Olympia Traveller C Typewriter

[@pkguy3]

Another Emmy Award winning production. I've never run across one in the wild. I have the older version Traveller.

[@coolduder1001]

I was just looking at one of these

[@saulysw]

I’ve never seen nor heard of this machine, so I found this very interesting. It is easy to take for granted the smooth presentation you give, but thank you once again for your efforts!

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Thank you!

[@ma-mo]

I owned a KOFA portable at one time that had similar confusing genetics. Body internals of an Adler Tippa (?) but carriage of an Olympia Traveler. The KOFA also was sold out of Hong Kong. There's got to be a connection. Another terrific review, sir.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Thank you!

[@mikequinlan9585]

Great review Joe 👍😀 I love the level of detail and thoughtfulness of your review.

[@altongansky]

Great job on this Joe. I reviewed the same typer about 7 years ago when I was doing typewriter videos. It's a great looking machine and I've always appreciated the exterior design. The same machine can be found with different manufacturers. I've seen them in all black (but I haven't seen many). Thanks for the video.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

I meant to credit your video, but it got lost on the cutting room floor! I’ll be sure to add a link to your video in the description. I miss your typewriter videos!

[@altongansky]

@@Joe_VanCleave No problem, Joe and thanks for the compliment. I enjoy your work. In weak moments I think of doing more typewriter videos.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

@@altongansky I added a link to your video in the description!

[@yefei4218]

Hi, I'm a typewriter hunter in china, I saw this traveler C in white and black both, they are assembled in china.

[@joãoAlberto-k9x]

I like this typewriter very much.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Thank you!

[@RichardBurton-m4u]

I have one of these and I'm very happy with it. In my opinion it was the last real manual typewriter model to be manufactured. Just how, years later, the late model Chinese typewriter manufacturers came up with inferior copy designs when a license for this design would surely have cost very little, is very puzzling - a major design DNA disconnect. That said, I know that some of the early Japanese models were pretty inferior (Condor, Nippo) until they took a step up in their material specs and quality control, or directly adopted European designs. Anyway, thanks for another nice little video.

[@eicas_11]

The model that I've seen which most closely matches the Traveller C is the Royal 204. Indeed, that has all the additional features (erasing table, tabulator, and repeat spacer) that the Mercury lacks.

[@_landro_1092]

I like the camera shot with the floating typewriter. BTW: Which typewriter can work best with picture postcards? I often notice that postcards a not my typewriter's friends.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

A large, standard machine with thick platen roller is best for card stock, but there are adhesive labels from Avery that cover the left half of a postcard, you can type on these with almost any typewriter and then stick them to the post card. You can also use the Avery adhesive address labels with a typewriter.

[@otterchen]

The conclsion is at the point, i got both too and the c is usable but not as pleasant like the Royal 200 ( might be the Mercury in the US) or the normal Traveller which are way better for long range typing in the field. Great video, as always Joe 👍

[@vasilis_k_97]

I have a Traveller C that I got as my 10th (?) birthday present around 2010. It has a greek typeset as I am in Greece, that isn't that uniform. Some letters print lower than the others and some appear to have a bolder imprint. I don't know if this typeset was from the factory or it was made by the importer company. Even though I didn't had any experience with other typewriters I could tell that it wasn't a high end machine. It is a little clumsy and the mechanism for the ribbon does let some (faint) unwanted ink marks on the page, but for periodical use its ok. I agree with everything you said in the video. Definetely could use mine much more, but I find that I prefer fountain pens more (another rabbit hole).

[@christophermckellar1352]

Enjoyed. Thanks!!

[@douglasjackson9058]

I love the style of this typewewriter! But .... like you suggested not for long periods of time to type on. Thanks Joe always wondered about these because of the Olympia name.

