Sidewalk Find: Olivetti Lettera 25 Typewriter
Look what I found on the corner of Manning and Queen the other night. An Olivetti Lettera 25 Portable Typewriter. Designed by architect Mario Bellini in 1974, it originally retailed for $109 bucks. In 1995 it cost $120. It’s price in 2010 — free!
And guess what? Even though Olivetti stopped making manual typewriters a couple of years ago, you can still buy ribbons for it! And guess what else? Nick Cave has one.
I also have a silk Olivetti scarf, which helps make up for the fact that the machine is missing its original vinyl carrying tote. And the keys are sticking a bit, but I’m gonna see if I can’t fix that issue myself.
I picked one of these up at a local charity shop for a fiver. It came with the original bag and smelt of lavender. It’s in really good condition, and a new ribbon later it still works perfectly. Awful colour though!
Cheers 🙂
Sounds like a good find. I’ve been toying with spray painting ol’ beige here. But I’ll probably chicken out.
I thought of that too. I also took all the plastic off to see how it looked. Worked fine, looked very bare though.
I purchased one here in London this week. £8. And in factory condition, with the case. I already have two 35L models, which are identical but with heavier alloy bodywork. The 25 has some slight differences in that some small parts are not fitted – there is no tab key, fine adjusment for the platten, or rollers on the top bar that holds down the paper. The little “rabbit ears” at the back are also not installed.
Please don’t paint it! These are the last and most sophisticated generation of manual typewriters and are already becoming more expensive.
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I have had this typewriter since forever, in it’s original case. I have a legal issue that required the final disposition form be typewritten. Now, in the digital age, this is nearly an impossible issue. I read the digitize into image in Word offerings. Well. I get off the bus there.There is a ribbon for sale, unbelievable! So, sticky keys and all, I can do this! Anybody know how to unstick key strikes?
I followed this link for Fixing stuck typewriter keys. http://www.ehow.com/how_8468467_fix-sticky-typewriter-key.html