retrolicious orange

my first orange tappy! an olympia traveller de -luxe.

yes, my heart skipped a beat! never mind that  i couldnt roll the platen, never mind she was dirty, never mind her type guide was broken, i would rescue her, find a ‘doctor’ and get her fixed.

i did. after a professional tender loving care, repairing and servicing, here she is.

‘doctor’ said that those issues/problems mentioned earlier were small problems and could be fixed easily. he added olympia is a reliable brand and this typewriter is worth saving and keeping. sweet!

customising a typewriter to pink

i was pleased with the previous customised olivetti tropical and itching to start another similar project.

this 1970s? olivetti lettera 35 is sturdy to type in. unlike other earlier olivetti models , this  has a metal base so we can type on our lap – a laptap!

there are 2 schools of thoughts about changing the look of typewriters, one,  we should preserve the vintage quality of typewriters and should leave it as is, and the other, to revitalise that old piece of machine and breathe new life to it. my personal take is if it’s a common model, go ahead but not those rare and older models. can you imagine if someone paint an oliver or chicago in pink! gasp! let me know what you think? sorry,  i digress…

back to this olivetti lettera 35, he suffered a few areas of paint loss (it’s bigger than the rest of my collection, so it’s a he?),  a good candidate for customisation.

my 9-year old daughter typed her first letter to her aunt and grandpa using this machine.

seen a naked typewriter? body and shell taken apart.

here is the serial  nos.  beside the ribbon spool. hmm… i cant find this model in the typewriter database, but think it should be made around the 1970s.

after spending almost half a day of mini makeover – cleaning and painting, here he is in pink.  i think it is more a ‘she’ now…(oops!)

decoupage a typewriter?

at some point along my tappy collection craze i wanted a pink typewriter bad…dly.  however, the prices for PINK commands a premium, some an arm and leg! 😦

after viewing the lot of customised typewriters from flikr’s pimp my typewriter and kasbah mode i was inspired to customised one too!! i had a few ideas in mind. spray pink, paint hello kitty (kitties!) or decoupage? i love this one done by Cherryl.B.

after mulling about it for a few weeks, i finally decided on a hello kitty theme. I may be a ‘mature woman’ but hey, who doesnt love a cute cat that doesnt have a mouth because it speaks from the heart? ;P

told my hubby n good friend, J about my idea but both gave, as expected, discouraging comments. of course, they wouldnt understand because they are not fans of  hello kitty! 😛

i still want a pink theme and since i can’t find suitable hello kitty paper,  perhaps a pink travelling theme will look good?

here is how i did it –

and AFTER

what do you think? yay or nay?

desktop big guy

this is a super-duper heavy machine!! prolly around 10kg?

I had wanted to meet the seller and collect this at a shopping mall thinking I could just carry it home. ayyy… the seller convinced me that it’s too heavy for me to hand carry even for a short 5 mins.

this big guy was from south africa! probably used by british in the colonial times. he was not in his best condition as all keys stuck and rusted as you can see from the pics below. (seller told me- oh just add oil and it will be working fine! Huh?!) I should have said no to him …

but look at it him now ( I don’t name the tappies but somehow always seem to know its gender ! Haha.. ). he’s been professionally cleaned and serviced.

look at that spaceship like ribbon holder! beautiful… 😉

i am a typospherian!

this was how my obsession with typewriters begun, my first love, a red oliveti dora.

i met up a seller to buy an old red suitcase but ended up buying another suitcase and this tappy. i was attracted to her colour and deal was almost immediately sealed after i typed a few random words on it ( didnt know what ‘ a quick brown dog jumps over the lazy dog’ was all about at that time).

she was originally in drabby grey colour, seller repainted it to red.

after her, there will be another 20++ that found their way to my home, or shall i say – i saw, i liked, i cannot resist, i bought ! (and there are still just a couple more under my wish list). 😛

why i craze for manual typewriters? read more here.

my typewriter obsession stories to be continued …