[@dadtype2339]

What a cool find Joe, I've Not seen one like that. Hard to find typewriters out here on the East Coast, people think they have a Picasso when they have a Typewriter to sell $300-$500 bucks for a Smith Corona Galaxie Deluxe, just two years ago I got mine for $64.00 and that was talking the guy down $40 bucks and getting a two for the price of one, but fewer fewer finds, and oh man if it has the Name Hermes on it, watch out Boy, lol $1k-$2k buckaroos the inflation on those especially, right now are crazy. Saw a Hermes Rocket is pretty good condition not bad, but you'd think it was made of solid gold and been used by Stephen King on the Moon while he listened to Mombo #5, they was $1,600 for it. Hahahaha, I sent a message in FB marketplace place, Why so much? I got back clearly I don't know typewriters, even though in the post he says I don't know much about it to full test it, seems like everything works...if he only knew who I was... Okay buddy good luck finding a buyer.... course was it PT Barnum who said every second there's a sucker born? Anyway that's a reason I've nearly stopped adding to my collection, too expensive people are nuts and then they look at me like I'm the crazy one when I say, no that machine isn't worth more than $45 bucks....from their $200. People come one! My last best find was the 1954 Olympia SM3 from Germany, it was a Western keyboard and floor model for the company, as the plate in the back is blank lived in Germany all it's life, it's in perfect condition, don't mind saying got that for $84. 00 that's including shipping, that was just 5 months ago maybe 4, and now an Olympia SM3 I see are $300-$600+ it's just insane. The two Praxis 48's I got even broken were$40 and $48!! Broken. I still think I can make one work with the guts of the other....first a few projects are a head of those, but soon that's coming up, and thank you for the advice, and I'll keep you up to date on that project...if I get one whole machine working I'm going to name it Lazarus. Lol fitting don't you think? I think of these two I'd rather have the Mercury. Still looking for me and ultra portable mechanical typewriter. For now that's what I use the brother EP-43 and EP-20 for. I wish I could have seen some executive pull either of those machines out of their brief case and get to work! Ever notice on the box for the EP-20 it's not even in that briefcase but sitting on the edge giving the appearance it's sitting in the case...? Funny. Sorry I was late on these but as you know I've been a bit busy, but you know I'll catch up 👍

[@user-or2eb7mn3u]

I need more videos about Bic pens like the Bic Orange and Cristal and round stic and the ink differences and the Bic renew when you can if you want too, but I also like whatever videos you want to do.

[@AtelierDBurgoyne]

This model seems to have the exact same carriage design as my 1968 Hermes Baby, made in W. Germany, with the plastic body. Is there any probability Silver Seiko copied or bought the design of the carriage from Hermes???

[@Joe_VanCleave]

I don’t know! Or perhaps those later Baby’s were made by Silver Seiko? Hmm…

[@AtelierDBurgoyne]

@Joe_VanCleave yes, I guess it could have been Hermes buying from Silver-Seiko to cut down their production cost!

[@bletheringfool]

Do you think having those plastic parts makes it easier to 3d print your own replacement parts? (I don't know much about 3d printing but have seen some of your videos) or are they too fiddly to work with?, in particular the ribbon mechanism

[@Joe_VanCleave]

You could 3D print them, however the parts need to be smooth enough to not stick, and filament printing often has enough texture to make this a problem. What I didn’t mention in the video was plastic parts are perhaps more resilient in humid environments, where metal parts can rust; but conversely plastic parts are more sensitive to dust that can embed itself in the surface and cause moving parts to stick.

[@bletheringfool]

@@Joe_VanCleave thanks for that and forgot to say, great video as always!

[@agricolturadimontagna2.0]

The g, the y and the j need the ribbon to be lifted lower, I guess. Otherwise the letters tend to hit partially the red part of the ribbon.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Good thinking! Though I wonder why not the “p” also?!

[@agricolturadimontagna2.0]

@Joe_VanCleave Think it has something to do with the distance from the center of the bar and the linkage of each letter. I'm thinking right now to the underscore also...

[@dadtype2339]

Hi Joe, Something important, maybe, I noticed something on your Praxis 48 Repair and Repair Failure videos, so check out our comms-link I tell you about it there, I think I may have put it in one of those videos in the comments, but if I'm correct I'm hoping it helps you with your repairs. Sorry to comment twice here, but it's for a good cause 👍

[@rodjapavlik5730]

I had one. It was from 1996 according to the date of the invoice. It had a paper for test typing dated only one day after the date of the invoice. I guess they just typed for testing and then packed the whole machine in and have forgotten about it. I really like the curvy design. But it is an awful machine. I made a test review. It already had some cracks at the plastic bottom.

[@_landro_1092]

Are you sure that the chinese product isn't just a shameless example of violation of intellectual property? Was is really licensed to China in these years, mid of cold war?

[@Joe_VanCleave]

When these were made, the licensing company was based in Hong Kong, which at that time was still British controlled.