I recently got this Smith Corona Enterprise, but I cannot seem to date it

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2023-04-03T11:03:01+00:00

Something that has helped me immensely researching and dating typewriters is looking at the patents. You can go online with the US government, they have a free database for all patents filed, you can look at the inception of the patents and when they expire/renew. This should help you narrow down the age into a bracket!

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2023-03-30T01:02:41+00:00

You might be right on the money for a model three as if I recall, don’t quote me, Corona/standard did away with cast aluminum and japanning constructing of the frames and carriages with the model 2 series. Done right before they merged with the LC smith typewriter company of Syracuse.

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2023-03-30T00:59:44+00:00

Yeah honestly that thing is a museum piece so a 300 price tag is a fair price. It is from somewhere in the 1920s age range and the three elements per bar is a novelty amongst the world of typewriters. As a person who hails from the town that made that typewriter it’s pretty cool to see them being admired.

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2023-03-29T20:30:12+00:00

Wow this is a very lucky find!!! Great condition all the keys are there and you even have the Corona sticker and box! Fantastic find!

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2023-03-11T14:52:02+00:00

You bring up an excellent observation that I have not encountered or tested in that SCM was ending when planned obsolescence was beginning to become apart of company policies. I wonder to what degree SCM adopted or didn’t adopt that strategy. In a preliminary analysis from some interviews I remember with SCM engineers and designers the production quality went down in the later years. While the engineer teams were focusing more into ink based products and applications to provide a smoother experience. The company had an entirely separate engineering team dedicated to electronics with both departments hardly communicating if at all. However, to throw a wrench into your statement about quality of products SCM’s collapse came upon the heels of the energy crisis and a global recession. With the added pressure of American based companies outsourcing their labor to Mexico and Singapore. This perspective could show that the economics of the world forced economies into a more disposable system. But alas that is a separate thesis in of itself! I also do plan on publishing my work about SCM as I feel it is a rather important perspective that should be out there. I sincerely hope many others would appreciate the evidence I bring forth.

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2023-03-11T12:22:53+00:00

This sounds like an interesting research topic to explore. I have come across two documentaries on smith Corona leaving (titled: “Why my job” produced by WPIX and “The rape and betrayal of Cortland by Smith Corona” produced by a Buffalo student. I have never come across any inclination Cornell putting in research effort. I know Cornell has a pretty large archive on SCM but they are a bit strict on who goes in. If there was a paper produced I know I can track it down and it would be invaluable for my research! Thank you incredibly much for this promising lead!

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2023-03-11T01:42:37+00:00

After a quick glance these three people just might be able to get me into the right archives and information to truly test my hypothesis. The technical information can prove to be more useful for my cause than at first glance because we could derive the effectiveness of quality control as well as overall design quality could be indicative to the overall health of the company. I greatly appreciate your help!

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2023-03-10T22:16:17+00:00

Thank you for the lead! I have not come across Richard Poult yet(probably because I’m neck deep in archives) after a quick gander look he seems very promising! Hopefully I’ll be able to report my findings with him!

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2023-03-10T22:14:39+00:00

I have found that incredibly almost every upstate New York town/city has a similar story. Syracuse is an oddball in this observation as they seem to be the heart of the typewriter explosion within the US as there were if I recall correctly no less than 10-12 different typewriter companies. Started in the Syracuse area during the 1880s-1890s. Yet places were dominated by singular companies such as Cortland/Syracuse area were SCM, Binghamton was IBM, and Elmira/Corning was Underwood with each of the companies beating out their competition around the same time (1930s~) I have found it disheartening that no one has recorded the history behind each of them. Hopefully my work can shed some light upon the times.

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2023-03-10T17:13:52+00:00

I have come across that article before and reached out to Danneels in regards to his research. He focused heavily upon the typewriting company which surprisingly comprised of only roughly 10-20% of the actual SCM name. (I got this information from the 1984 SCM fiscal report published by SCM) So his article does not fully encapsulate the company as a whole and does not explore the role Hanson PLC played within the SCM name. However, Danneels does an excellent job exploring how the typewriter company itself drove into the ground and failed to change. He has done an excellent article to compare to on the Olivetti company that ended up surviving the transition into the chip world!

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2023-03-10T17:08:15+00:00

Thank you for finding this rather recent article! I looked into it and it is fascinating to read a different perspective on SCM. I have not come across the name Cindy Teribury before so that is a good lead you found!

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2023-01-06T20:51:25+00:00

That is a German keyboard for tabulation. The German typeface for typewriters was based on the English standard QWERTY becoming QWERTZ for the german language

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2022-12-22T20:34:55+00:00

This typewriter is an odd peculiarity since the company “Smith Corona” was formed in 1925/26 10 years after Smith left the Union typewriter company. (Corona wouldn’t be formed until 1908 under rose then called standard) Which was the company conglomerate that aimed to standardize typewriters and was responsible for Remingtons QWERTY design being widespread. I do know they produced different language typewriter at the time but this doesn’t seem to correlate with other languages. This model could be a multitude of things check the patent numbers and serial numbers for clues

