Vintage Olivetti Lettera 36 Portable Typewriter Resto
Found this Vintage Olivetti Lettera 36 Portable Typewriter in original hard case kicked to the curb. Works but needs to be cleaned up and some of the letter arms stick...nothing WD40 cant fix! I also have the orginal Owners manual and the case marked, "Made in German Democractic Republic". Not sure what I will do with this one but I will get it working again!
Just an interesting note:
I do know a bit of history about the German Democractic Republic (AKA: Deutsche Demokratische Republik) commonly known in English as East Germany. The GDR was a socialist state created by the Soviet Union in occupied Germany. East Germany existed from 1949 until 1990, when its re-established states acceded to the adjacent Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), thus producing the current Germany. Of course the GDR does not exist anymore since the destruction of the Berlin Wall. Prior to reunification the GDR consisted of several smaller districts..such as Rostock, Frankfurt (Oder), Nuebrandenburg, etc. I used to really be into Volkswagens at one point in my life and I really got into German history and dabbled a bit in the language as well although I would much rather speak French (my cultural heritage language) or something more useful like Spanish! :)
12/6/08: Finished this project...got it cleaned and oiled...works great!
Comments
Very interesting to read about your restoration of the Olivetti Lettera 36. It's a lovely machine. I've just got one myself and I am deeply in love with it! I am a writer, and I had forgotten how beautiful is is to type on an analogue (albeit still electric) machine. It's been many years and I've found it quite moving. I noticed you wrote that you had a copy of the manual for this gorgeous beast. I haven't been able to locate one anywhere so far. If it's not too rude to ask, is there any chance you might be able to provide me with scans of it? If there's anything I could do to return the favour, I'd be delighted to. Best wishes, Glenn Rice, London, England. By the way, my email is: g.rice68@btinternet.com