Rosenbaum, Ron. 1999. “The Last Luddite Gets Wired.” Slate. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/1999/05/the-last-luddite-gets-wired-4.html (May 11, 2026).

Olympia Electric Typewriter - May 17 2008.wav<br /> by [[lonemonk]] on Freesound<br /> accessed on 2026-05-11T14:04:41

The Quiet Cult of the Olympia Report deLuxe Electric Typewriter<br /> by [[Wilson Rothman]] and [[Steven Levy]]<br /> accessed on 2026-05-11T13:13:15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzXvxb-g0vM

https://www.facebook.com/walter.yablonsky/posts/pfbid027P6eDXfqeoB4VypLqUd36oMoMENWZCsdcAPQzs2z1UwmDfbSAfwVrzaDeg2Ng5JMl

Dogcatcher – Sober Me (Lyric Video)<br /> by [[Dogcatcher]] on YouTube<br /> accessed on 2026-02-20T09:00:13

Lyrics typed in real time on a typewriter as part of the music video.

via https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1r9pwai/lyric_video_made_with_this_subreddits_help/

Smith-Corona Electra users:<br /> - Joyce Carol Oates - Electra 220<br /> - William Styron - Electra 210 - Robert Caro - Electra 210 (New York Times) - Allen Ginsberg - Electra - Truman Capote - Electra 110

https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1g1y3ii/thoughts_on_the_nakajima_wpt150/

Smith Corona Electric Portable Typewriter Dual Belt Replacement using O rings - YouTube<br /> by [[Phoenix Typewriter]] <br /> accessed on 2025-08-28T12:05:

o-ring replacements for Smith-Corona typewriters<br /> www.torkdistributors.com<br /> Filter O-ring replacements<br /> W34-OR 152030 <br /> 4.125" diameter

also could try Culligan OR-34 versions

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074SV5WTX

Drive belts u/NisKildegaard recommends for SMC electric typewriters. via https://new.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1f7mhz6/comment/llb1peu/

Electric Repair Tip: Drive Belt Replacements by [[Sarah Everett]] of [[Just My Typewriter]]

via Koponewt:

https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1ln920i/missing_springs/

Sarah Everett has used water filter o-rings of 3 3/4 x 4 1/8 to replace the drive belts of her electric typewriters.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PUYEJB2/

Smith Corona H Electronic Typewriter Repair High Pitch Buzz Rattle Disassemble Fix by [[Phoenix Typewriter]]

SCM Electric Typewriters by [[Joe Van Cleave]]

Tips for cleaning the Smith-Corona 6 series electric typewriters and details about how they work.

S-C also made this series of typewriter for both Sears and Singer under their branding. (including the Singer Electric in this video.)

The belts on the electric motor and cams was originally a rubber 'V' belt which is no longer manufactured. Using 1/8" round cross-section o-rings of appropriate sizes (for water cannister applications) is the recommended replacement, however one may need to slightly move the drive motor down a bit so that the belt doesn't hit the frame of the typewriter and thereby destroying it over time.

Cleaning and lubricating the drive motors and moving pieces before using may help before trying out a typewriter which has been sitting for long periods of time.

Some later models had an electric return, which can tend to be violent. Electro 220 and Coronet Automatic 12 have an additional clutch and draw band (and lack of return lever on the carriage) for their electric returns.

Correcting Bad Typing Habits with the Smith Corona Electric Typewriter 63024 by [[PeriscopeFilm]]

Motion should happen only at the level of the fingers and not at the wrist or even the arms. Type only with your fingers and not your wrists or arms.

Allow the carriage to glide to complete the carriage return rather than wasting addition time and energy on pushing it all the way. Let the momentum do the work.

Use the paper release when removing letters to reduce wear on your rollers and prevent ripping of the paper.

See also at https://stock.periscopefilm.com/63024-correcting-bad-typing-habits-with-the-smith-corona-electric-typewriter/

Drop the paper into the top of the platen and against the paper guide to improve alignment can save time.

Setting the right hand margin will help save huge amounts of time from the transcriptionist looking back and forth to get proper margins otherwise.

Using correct typing for numerals will speed up typing numbers as well.

For the top tabulator, use your index fingers alternately instead of hitting it with your entire hand.

Hugging the keys with your fingers allows you to type faster, much like a drummer keeps the sticks closer to the drumhead when drumming quickly.

https://www.gates.com/us/en.html

Sells belts including v-belts which might be used for typewriter repair parts.

