Typewriter Video Series Episode 39: Olivetti Underwood 21

[@mthompsondc]

Joe -- Delightful! Many thanks for doing this. I got my O-U 21 c. 1970 while finishing high school, and it saw me thru college, too. Have stored it away ever since, collecting dust in that nice hard case you highlighted. I came across your video because I've pulled it down from the shelf and plan to clean it up for my grandson. Thanks again for your attention to detail...as you rattled them off my mind was going: "I remember that!" and "No kidding - I didn't know it could do that!"

[@Joe_VanCleave]

I hope you get many good years from your typewriter!

[@cmalc8]

Just tried that automatic paragraph indent technique on my Brother 750TR and it works! I had no idea of that feature until hearing you mention it. I'd guess it's quietly present in several machines, probably unknown to many owners, certainly every JP-7 based Brother, Olympia and Hermes.

[@johnneilson377]

I still have my Underwood 21....a gift to me from my parents entering Broad Meadows junior high school in 1966. Still works like a champ but yes, the keys are heavy-ish regardless of the setting. Time has taken its toll on the carrying case, however, but some epoxy helped keep it from getting worse. Very informative and comprehensive review, Mr. Van Cleave. Thanks for that!

[@Jivermo]

Thank you! Just picked one up, and you answered some questions for me. Now, to locate the serial number!

[@m.kayewilliams2550]

This looks like a wonderful machine. It's sad that trying to find these older machines is difficult on-line because you can't really tell what you are going to get. It is also hard to be older looking at these as I had bought my first portable for about $50 - now around $300! I love looking at all the old machines as they bring back fun memories. I do want to mention that in two offices I worked at (in a cave with dinosaurs), I was fussed at twice because I forgot to lift the paper bail after I finished for the day. The theory was if we left the paper bails on the platen it would leave dents in the platen and deform it. Not sure if that is really true, but it was a rule. I've typed on almost every type of machine - manual, electric (Selectric II was my fav), multiple dedicated word processors, and computers. I miss the old days of just sticking in a piece of paper, typing, and having something ready. No IT guys, no juicing it up, no trying to find a compatible printer, no viruses, no spam. Much as I love computers for speed and connectivity, I agree that there is nothing so lovely as a typewriter!

[@AtelierDBurgoyne]

Kaye, Thank you for sharing your experience. Loved it!

[@federicopitto3450]

Hi Joe, thanks for sharing this overview of this wonderful machine. the trade story was great, nice sleuth work!

[@sherpestwelve9012]

Enjoyed the provenance story of trade of motorcycle

[@AtelierDBurgoyne]

Thanks for this video!

[@nakapaa]

that is a beautiful piece of history right there. The story of the motorcycle trade was cute too. I am an owner of an Underwood Olivetti Studio 44. Love it. More Power to you.

[@woodymccaslin3205]

Hi,This is Jim in San Manual. Thanks for the reply on the Royal Mercury. The drawband was unhooked from it's mooring when we opened the box the other day. The carriage moves back and forth very nicely - no binding, etc. Did find a post today about how to rewind the drawband back onto the mainspring drum. We'll be working on that today. Thanks again for your reply. Jim

[@Joe_VanCleave]

The mainspring is under least tension when the carriage is at the far left, so it might be easier to reattach it in that position; then as you do a carriage return it will wind up the spring to full tension. Good luck, keep us posted on your progress.

[@loveisall5520]

My parents gave me this machine as a graduation present, new, in 1973. As I spoke a couple of other languages, they bought it from my O-U dealer with international keyboard and Pica type. Unfortunately, I guess, I was already typing over 120wpm and there was no way I could top 100wpm on this. The skinny space bar was uncomfortable. I loved its look and actually stuck it in the trunk after college on business trips for hotel-room use. Unfortunately it was stolen in the 90's. Was in perfect shape and I miss it even if it wasn't ideal for me.

[@fpink3]

The line spacing lever on my "21" has a 7mm x 2mm (approx) round tab.

[@Clevelanddrummer1]

I just picked up one of these from Goodwill, but mine isn't branded as Olivetti. Just "Underwood 21." I love the design of this machine, but even on the lightest setting I feel like the keys are just too heavy for my liking. Thanks for the video!

[@TypewriterCollector]

Excellent video quality

[@lindafontaine8470]

I believe my machine has been tampered with. Space bar no longer works. Tab key just loosely moves when pressed and does nothing. Ribbons look as if they droop back a little. Is there a manual for Underwood 315 which I am told is known as olivetti also. It looks as if the keys section is a little higher. Maybe there is a key that will put this right or is it broken somehow. It never used to be like this. All it needed was a few sticky keys need sorting which I was sorting with something.

