1941 Royal Aristocrat

1941 is the year the US entered WWII. When it did, much of the industry in the United States went to support the war effort including companies that made typewriters. In this episode, we look at a typewriter that was manufactured shortly before Royal suspended manufacturing for the commercial market. Many of these typewriters were used by the army and navy.

[@sistergoldenhair0727]

I have a brown one from 41 and it’s by far my favorite typer!

[@colinmoore5991]

I have the exact same model and year. It's by far the most trouble free machine I own. I would rate Royals of the 30s & 40s as virtually indestructible work horses of the typewriter kingdom. These machines were built to last.

[@altongansky]

My first typewriters were Royals. My wife brought home a KMM and a KMG and kicked off my addiction. I've Been love with Royals ever since. My high school and college typewriter is a black and gold Royal Eldorado. Not a great typer but it is easy on the eyes.

[@someonespadre]

I think they figured population growth plus new features and styling would sell plenty of new typewriters even if the old ones didn’t break and they didn’t want the reputation of selling junk. My parents would get 40+ years out of a refrigerator.

[@berniepokorski6608]

Great Video! I own a brown 1941 ROYAL KMM S/N: 278175, and I have 'interpolated' its manufacturing to the 23rd week of June: June 22-28, 1941. They surely are sweet typewriters!

[@altongansky]

I do love a Royal typewriter. The first typer in my collection was a KMM. Thanks for writing.

[@lizdouglas1952]

Alton! I just purchased the exact Royal Aristocrat typewriter - 1941. The seller is incredible. My typewriter is gorgeous!! I love how you provided some history on that era, which of course was the start of WWII. I've wanted this vintage typewriter for a long time. Thank you for this video and some insight. I feel so fortunate to own this beauty. My parents are gone, but they lived through that incredible era. My father served in WWII. The Greatest Generation. A lot of melancholy on this end. I learned to appreciate the music, history, movies, through my beautiful parents.

[@altongansky]

Congratulations. It's nice to have an Aristocrat in the house-so to speak. Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad the video was useful to you. Enjoy.

[@lizdouglas1952]

@@altongansky Alton...I even have the original papers, i.e., guides, certificate. I am curious as to where I could purchase the metal spools of ribbon. I have one in the typewriter, and a plastic. Would you know where I could find them? Thank you!! God bless you!!🥰👍🇺🇸❤🙏

[@altongansky]

I’m out of town so I can’t double check the style of spools used in that period but I believe it’s pretty standard. I may have a couple. I’ll check this weekend when I get back. Otherwise check eBay. Sometimes you can buy typewriter parts through them. If you have a typewriter repair shop nearby, you could contact them. All the best.

[@lizdouglas1952]

@@altongansky I looked on Amazon. No luck. I'll ck eBay. I know if you can obtain a metal spool, you'll have to wind the ribbon from plastic to metal. Maybe later, when you return, you could assist. I'd pay whomever is selling them. It adds to that vintage typewriter like you have mentioned. Thank you!!! You're awesome!🥰👍🇺🇸❤🙏

[@altongansky]

@@lizdouglas1952 The metal spools are fairly common. I've seen them on Ebay. You should be able to find a seller there.

[@BALrider1Steve]

Love it I have an army issue one it’s green love it beautiful typewriter

[@theworldaccordingtojames1594]

Very nice presentation. I'm using a computer keyboard right now and it seems odd. I find the Royal Aristocrat forces me to type slower and compose my sentences before I type them. I am a former television reporter and once took my Aristocrat on an out-of-town assignment where I was writing my script while sitting inside a satellite truck. One of my competitors stuck his head in the door and asked, "What is that sound? A cicada?"

[@altongansky]

Thanks for commenting, James. Great story. To some the sound of typing is noise, to some of us it is a symphony. Thanks for watching and writing.

[@lgambis]

Hi Alton. Thanks for the historical background. I started drawing typewriters recently and selling them mostly on tshirts in my etsy store (Walrus Industries). I'm up to 25 illustrations. take care.

[@Chernobypi67]

Wonderfull machine 👍🏻

[@TypewriterMinutes]

I always enjoy the history lessons with your typewriters. Cool rectangular shift keys. And I see a USB keyboard in the background masquerading as a typewriter keyboard. :)

[@altongansky]

Yes, you did see a Bluetooth typewriter-styled computer keyboard. Good eye. My family gave it to me for my birthday. I plan to do a Typewriter Tuesday special about it in the near future. Thanks for writing and keep up the cool videos.

[@bradsegee1069]

Thanks. Great video!

[@MoonFlowerCreations]

Another silly question probably, but what does the touch control do? I have this exact same model so I'm trying to learn more about it. :)

[@altongansky]

Salina Kenyon The Touch Control on typewriters allows the typist to adjust the amount of pressure needed to depress the keys. Some people need a lighter touch while, more heavy handed typist need more resistance when they type. That's how it's supposed to work. On many older machines the touch control doesn't do much. I hope this helps.

[@stevenesbitt4324]

Thanks for the great videos. Yours are the best I’ve seen on this topic. By the way, the key probably sits higher because of a bent linkage wire down inside. Some gentle re-bending should get it back in line.

