Friday, March 14, 2014

Oh Boy! A Corona Flat Top

A couple of weeks ago I took a chance and submitted a bid based on a blurry eBay ad and a hunch. The thinking was a) I "need" a Corona flat top, b) the poor presentation might inhibit other (smarter) bidders, and c) it's just fun sometimes to let it all out and throw down a few bucks on the whirl of the eBay roulette wheel.


The tidy package arrived yesterday unscathed by its trip from Pennsylvania, and I whipped out my box knife with anticipatory thrill. Anxiously I unwound a few layers of bubble wrap from what turned out to be a pristine case with ("What the heck is that?!) a knob poking from a curved slot in the case. 

Inside a nearly unscathed 1936 Corona Standard flat top, from the second year of production ...

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... and those marks it does have represent the patina of years of careful use; the decal on the paper table worn by the passage of many sheets of paper and the wear spot on the front of the frame where someone's right palm had naturally rubbed while hitting the space bar. 

Other than the detached carriage cord, everything seems to work, albeit with the hesitancy of decades of slumber. I'm looking forward to waking it up this weekend. 

Stand by for my first flat top typecast.

10 comments:

  1. What a curious knob! I'm not familiar enough with standards to know what it was taken from, but I've never seen anything like this done to a typewriter before.

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    1. Very interesting, Nick. I had assumed that it came stock like that, not being familiar with these. If added later it was done very well, along with the slot in the case, like by a machinist. It sure doesn't match the right-hand knob. As you know, the left-hand knob pulls out to disengage the platten spacing clutch allowing it to be positioned for forms. I'll post more photos after I service it.

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  2. Very, very nice!

    It looks just like the knob on my Remington KMC.

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  3. Beautiful machine, congratulations! Please let us know how it types when you service it, I'd love to add one of these to the "I want one" list...

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  4. Great looking typewriter. Maybe the original knob was missing and a very nice substitute replaced it.

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  5. It seems Nick isn't they only one getting a good deal on Ebay. Let's hope for all of us this luck will stay for a while. It looks great!

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  6. Congratulations! What a knob! ;) :D

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  7. That's an interesting modification to both carriage and case and I'll bet it feels better to use than the skinnier original. I wonder if a former keeper was left handed? Otherwise it would be a lot of trouble to go to. But then I'm left handed and invariably use the r/h platen knob and could probably dispense with the left.

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  8. Love it. I am yet to see one of these in the flesh, and I'd love to get my hands on one these days.

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