Bodemer Typewriter Collection

Advertisement for the Royalite. From the Seattle Times, 12/14/56 In 1954, Royal McBee corporation purchased an emerging typewriter manufacturer from Holland, who only made small portable typewriters, which were known as Halberg Travelers. Very few Halberg-labeled typewriters were made; most are found under the name Royal. Royal altered the design of the Traveler--the gull-wing ribbon covers were removed, as was the console carrying case, which was similar to that of the Smith-Corona Skyriter. These were replaced by a removable ribbon cover, which stretched down the sides of the machine, and a zippered carrying case, which was made of vinyl. They were sold under a new name: Royal Royalite.  1962 Royalite. Author's Collection While the earliest Royalites were one-tone green, later models could be found in two-tone gray, or in a special name variant, called the Eldorado, in black and gold. These typewriters came in vinyl attache cases. For 1963, the zippered carrying ...

The fifties were a period of rapid change in the typewriter market. Manufacturers began taking compact portables seriously, especially after seeing the success of Hermes, Olympia, and Olivetti with their compact portables, which were being imported to the United States in growing numbers. Underwood was dying on the vine, while Royal merged with McBee Corporation, and Smith-Corona bought out Marchant Calculator, forming SCM Corporation. Underwood still possessed a nationwide dealer network, and Olivetti, having struggled to gain a foothold in the American market, saw it as a huge asset. They purchased Underwood Corporation, and began to replace Underwood's portables (which had a reputation of being increasingly shoddy) with Olivetti designs. (However, the Underwood standard continued in production through 1970.)  Olivetti-Underwood Lettera 32. Formerly in the Bodemer Typewriter Collection 1963 saw the introduction of the basis of every subsequent Olivetti portable--the Let...

In 1965, Silver-Reed, a Japanese manufacturer of knitting machines, branched into manufacturing portable typewriters. They hired GK Design Group to design their new portable, a simple, metal bodied compact typewriter. Within two years, Litton Industries, parent company of Royal Typewriter, began importing these machines in large numbers, and relabeling them as Royal portables for the American market, and Imperial for the British market. Silver-Reed portable typewriter. Image source: gk-design.co.jp The first of these portables to be introduced was the Royal Mercury, a compact, carriage-shifted portable typewriter, with a 44-key keyboard, touch adjuster, and a two-color ribbon. It was launched in 1966, and began to be heavily advertised in 1968. The Royal Signet, a simple portable, with a single-color ribbon, and a 42-key keyboard, was sold as a cheaper alternative. However, it appears from period advertising in the Seattle Times, that both models could be purchased for the s...