For the Electra Series of Smith-Corona typewriters, the Electra 120 and 220 had 12" platens while the Electra 110 and 210 had 10" platens. Similarly the 110 and 120 had manual carriage returns while the 210 and 220 had automatic carriage returns. (00:53)

Smith-Corona electric typewriters were designed to be turned on and run all day. As a result, old machines which have v-belts with odd grooves in them from sitting so long will sometimes have a recurring thump sound. This can be remedied by running the machine for several hours at which point the belt will warm up and remove the crease. Naturally, one might also remove the belt, warm it up using other means as a method of removing age-related creasing.

Smith-Corona Electra 220 Typewriter Review by [[Joe Van Cleave]]

Some details about the internal motor workings of SCM electric typewriters.

https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1ijiwn0/hermes_10_repair/

Typewriter Repair Failure by [[Joe Van Cleave]]

https://etzone.org/

Choosing the Right Typewriter by [[Joe Van Cleave]]

https://www.chicagotribune.com/1988/09/11/playing-with-ire/

The IBM Personal Typewriter and the Selectric 1 - IBMs Two Smallest Typewriters by [[Typewriter Chicago]]

Sad to see Lucas drop a type element (golf ball) at the end and break it...

The Minimal Complete Typewriter Collection by [[Joe Van Cleave]]

Joe Van Cleave's personal six categories in a (his) typewriter collection: - Standard manual - medium-sized portable (largest segment in the collector's space) - lightweight portable or ultra-portable - typebar electric - IBM Selectric - Electronic typewriter (thermal typewriter), portable, quiet, battery operation.

Joe's minimal collection based on what he's got in his collection currently and the condition that they're in: - Royal KMM (his only standard) - Hermes 3000 (boxy middle era) - Olympia Splendid 33 (he's also got a Royal Mercury & Groma Kalibri) - Olympia Reporter - Selectric I (the only one he's got) cloth, ribbon cartridge system, no lift-off correction - Canon Typestar 220

Some of Joe's most important criteria in a typewriter: he prefers an elite face, 1 1/2 spacing, and bichrome setting.

At the time of this recording Joe had 30 typewriters.

Congratulations on that beautiful machine!

Don't listen to the nay-sayers who likely have very different priorities and esthetics. If this is your machine, and you love it, then "own it".

It does look like a standard (as opposed to portable) typewriter. (Standards are often better and more robust typers due to their size and design.) Likely a Model 1 or Model 2, but I don't have specific knowledge beyond a cursory glance at the typewriter database. You can start by looking at examples of machine types and bodies at https://typewriterdatabase.com/smithcorona.86.typewriter-serial-number-database.

From there, the Model 1 says "Electric Serial Numbers Concurrent with Standard", so scroll down the page and see if you can identify a year based on a serial number you should be able to find underneath the hood. You can try https://typewriterdatabase.com/Smith+Corona.Standard.86.bmys, but I don't see any later models there, so perhaps no one has documented one before and you could be the first.

Then start with Richard Polt's site https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/ where you may likely find a manual and if you're lucky a repair manual. Surely there will be a few manuals for similar 50s standard S-C manual typewriters which should at least get you started. His site has a wealth of other information to give you pointers. His book The Typewriter Revolution (2015) has good intro chapters on cleaning, basic repair, and restoration. YouTube may have some useful videos as well. The typewriter database will have some later model S-C electric machines which you might try searching for on YouTube as well and it's highly likely that the design changes weren't so drastic that those may help you significantly.

For basic cleaning, try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjumGF9NFE8 which has some solid advice. Obviously take care with respect to getting the electrical portion of your machine wet.

I've not done any electric machines before, but if I recall, I seem to have read/heard (maybe from Tom Hanks who I know has a 50s electric Smith-Corona) that the early electrics only went as far as doing power for the keys, so it should be reasonably repairable if it doesn't work out of the box.

I'm sure you'll love it. With any luck, you'll also get some serious enjoyment and sense of accomplishment out of cleaning it up. If nothing else, it'll give you a wealth of experience in making the attempt and you can apply that to other machines if you continue collecting and typing. Some of my first machines weren't immediate "successes" until after I'd been able to tinker with others and was able to come back to them with a more experienced hand.

Have fun with it!

reply to https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1cuzy04/please_can_someone_identify_this/