If we're going to do history, let's get it right. The Royal HH and REs offered color in the '52-54 range, but they were the exception rather than the rule. These are very difficult to find now. The Quiet De Luxes didn't get color until into 1956 and continued until 1958 when they were replaced by the (also) colorful Royal Futuras.

There were pockets of the late 20s and early 30s when Royal and Underwood among others experimented with color on portables as well, but these tended to be more basic reds, blues, and greens. The Corona 4s models were finished in DuPont DUCO® from 1927 to 1939. In a similar time period the Royal P also came in a small variety of colors.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/721704878218903/posts/3078967149159319/

TB Writers Plus sells new plastic handles for Royal Futura 800 and related cases for $35.00 as of 2026-05-02.

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=8664575033636687&set=pcb.10161146832999678

Test of Shift and motion<br /> nNnNnNn

Test of Color Control<br /> __ 1/41/41/21/2// (black) __ 1/41/41/21/2// (red)

Test of Magic Margin<br /> x<br /> x

Test of Tabulator and Back Space<br /> x x x<br /> xx xx xx

Test of Line lock and margin release<br /> nnnnnn<br /> nnnnnn

https://www.neighborhoodarchive.com/mrn/episodes/1083/index.html

Unraveling the Royal Quiet De Luxe – Part 4: The Colorful End of the QDL, and What it Became by [[Ted Munk]]

Royal Futura 800 Vintage Manual Typewriter Ribbon Change Install Magic Margin Demo by [[Phoenix Typewriter]]

A quick overview of the Royal Futura 800. Duane shows the very basics here including one of the simplest ribbon changes out there. He also does a quick overview of the Magic Margins, though it's not the best demonstration.

https://www.atticpaper.com/proddetail.php?prod=1958-royal-future-typewriter-ad-two-pages

The markets and level of ubiquity of these items in their heyday are so dramatically different that this is certainly an apples and oranges comparison.

However, if you want to compare the artist/users of the instrument to their machines, which is a way of potentially intuiting a potential answer to your question (one which is highly subjective), you might go by who was using particular typewriters of the time. Here's some data to consider: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/typers.html

For that rough era in American-made machines, you'll see peak engineering/manufacturing in the 1950s out of the Smith-Corona Super Silent, the Remington Quiet-Riter, and the Royal Quiet De Luxe. Design, touch, and tuning can all be such subjective measures here so as to heavily Muddy (the) Waters ('52 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top/'58 Fender Telecaster) on style, quality, and popularity amongst the cognoscenti. Peak quality in the 60s had broadly moved to post-war Germany and Italy with machines from Olympia (SM3, 4, 5, 7, etc.) and Olivetti respectively.

For my personal money, in American machines of the time, I love the design and performance of my well-tuned, and mostly restored 1950 Royal KMG. However, the current market certainly wouldn't indicate a broader beloved status for these the way you'll see for Stratocasters. (You'll also find some horribly maintained and un-tuned machines out there on the market, which is why so much of the antique and vintage typewriter market pricing is so wildly out of whack.)

A separate flavor of question certainly, but if you're looking for a solid performing typewriter to pair aesthetically and temporally with a '64 Strat, I'd go with a Royal FP ('57-62) (which came in Royaltone or Pearl Dark Gray smooth, Royaltone or Pearl Light Gray smooth, Willow Green smooth, Sea Blue smooth, Cameo Pink smooth (Petal Pink) , Brushed Aluminum, Sandstone smooth, and Coral Rose) or the smaller Royal Futura 800 ('58-'63).

Typewriters - Mister Rogers' Neighborhood by [[Fred Rogers]]<br /> episode 1083<br /> https://www.neighborhoodarchive.com/mrn/episodes/1083/index.html

"I was very much interested in letters." -- Fred Rogers

Back to the Futura: The Jetsons' Typewriter - Royal Futura 800 600 400 by [[Lazy Dog Typewriters]]