~100 Year-old Underwood Standard No. 5 Typewriter

[rp2813]

I just picked up this typewriter today.  Patent dates range from 1909 to 1924.  I can't find a model number on it. 

 

When I was a kid, our household typewriter was a slightly later extra-wide model Underwood that I think came from an army surplus store.  This one I got today is even more primitive and although I thought I knew my way around typewriters, this one has levers and settings I'm not familiar with.

 

I'm looking for information from anyone who might know about how to operate this thing.  For starters, it has no ribbon or spools.  I imagine finding spools could be a challenge.  Also, the tabulator doesn't work.  It appears that settings for tabs are on the back of the machine, but the numbering system is weird and no matter where I set them, there's no tab action except when I use the lever at top right rather than the tab key, and even then it doesn't stop at any of the set points.

 

I've attached some pictures (that I took right-side-up with my phone).  As gummed up as it may look, the keys and the space bar work.  TIA for any suggestions for resources with information.

 

[petek]

I believe its an Underwood 5 but could be a 4. If you get the serial number off it can be looked up on the Typewriter Database for year etc

 

[rp2813]

Thanks Pete, I just located the serial number:  2100932-5.

 

From what I've found on line thus far, I think this could be a No. 5E, although I'm skeptical about it having auto-reversing ribbon spools, and I don't know if they were still using the "E" designation by 1924.

 

I've already lost one tiny screw that holds one of the tab setting markers in place.  It was bent and I took it off to straighten it, and the marker and screw dropped as I was trying to re-fasten it.  I think the screw may be stuck to a layer of dirt and oil somewhere because I only heard the marker drop onto the granite countertop.

 

[petek]

From database

The serial number without the -5 on the end, shows it as 1908.

Underwood Typewriter Model Serial Number Database

Typewriter brand : Underwood -

typewriterdatabase.com

 

[robbinsandmyers]

Ive got a No5 like that in slightly better shape I found at the curb 40 years ago. Been trying to find rubber feet for it. Plus one the the nickled fingers on the roll had the tip break off. There was a local man named Manson Whitlock that was the typewriter king for 50 years and I should have taken it for service before he passed. He would have only charged $25.00

 

[rp2813]

Pete, why would there be patent dates on my machine starting with 1909 and running up to August of 1924 (if you zoom in on picture #3 you can kind of make out the dates)?  I just assumed that the latest patent date would be the one that indicated approximate year of manufacture, but the info on one site seems to be all over the map with serial numbers and associated years of manufacture.  The pattern of the gold pin striping on mine appears to be different from the 1908 models as well.

 

I'll keep researching on line to try and get some insight into the serial numbers, which don't seem to be very serial. 

 

I need all new feet on my machine too.  One of them crumbled while I had the machine tipped up to get a look underneath.  If only California Typewriter was still in business up in Berkeley.  Los Angeles may be the nearest metro area left with a typewriter repair shop at this point.  I was thinking a place like Grainger  might have something that could be used for replacement feet.  The only thing to figure out is how to make sure the round screw head can be sunken into the bottom surface.  I'm mulling over a couple of ideas.

 

[launderess]

Typewriters are my other hobby.

From my bookmark stash:

https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/index.html

https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/Underwood_Repair_Manual.pdf

https://www.hnsa.org/manuals-documents/single-topic/typewriter-maintenance/

https://archive.org/details/TM10601/mode/2up?view=theater

Manual for Underwood Nos 3,4 and 5

https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/Underwood3-4-5-1929.pdf[this post was last edited: 3/18/2023-01:19]

 

[launderess]

There wasn't much variation among Underwood 5 typewriters over years IIRC. Least far as basics are concerned which would include maintenance, repair and so on.

There are number of videos on YT that provide wealth of information.

If seeking a professional shop to clean, restore and otherwise get your typewriter up to grade and cannot find someone locally try Phoenix Typewriter.

https://www.phoenixtypewriter.com

 

[launderess]

Replacement rubber feet can be found on eBay and various other sources.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=underwood+typewriter+no+5&_sacat=0&_ipg=240

 

[sudsmaster]

My mom had an old Underwood typewriter a lot like that in the unfinished second floor of the house we lived in until I was 11. I remember playing around with it but I was too young to know what I was doing. Later in high school I took a typing class, which I really loved. It's been all downhill from there.

 

 

[petek]

Looked again.. my mistake. Serial numbers starting at 2100000 show March 1926.

 

[petek]

The basic innards and name of those vintage 5's continued on for decades into the 60s with tweaks etc. My first year typing in grade 9 we used Underwood Typemasters which look identical in photos to the 60s Underwood Touchmaster and Underwood 5. Like a lot of other typewriters of the time, add a feature and give it a new name etc.

 

[ea56]

My first typewriter was an Underwood 5 that my aunt gave me for my 11th birthday. My aunt was a typing and shorthand teacher at Richmond HS in Richmond, Cailf. She purchased the typewriter from the school and had the company that serviced the HS typewriters fully clean and service it. It was sparkling clean and smelled of lubricating oil when I received it.

This was an excellent typewriter. The only down side was setting the tabs required moving the tab stops on the back of the carriage manually, rather that simply pressing a tab stop key on the keyboard. Other that this the Underwood was the best! When I was 15 I received a new Royal Safari portable for Christmas, which I had coveted. Yes it had a tab stop key, but it wasn’t as reliable of a machine as the old Underwood 5. My pet peeve about the Royal Safari was that the carriage sometimes jumped a space when tying fast and then I’d have a missed space in a word and have to use an eraser to correct the resultant error. Anyone of my generation that learned to type in the old days knows just what a PITA making corrections with an eraser was!

I’m sorry that I ever let that old Underwood go, it was a tireless workhorse, dependable as death and taxes.

Eddie

 

[rinso]

I also have an Underwood 5 typewriter. It is in perfect shape and I even have extra ribbons for it. I still use occasionally for special tasks. But, I need to find a willing recipient as I'm sorta getting ready to meet the saints.

 

[rp2813]

Thanks to all for the replies, links, and excellent information!  Judging from the eBay listings, I did OK by paying $20 for my machine (which I found in the Nextdoor for sale/free listings), even though it's not in the best cosmetic shape. 

 

In my 9th grade typing class we had mostly Underwoods, but they were likely '60s vintage, ugly gray machines that I didn't care for.  There were a handful of Remingtons that I preferred.  They were more solid and quieter, and I found the touch on those very suitable.  Oddly, I like the touch and key travel on this No. 5.

 

Pete, thanks for the correction.  1926 it is!  First order of business will be to order four new feet and a ribbon with correct spools so I can check performance and see what might need attention.  This typewriter will jog my memory of the big Underwood that lived behind a door with false drawer facade on the hidden, space-saving spring loaded return of my dad's vintage desk.

 

 

 

 

[petek]

Whatever you do if those ribbon spools on there now are metal keep them and rewind new ribbon onto them as new ribbon only comes in plastic reels.

I agree those 60s Underwoods are not pretty. I'm guessing school districts were key purchasers of them.

 

[rp2813]

Pete, it currently has no spools.  I'm going to order the right ones from Phoenix instead of the "universal" types on Amazon.