From the Archives!—The Ʌndərwʊd Portable IPA Typewriter
The SpecGram Archive Elves™
We have previously reported on—and displayed items from—the “Top Secret SpecGram Time Capsule” found lurking in the ceiling of the SpecGram offices. While the wrangling with the SpecGram legal team over potential incriminating evidence proprietary information continues, we thought we would share another antique treasure we had laying around lying around laying lying lieing prevaricating hanging around the office.
Here is a photo of our fifth archival item, a 1940s-era Ʌndərwʊd portable IPA typewriter. This bad boy probably cost at least five times as much as a regular Underwood typewriter, and had replaceable keytops and typebars. Back in those days, SpecGram bought top-of-the-line service contracts for each of these typewriters. The service plan included a pre-paid Typebar Boy who spent the day in a cabinet under the typewriter user’s desk, and would hop out and swap keys and typebars on command. The best Typebar Boys could swap a full set of keytops and typebars in under a minute. Those who took much longer likely got “flogged like an intern”, as they said in the lingo of the day.
More to come...
