

 

Olympia SG-1
Serial # 7-928332
1963
Emeritus Collection

Just completely massive. This typer means business! If I were to walk into a 1960s office building and see a room full of these, I would probably fear that they would revolt and enslave mankind. It is probably best that not more than one of these be in anyone's collection, lest they conspire.

Olympia SM7
Serial # 2340246
1963

Olympia SM7

Olympia SM9
Serial # 2512069
1964

Larger than its predecessors, and not really a portable any longer. The SM9 is another Olympia popular with writers. One might be surprised to learn that there were four different versions of the SM9 over the years.

Olympia Socialite
Serial # 95 7010160
c. 1965

The Socialite is built upon the SF chassis, and is essentially the same machine in a different shell. It is, however, somewhat smaller than the SF.

Olympia SM9 "DeLuxe"
Serial # 3078884
1966

Olympia SG-3
Serial # 7-4158664
c.1977

Olympia SG3


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