Time Tables.

Time Tables. The Continental 100 is a great typewriter, but only now, I've found a disoipline it reallv excels at: Typing timetables for train journeys. The key-set margins and tabs come in really handy! #SBB #CFF #FFS. This awesome post was brought to you by the mighty Typosphere

IX. Zurich Typehunt: Epic!

To mark the first day of ITAM, I visited a new thrift store for the first time: Brocki-Land Zurich. Just like Citroën-Garage, it was initially designed for car parking.

And this place is huge! It's probably as big as Citroën-Garage, but there's one check-out and not many independent sellers - everything is much better organised.

In a separate room, with a sign reading "Lamps", there's shelves full of printers, vacuumers - and electronic typewriters: 

Chinese Typewriter

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Abused Continental

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Histories.

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The Collection: Continental 100

The Collection: Continental 100 In the series "The Collection", we present the type- writers on the shelves of maschinengeschrieben. This Friday, it's the Continental l00. In the early 1930s, the Wanderer—Werke started to produce a series of portable typewriters. the Conti« nental Kleinschreibmaschine. Several different models with more or less features, but all with the same design were produced in that decade. With only two exceptions: The Continental 200, an ultra-flat type- writer (Georg owns one}, of which very few facts are known, and the luxurios Continental 100, the top-of- the-line model with a boxy design and an entirely unioue way of setting tabs and margins. The Continental 100 was probably introduced in 1938 and cost 440 Fr. in Switzerland, which is about 3350 Fr. or 3425 USD. The Continental 100 clearly wasn't a cheap machine, therefore. only few models are known in the present day. And that's a shame, because the Continental 100 is a solid machine, has a nice design and the very clever tab-and-margin-in—one feature I discussed in an earlier post. The typing feel of the Continental 100 didn't appeal me at first, but after % page I've now typed, I think I might get used to it. It is like a Hermes 2000 minus the strong snap, which I didn't like there. A clear drawback is the carriage shift, which one definitely wouldn't expect from a "Luxusmodell". To make things worse, the key for the shifting needs to be pressed quite far down, about 9.5 cm. After all, this machine is better oualified for English typing with far less capital letters than German. One thing I need to add about the typing feel is that it's probably the slighty unusual noise, it seems nuite a bit damped and the typical clack is less distinct than I'm used to. Four out of Five stars for the typing feel, I'd say. Five for history. maschinengeschrieben.blogsnot.com Continental 100 This awesome post was brought to you by the mighty Typosphere

Kolonnenreiter and Randsteller

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intercontinental.

intercontinental. On a few days of March, I had three Continental typewriters in my collection; a Continental "Tab" with the serial number R048852, which is now with Adwoa of Retro Tech Geneva, a Continental it? 100, a pretty rare luxury model introduced in 1938 and my Continental 340, the first typewriter I bought. With that possibility, I compared the three machines. And found some interesting technical solutions. the three typewriters were probably produced in the following order: 1. Continental Tab 2. Continental 100 (R325385) 3. Continental 340 (R408753) let's first compare the "Tab" and the 340. After their first portable was released in the early 1930s, the Continental engineers continued to develop new models. But were they really new? Let's take a look: We see what they did there... The early Continental's Tab function basically consists of a bar of tabs added behind the main frame. The late, possibly around 1942 340, which doesn't have a tab, seems to be basically the same. Indeed, except for the tabulator attachement, there aren't many big differences, the most striking change is the much bigger carriage return lever, also, its function is slightly changed. The Continental 100, on the other hand, the top- of—the-line model, introduced in 1938, which would cost over 2800 Fr. today, has a totally different design. Its straight, aesthetical lines have a certain resemblance of the flat Corona 4 model. But is the luxury model such a big change from the other two Continentals? It actually isn't. Knowing where the Tab-Functions are on the Continental "Tab", we also understand why the Continental 100 has such an enormous carri- age: To hide the "Kolonnenreiter", as the Continental marketing branch call the Tabs. A view from below onto the innards of the Continental 340 (left) and the Continental 100 show that there aren't major changes except for the Tab- Functions and a replaced functions and a re-located bell. The folks at Continental in Siegmar-Schonau near Chemnitz definitely knew how to re-use their designs. Pity that Continental ceased to exist after the trobules of the second World War. They made great typewriters. maschinengeschrieben.blogspot.com Typed on the Continental 340 This awesome post was brought to you by the mighty Typosphere