That battered Royal Quiet De Luxe, the one I described last night. That neglected machine did live on a happy life, if I can fantasize about the life of being a typewriter. This one, the 1948 Royal Quiet de Luxe had a home in a university. Stanford a pretty nice place if you can get admitted. In the Chemistry Department, this typewriter lived. Yes, a prior owner was a Chemistry Professor at Stanford.
A few years later another Royal Quiet De Luxe was born into life. This one lived, or should I say lives?, a nicer life. Perhaps it was stored in a place where it looks pretty nice. All seems to work. All except for the backplate. That seems to have met up with a pole, or a sharp edge of a desk, or something that has bashed it in. Because of that, it seems few people were interested in it. I saw many of them at prices of $250, $350. Not this one with a dented part. It was going for much less. So I asked for the serial number and found it in 1951. It should arrive in 10 days or so.
Now, what was I saying about desktop typewriters? Did I say something about a collection of typewriters? I am now at three Hermes and three Royals. (I am only counting the live ones.) I am not sure what to do about this. Besides be thankful for my wife. She is OK with my typewriter collection as long as I stay happy with it. So, I am going to stay happy with my typewriters.
— MichaelRpdx rkmm ’48