Posted by Floyd Diebel 13 Comments

The Glamorous Royalite ’64

I was working on a little something for one of our clients today, and felt like it needed a little something to give it some funk. Or something. I’ve been exploring using “noise” in visual design lately, and beat up old typewriters can be perfect for that.

The noise of typewriters must have been the way to gauge how much work the office was getting done.

So I pulled out my little portable Royalite ’64 typewriter and had some fun.

Hearing the typewriter echo through our shop made me laugh, and I thought how back in the day typewriter noise must have been a way to gauge how productive an office was at any given moment.

royalite64

So after getting distracted by researching the marketing language used to sell chic little portable typewriters to hipsters (see image above, and then replace the typewriter with a laptop) I thought it might be fun to make a blog post on a typewriter, and then post it on telephone poles or something. If nothing else it would give new meaning to a “blog post”.

13 Comments
  • I too use a Royal Royalite to type on, identical to yours.  I like the small size, and the fact that it is pretty much all metal…has a more substantial feel than the disposable feel of a laptop computer.  The ‘ding’ at the end of the line of typing is also a pleasant sound.  I’m glad someone else still appreciates these old ‘bath scale’ bangers.

    John Rochelle,
    Gray, Tennessee

  • the ding really is cool, like passing mile markers on a highway… each ding says you’re that much closer to completion.

  • I just found a Royal Royalite 64 at a kitschy store in Brooklyn, and LOVED it the moment I saw it, small, sleek, and satisfying. Now it is at home and my fingers are definitely getting a workout.

    It seems the ribbon reverse button (top left) is not working; also, where is the “1” key?

  • you have to use a lowercase L as a 1, alot of old typewriters were like that, especially the smaller ones (i guess to save space they omitted the 1 key)

    also, you have to manually make a ! by typing a and then backspaving and typing a .

    wtf :o

  • just bought a little royalite 64 on ebay – can’t wait! typewriters…. very cool…
    no electricity needed!

  • I’ve been using my Royalite for awhile. I want to certainly try it out where there is an echo, to get a feel for it. :) Funny, i’m in college now, and I still use a typewriter.

  • hi there!
    love your post.
    i have a little royalite ’64 typewriter too.
    i was wondering if you could
    tell me the size ribbon
    or where you got it.
    i would really really appreciate it.
    thanks!
    :)

  • I bought a Royalite today at a vintage store in Raleigh, NC for $20 – I absolutely love it and it came with a carrying case – no more power cords for me!

  • I just bought one for $35 at a new vintage shop in our small town. Can’t wait to get her out of the lovely green leather-like carrying case and clean her up. I journal most days on a Hermès 3000 but this one will be used when traveling. Yay! One thing good about having to make A manual exclamation mark is that you have to make your writing exclamatory rather than cheat and us the mark.

  • My new Singer Graduate T3 is very very similar to this typewriter. It seem a Royalite 64 relabelled as a Singer!

    • Oh that’s a nice typewriter. Looks like the same keyboard layout, with a little more industrial look to the external design.

      Singer T-3

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