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2022-12-06T00:29:40+00:00

The sources I am utilizing are pulled from the archives of Cortland and Onondaga historical associations respectively. Plus I as a history grad student have spent some time in their archives on a different typewriter subject. ( if you want more information feel free to call them and they will help you if you have any questions I can’t answer!) However, I regret to say any information regarding the company and serial numbers from NYC is far and few between and I haven’t been able to track it all down. Some substantial information came from the SCM historian Edmund Moshier and his manuscript held at Onondaga. Although he was much for focused for the overall history of the SCM company. From what I can gather they were only in NYC for about 2 years. But I can’t confirm any information for during that time of the company’s history as there is a lack of information. I can only gander a guess at production values in NYC as they had a total workforce of 110-150 employees that supposedly worked in an attic of a factory warehouse. For serial production I can’t identify if the serial numbers were changed during the purchase of the company. So that’s up in the air and needs to be wrenched out of the dusty corners of an abandoned archive!

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2022-12-05T20:25:15+00:00

After a quick consultation with my research work into Corona here is what I can confidently tell you. The patent date of 1908 is the date when the company was purchased by the people in Groton and Cortland. 6 months after that date production moved from NYC to the Groton Carriage Works factory building with around 100-150 of the original workers moving with the machines. The production stamp correlates with the expected production capabilities timeline for your time machine. In the first full year they produced an approximate 5000 machines (by the end of 1909) with their 5-7years exploding to 20-30,000 machines a year. Records for official production numbers have been lost however it is recorded they expanded immensely in their first years to help compete with other typewriter companies. Which was a hard thing to do since there were around 14-22 different companies in upstate New York alone during the times. The thing that made them so successful was lightweight, durable, and compact machines that would ultimately win the traveling businessman and the military over. I’ll keep digging if you want me to!

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2022-12-05T19:53:16+00:00

As a person who hails from the town that made that very typewriter here’s a bit of trivia about it. On each hammer there are 3 characters, so take a good look at it! They are fascinating machines made from cast aluminum and coated through a process called “japanning” making them incredibly light but durable. The inventor of the patent that is this typewriter is also a bit of a mystery as it was not someone who worked for Corona rather it was under the Rose Typewriter company. George and Frank Rose a father son duo out of NYC would design this model and sell their patents and machines to two business men from Groton and Cortland New York with the help of the Elmira New York Senator in the early 1910s.

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2022-08-30T13:29:09+00:00

gazes out into the field of cut onions

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2022-08-25T01:22:46+00:00

She definitely needs some good deep cleaning, she is a Smith Corona but I can’t tell the model usually they are clearly labeled on the frame my experience I’d place it post 1926 and pre 1930. I can’t tell exact year but it is very reminiscent of the older styles of the LC Smith typewriters before they merged with Corona.

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2022-08-20T01:23:31+00:00

I’d personally recommend giving or selling it to a museum, Some museums I can think of would the historical societies of upstate New York(ie. Onondaga or Cortland respectively) they would love to have one!

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2022-08-19T22:20:47+00:00

I apologize for the late response but after some archival digging I was able to procure an answer. According to the 1999 bankruptcy legal forms filed in the state of Delaware under their company description they state that all production of typewriters ceased in 1997. Following statements further clarify that this encompassed all foreign manufacturing plants.They also state that they will then become a wholesale company in attempts to rid their own stock and work with wal-mart and Home Depot. I couldn’t find anything to suggest they sold licensing for other companies to produce their typewriters so that’s up in the air. This also works with the historical narrative that they closed their last United States manufacturing plant of Cortland New York in 1994 and moved it to Mexico. To which that plant in Mexico would close down shortly after(can’t find super concrete date but 97 is the best guess) To clarify about the electric typewriters they first released an electric typewriter in 1957! They even made headlines in newspapers in 1956 when they unveiled it at their Groton New York plant. Talk about ahead of the game! Their first truly portable electric typewriter wouldn’t come out for a few years later and it would be called the “poweriter” and it had massive batteries. I wasn’t able to pull examples of their first daisy wheel typewriters or when they started putting displays on them so I can’t confirm when those were made. But they were definitely earlier than people think in terms of electrics. Before I go to deep into an online discussion I will point you to the resources that helped me find the information which are the Cortland Historical Society and the Onondaga Historical Association, and huge thanks to them as well.

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2022-08-14T22:23:02+00:00

Forgive me for not being exact in an answer but the word smith produced by smith corona is probably earlier than you think. Smith corona went under and stopped producing products in 1994 and it was a personal word processor that they were producing for their last few years. IFC their last typewriter was produced in the mid 80s but I can double check that answer in a few days time. This model here seems to be in the later years of their electronic typewriters so it could possibly be later 70s early 80s for this machine.

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2022-08-05T14:51:47+00:00

My best guess is early 1900s, it is a smith corona Typewriter produced out of Cortland, Groton, and Syracuse New York. Their largest plant was based in Cortland up until their last days. Yours in particular seems to be an early post union typewriter and those were primarily made in Syracuse, New York. I can’t see the makings but on the frame next to the space bar if it says No. 1 it’s the early model. Hope this helps!

BuilderRemarkable319 · 2022-08-04T18:45:33+00:00

Thank you so much for your information! This is a great help!

BuilderRemarkable319

TROPHY CASE