I have never had the opportunitz to use QWERTZ. I am rather confused on a normal daz. So, swapping those two letters would drive me battz. The only time I ever saw a tzpeslug resoldered was when mz guz at the Mesa Tzpewriter Exchange fixed a funnz 'e' on an Underwood desktop. Craftz! Very, craftz!
At least you have someone nearby who will solder the slugs for you. My guy at Keystone Typewriter has one response to anything that's not a Royal or an Underwood: "Never was a one of those things that worked right!"
Well, I am all QUERTZ here, but I can relate to your experience. Living in Europe, I have seen quite a few keyboards under my hands - the Austrian one is German of course, but Italy was different (matter of fact, we had an American one at our university), then came the French AZERTY experience which was weird at the beginning, but I got used to it and even after years of non-use I can now (having a few azerty typewriters from nearby France in my collection) switch back quickly, and last stop Switzerland, where the keyboard layout is yet again different from the German or French one - they combine both, but sacrificed the "ß" and capital umlauts. I would say, Übung macht den Meister, but congratulations the Johnstown Type Writer Conservatory for the switch! PS: in order to practice & be able to write in Espanish, I recently got a lettera 32 originally sold in Chile, and at the time of writing am expecting a Bulgarian Continental 200 :)
I have one Italian one from the 30s and the difference amazes me! Congratulations on your obvious versatility in dealing with a multiplicity of keyboards, and, indeed, languages!
Great work!
ReplyDeleteNo, I can't use QWERTZ keyboards either -- I have the same experience as you.
Thanks, Richard! I'll be happy to give you some instructions in Anglicizing ... If you want to be adventurous!
DeleteI have never had the opportunitz to use QWERTZ. I am rather confused on a normal daz. So, swapping those two letters would drive me battz. The only time I ever saw a tzpeslug resoldered was when mz guz at the Mesa Tzpewriter Exchange fixed a funnz 'e' on an Underwood desktop. Craftz! Very, craftz!
ReplyDeleteAt least you have someone nearby who will solder the slugs for you. My guy at Keystone Typewriter has one response to anything that's not a Royal or an Underwood: "Never was a one of those things that worked right!"
DeleteWell, I am all QUERTZ here, but I can relate to your experience. Living in Europe, I have seen quite a few keyboards under my hands - the Austrian one is German of course, but Italy was different (matter of fact, we had an American one at our university), then came the French AZERTY experience which was weird at the beginning, but I got used to it and even after years of non-use I can now (having a few azerty typewriters from nearby France in my collection) switch back quickly, and last stop Switzerland, where the keyboard layout is yet again different from the German or French one - they combine both, but sacrificed the "ß" and capital umlauts. I would say, Übung macht den Meister, but congratulations the Johnstown Type Writer Conservatory for the switch! PS: in order to practice & be able to write in Espanish, I recently got a lettera 32 originally sold in Chile, and at the time of writing am expecting a Bulgarian Continental 200 :)
ReplyDeleteI have one Italian one from the 30s and the difference amazes me! Congratulations on your obvious versatility in dealing with a multiplicity of keyboards, and, indeed, languages!
DeleteHail to you for your ingenious switcheroo. Can you give a quick how-to on the Anglecization of typeslugs?
ReplyDeleteRob