[@BokBarber]

I used to have an Underwood 319, which was a much later built, plasticized machine made by Olivetti in Spain. It seems to have almost the same guts as this Olivetti Underwood 21 and it's interesting to see everywhere that they had cut costs over the years. Yours is much, much better built and has a far more attractive body style. I remember the 319 being a surprisingly decent machine despite looking like a beige blob, and the fact that it shares DNA with this machine probably explains that. I'd had that machine since I was a kid. When I was young I had an affinity for typewriters, and my grandmother got me the 319 from a friend of hers to keep me from playing with her "real" typewriter (a Smith Corona Skyriter), which she still used. The 319 was heavily used and beaten up even by then, missing its ribbon cover and battle scars all over its bady/case. It only got worse in the hands of a curious kid. It did teach me how to type and do basic servicing as I got older, and to its credit, it generally worked pretty well. I held onto it for a long time because of nostalgia, but ultimately donated it to charity before a cross country move, only keeping my Olympia SM3. I figured some kid might pick it up and get another decent first typewriter out of it.

[@OskarFilms]

Hi, Joe. What is (are) the difference(s) between your Olivetti Underwood 21 and the models that just say Underwood 21 across the front?

[@elizabethcraig5825]

Bought this typewriter at a business machines store in 2012. Reminded me of typing class 1967. Paid $125.00 for it. It works great, but the ribbons have to be wound by hand, I was told. Probably paid too much but maybe I will write my memories, Lest We Forget. Thanks.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

If the ribbon auto-reverse is working properly one ribbon should last a long time. New cloth ribbons are readily available online.

[@elizabethcraig5825]

Thanks so much for the info.

[@cindyroberts3685]

Help I acquired a Olivetti RT 5400 and I can't figure out how to make turn the typewriter on!!

[@WolverinePete]

For fans of the show "Riverdale", the Olivetti Underwood 21 is the same model typewriter that Betty gives to Jughead for Christmas.

[@christophermckellar1352]

Joe, enjoyed the video. Was there the name of the owner on that receipt? It would be fun if that were so to Google him and see if he actually wrote anything that got published. But knowing you the a little bit I do from your videos I’m guessing you already thought of that. Secondarily I have an Olympia that appears to be an SG 3 from 1970. That and another portable I have have the half space bar. It’s probably my typing, but I seem to type faster than it can keep up with. I often get the first character of the word jammed up against the second character of the word, particularly if it’s a character from the left hand. I’ve been trying to retrain myself to slow down after the space bar, and failing. Any suggestions? I bought the machine from a local repair man so I’m guessing there’s nothing particularly wrong with the machine. Do you think it needs to be speeded it up or I need to be slowed down?

[@Joe_VanCleave]

The receipt didn’t have a name, so we may never know the guy’s name. Regarding your typewriter, it could be caused by your left hand being weaker than your right. I have a similar problem, which I’ve adjusted for by touch typing with my right hand and one-finger typing with my left.

[@av8bvma513]

Hey Joe, Where ya goin' with that typewriter in your hand? Hi Joe, I really hope you get a chance to sit down on your own with a nicely fettled IBM Selectric. I have just turned away from my Selectric II, to write you an impassioned epistle expounding the delights of the world's most complex mechanical typewriter. Did he say mechanical? I thought they was electric? Yup, and yup. The machine is 100% mechanical. The drive for the machine is an electric motor, but all it does is provide the power to make things happen, there is no other electrical system, or electronics, except on the late Selectric III models, which have a couple wires to run two lights. These illuminate the [cue Batman TV music!] "Edge-Lighted-Lucite" front margin display. Perhaps one day I will write a book about the Selectric, as it is right up there with the Apollo Space Program. The very best typewriter, ever, period. About SEVEN times the number of parts as a Corona 3, including several integrated systems, that are not for typing, but to prevent typist-induced problems! The sum of this, is a typing experience that just HAS to be tried to understand. Very light keys, brilliant action, definitive tripping of the keylever system, very tactile, but wait, there's more! The SPEED of the thing is staggering, and the closest analogy I can get comfortable with is that this thing is an M-16. It is hypersonic, no matter how fast you can type, it is there, just egging you on, "Come on, come on, this all you got? I can go WAY faster than this!" The sound is pretty darn exciting too, adding to the experience, and when on a roll, rattling along at over a hundred, one's mind a sentence or two ahead, black lines skidding across the page, it is some kind of wonderful. Get some! Get some! Check out this guy for a good one: kzbin.info/door/FVJOLMjdtEVCTNai3-1brgvideos?sort=dd&view=0&shelf_id=0 www.phoenixtypewriter.com/