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| Remington Trade Catalog January 1921. Notice that although the letter in the machine is dated August 1920, the machine has integrated feet, like later machines. |
In the Fall of 2017, I wrote an article about the earliest known Remington Portable typewriter, with serial number NC00099. This serial number stems from October 1920. In fact, it means it was machine number 99 from that month. You can read the full article in Etcetera, which is a free PDF download: https://etconline.org/backissues/ETC118.pdf
As you can read in the article, I compare the earliest known Remington Portable NC00099 with a later machine, NA00346, made in December 1920. The pictures in the magazine are of low resolution, so I decided to put them here, on my personal typewriter blog. For differences between December 1920 machines and later ones, see Richard Polt's excellent overview.
Although the Remington Portable was presented to the public in October 1920 and no earlier machine than NC00099 is known, Remington started production of the new portable typewriter as early as late 1919. It could be that those 1919-machines were stamped with a serial number in October 1920, but there might as well be machines with serial numbers before October 1920! Keep your eyes open.
If you want to find out in which year and month your Remington Portable typewriter was made, click here.
On a side note: both machines are not in my collection anymore.
Okay, now the pictures!
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| NC00099 on the left, NA00346 on the right |
The most interesting difference between the 1920 machines is the way they are attached to the case and rest on their feet. NA00346: as with most other 1920 and early 1921 machines, the base of the carrying case has studs that pass through two small holes in the front corners of the typewriter. The cotter pins that attach this machine to the base through holes in the studs are missing. When on the desk, the typewriter is resting on four “feet,” which are an integrated part of the frame of the machine.
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| NC00099 on the left, NA00346 on the right |
NC00099: The four metal feet are not an integrated part of the frame of the machine, but are welded or glued on it. In addition to the two small holes in the front corners of the machine, this typewriter has two similar holes in the back corners.
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| NC00099 |
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| NA00346 |
The springs that attach the keys to the machine are far less secured on NC00099 than on NA00346 and later machines.
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| NC00099 |
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| NA00346 |
NA00346 has a wooden space bars. NC00099 has a plastic one. This is possibly a later replacement, as later machines had plastic space bars as well.
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| NC00099 |
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| NA00346 |
The platen knobs (and the way they are fixed to the platen) are different on both machines.
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| NC00099 |
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| NA00346 |
The inner works of NA00346 has more nickel-colored parts. NC00099 has more blackened parts.
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| NA00346 |
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| NC00099 |
It’s also worth mentioning the change in design in the Remington logo. NC00099 has a smaller, simpler illustration of the Remington understroke typewriter. The logo of NA00346 is scratched out. Later machines have a bigger and more detailed illustration of the Remington understroke typewriter.
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| NC00099 |
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| NA00346 |
The paper tables have the same dimensions, but are bent in a different way.
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| NC00099 |
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| NA00346 |
Both machines were first painted and than stamped with a serial number.