[@altongansky]

Thanks for the kind words, Steve, and thanks for the suggestion about the linkage. I did look at that when I first noticed the problem and then again after I read your suggestion. The linkage I can see all look fine, but I need to look a little deeper when I get time. Your suggestion is a good one.

[@someonespadre]

I have a 1938 De Luxe, it’s supposed to be broken but I somehow fixed it. I suspect something was derailed and I fixed by fiddling (looking for the S/N). My 1937 Corona Standard is very bare minimum, no paper bail, only fingers. But it’s heavier, seems tougher somehow. The Royal is lighter weight but loaded with features, tabulator, paper bail which doubles as a paper rest, left paper guide, index release for typing on a line but doesn’t change the index, index button which does change the index. Margin stops and tab stops are manual. The feed roller has a flat spot that I want to fix. Corona is shiny black, no chrome, like a Ford. Royal is black craquelure with chrome strips like a Cadillac.

[@altongansky]

Thanks for writing. It sounds like you have a great little collection going. I'm impressed that you chose to fix the typewriter when so many wouldn't. Good for you.

[@someonespadre]

@@altongansky the idea was to get a cheap one to fix but I didn’t expect it to take 2 minutes LOL

[@altongansky]

@@someonespadre A long time ago, I bought a typer on eBay. I usually avoid doing that, but the typer was cheap and I needed a couple of parts to fix a different typewriter. The info on the machine said it was broken and was being sold "as is." That was fine with me. It arrived. It was beautiful. A Royal Futura in blue, but the carriage didn't move. I released the carriage lock the side of the machine and it worked fine. It was five second fix. The only down side was that I had to find another typewriter to get the parts I needed.

[@johnlennon1049]

Great video. I have myself the Royal KMM. Works pretty good but I have to tweak it a bit. Got it for nothing at an antique store. She just wanted to get rid of it. Nobody was interested in buying it. That was about 15 years ago. Where do you get those circle tables to turn the typewriter around. Looking to get one. Thank!

[@altongansky]

I bought it on Amazon: LapWorks 15.9 inch Heavy Duty Swivel.

[@NewPhilly2001]

Like your typewriter videos! However, in this video you say that the Aristocrat belongs to the lower part of Royal's range. I have a 1940 Aristocrat and a 1946 Quiet Deluxe (top of the range), and the only difference between the two is a couple of pieces of felt! The 1946 Quiet Deluxe is also lacking the chrome bits at the feet, and the quality of chrome does not seem to be quite so high. It is interesting that the Aristocrat name was retired for many years, but came back at the end of the Quiet Deluxe run in the late 1950's, and the "new" Aristocrat used the older style Quiet Deluxe body when the Quiet Deluxe had moved to a new cast body, which I think was aluminum. I wonder if, in a reversal of sorts, the Aristocrat was then considered the top of the range? Thanks for the video!

[@altongansky]

Thanks for the comment, Worth. You make some excellent points. I will say that Aristocrat I showed in the video is a solid machine (needing a little love, but that will come) and that Royal machines are some of my favorites. Many writers were partial to them. Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner David McCullough still writes on a Royal. I'm happy to rethink my comment and I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

[@paullemieux3371]

Mine was used in army I have person name and his number they don’t have to be green to be used in the military I’m historen with this stuf

[@The1973Drummer]

I have the same problem with a bar on my model 10 but it doesn't effect the typing.

[@altongansky]

Thanks for writing. That's the thing about old typewriters, almost all of them have some quirk. I guess the same can be said about people. Thanks again.

[@labreeskarogers1102]

I have one of these but when you type it does not slide or move the space bar is not working

[@altongansky]

Thanks for writing. It's impossible for me to diagnosis typewriter problems at a distance but let me suggest a few things. If your Aristocrat is the same year as the one in the video, then it doesn't have a carriage lock-a lever that allows you to lock the carriage in the center. Later models did. That's the first thing to check. If you have a later model, you should be able to find a small lever near the left carriage nob. If your margins are pushed together in the center, then carriage won't move. The video shows were the margin settings are. Check that. Third thing to try is use one of the carriage release levers (chrome levers on either side of the carriage) and see if the carriage will move. If it does, and if you feel a tug, then that means the draw band/chord is still connected and the master spring works. You'll know right away. If you pull you can move the carriage but you feel no tension when you pull it to the right, then there's a good chance you have a broken draw band. Look under the typewriter and see if you can see a band or chord (I forget which it has) dangling free. If that's the case, then you may need to have someone fix it for you. I've done it myself, but it took a bit of doing and was quite a learning experience. I hope this helps. Does, the carriage move if you push the keys? If the keys move it but the space doesn't, then the space bar is the problem. Al.

[@pacoguerra7637]

I Love that Typewriter!!!!! I will like to have one....are you not interested to sell it?? Jeje

[@MoonFlowerCreations]

Why is there not a #1 key?

[@altongansky]

That is not unusual in older typewriters. Typist used the lowercase "l" as the numeral 1. Some manufacturers added a 1-key on their higher priced models. It would later become standard. Thanks for writing.