1938 Remington-Rand Model 1
Is it possible to totally and completely forget that you own a particular typewriter? Apparently you can, if you bought it long enough ago and have enough others to occupy your attention. I totally forgot I owned this 1938 Remington-Rand Model 1, and just found it today whilst cleaning out a closet. It was a complete surprise when I found the black typewriter case with its rattly leather handle, and I had no idea what machine was in it until I opened the case up. I still have no idea where it came from, and I’m pretty sure I had to have picked it up at least 15 years ago.
Of course, in those days I had no concept of anyone else other than me being crazy enough to keep machines that everyone else was throwing away. A sort of typosphere must have existed then, but I was unaware of it. Yay for the Internets, bringing the most obscure of retrotech admirers together. :D
Needs a ribbon, and the normal ones that work in all of my other machines seem to be a tad wider than this machine wants, so I guess a trip to Mesa Typewriter Exchange is in order soon.
hi…
even i got my remington rand model 1 today. i am from kolkata city, INDIA. amazing piece of instrument. have oiled today. working perfectly. will start looking for the ribbons tomorrow.
glad to know about this page. all wishes
prabal
What a lovely machine. I also hadn’t opened mine for many years and was once more so taken by it when opening the box. I’m also looking for a ribbon. I’m wondering if one was found to fit this machine and what the width of the ribbon should be. Thank you for posting this.
Takes a standard universal ribbon, but you’ll need to transfer the ribbon off of the plastic spools onto your metal cores.
Hey Ted! I heard you were inquiring about my Model 1’s serial number on last Sunday’s TCL episode. It’s P130294, so that puts it at 1937, yeah? Fantastic looking typewriter. Mine could use some spiffy new feet. Do you know if this would be a good candidate to DIY? If so, I’d be willing to tackle that project…eventually. I guess since it also needs a rubber refresh on the platen and feed rollers I might just send this one away to be totally refurbished by an expert. Either way, I’m super excited to have snagged this machine!
1937, yes. With Tabulator.
I ended up getting rid of this one – never could get to liking the touch. I recall it also had a problem with a deteriorated rubber step-strip under the keylevers which I tried to remedy with hot glue:
https://typecast.munk.org/2011/11/21/inspecting-kipling-the-noisy-noiseless/
In the end, though, I just never gelled with it, so Kipling got culled from the corral.