#Royal quiet deluxe typewriter manual#
#Royal quiet deluxe typewriter portable#

The Royal feels like the limited number of Royal portables I have had the pleasure to type on. The Smith-Corona feels like the limited number of 1950s S-C portables that have come through my fingers. At the end of this exercise, I won’t be able to say that I am won over by a particular brand – only that a particular machine on my dining room table is my favorite.

As it is, each of them has about 60 years of living under her belt. This would be a fair competition only if each typewriter had just rolled off the assembly line. This tournament is not completely serious or scientific: I have three individual machines before me with unknown histories of use and abuse. I am looking for a really bad looking one. How I wish I had a 1950s Olympia to throw in! I haunt eBay now and then, looking for junker Olympias. These are all the mid-sized 1950s portables I have in the house presently. I also decided to throw a wildcard into the fight – a 1957 West German Torpedo 18a. I honestly didn’t know which category I fell into, hence the side-by-side comparison.

#Royal quiet deluxe typewriter portable#

I know that there are 1950s Smith-Corona portable fans and 1950s portable Royal loyalists. I recently acquired a junker 1957 Smith-Corona Silent-Super and I thought: Hey! Perfect time for comparison typing! I can host a mid-century slugfest on my dining room table. I cleaned it up and it looked better though I just couldn’t completely remove the blob of Wite-Out on its cover. He has some wonderful typewriters that I have cleaned up: a pretty gray Royal QDL, an adorable Royal Companion, a Smith-Corona Clipper, a very classy Remington 5 and now I have here this second dirty Royal, a 1955 Royal Quiet De Luxe: Moe’s friend Tim is a retired newspaper reporter with a taste for typewriters. The typewriter looked like it had been smoking too much and indulging in Wite-Out. It’s a Minnesota Fats kind of typewriter. The case is lined with green felt – it reminds me of a pool table. It was gamely typing through greasy dust. This one wasn’t so bad, just cosmetically off-putting. And as the name suggests, this is a quiet machine, even with a rock hard, ancient platen.I had yet another of Tim’s dirty typewriters in the house for a clean up – a 1955 Royal QDL. Every time you sit down at this typewriter, you’ll be energized. You can find solid plastic keys, like on the Olympia SM-line, but there’s something more primal about metal and glass that speaks to the soul.

#Royal quiet deluxe typewriter manual#

And even in the world of manual typewriters, the glass topped key is king.

It epitomizes what using a manual typewriter is all about, a connection with your words not found on a computer. In the age of plastics, this keyboard feels real. Like any well designed machine, the form is just as important as function. The glass topped keys have a nice concavity, and with their smooth finish, you’ll find your fingers drawn to them day after day. When you hit the end of a line and slide the carriage return lever, you’re met with a satisfying clicking sound. Its black finish and chrome accent, mirror what writing is about, black words on white paper. The typebars strike the platen with exceptional ease, making fast typing a breeze. Everything about this typewriter is top notch. If you want a solid typewriter that’s stylish and extremely easy to use, go with the Royal Quiet De Luxe.