12 april 2013

Did I just receive an Underwood 2?

I've just received what I believe is an Underwood 2. I bought it from an antiques dealer on the internet, who thought it was from the 1940s. If this is really a #2, it would've been made in or around 1898.

It looks like an Underwood 1 (no see-saw ribbon color selector and a metal colored scale strip) but it has 42 keys instead of 38, so - according to Ernst Martin (1923), p. 218 - that would make it a #2. The serial number is 9732. There is no patent information on the back (no mention to Wagner, nothing).

I haven't found a lot of information yet about this machine or its rarity, except for a message in the Yahoo typewriter mailing list from 2002, claiming that only 2 other Underwood #2's were known. So, logically, I am very excited about this find. Is this really an Underwood 2? And if so, is it really that rare? Anyone else owns an Underwood 2? What is the serial number?

If anyone reading this has more information about the Underwood 2, please write me a comment below or click here to answer the mail I've sent about this typewriter in the Yahoo typewriter mailing list. Now, I probably better start cleaning it. Carefully, just in case!

Here are the pictures: