Remingtons are a family line as long and as well-known among typewriter enthusiasts as they are among gun collectors. They literally began the typewriter revolution by contracting to produce the Sholes and Gliddon; later, they gave birth to the modern portable. When Remington began producing their own line of typewriters, their machines established themselves as virtual industry standards, unrivaled in popularity until the Underwood locomotive roared onto the scene. (Ironically, Underwood itself would later bow to Remington and license the company to produce Underwood's Noiseless models at the Remington factory.) Remington bought the Noiseless typeriter company in 1924, generating a popular line of portables and a few desktop models.

Click here for a table of Remington serial number and manufacturing dates, including data for the entire line of "blind" Remington Standards.

Remington Standard #7 (x2)
Serial #s 818144 & 241692
1903 & 1908

The No. 7 is probably the most commonly found of Remington's "blind" typewriters, about 250,000 having been sold. The one shown here is a highly uncommon German-language version, in the even scarcer Fraktur typeface. Click here to see the keyboard. The #7 was sold overseas as the #6, meaning this #7 was probably intended for the domestic German-speaking market.

Remington Portable #1
Serial # NV11475
July, 1921

The #1 Portable was the very first true portable typewriter in that it did not have to resort to tricks such as folding up or sacrificing a row of keys to reduce size. One of the most innovative features is its "pop-up" typebars which are raised for use via a side lever and lay back flat for storage. Over half a million were made, making the #1 a fairly easy model for the beginning typewriter collector to find, and in my opinion no collection should be without this milestone in typewriter history.

Detail of a 1923 ad for the Remington
Portable (click to enlarge)

Remington Standard #12
Serial # LM55441
1925

1928 ad for the Remington 12

Less collectible than the #10--Remington's first visible type design and last open-framed machine--but the #12 was certainly built to last and is quite attractive nonetheless.

Note: the following portable typewriters are members of the highly complex Remie Scout family. Please see my companion page All About the Remie Scout for complete information on this product line.

Monarch Pioneer
Serial # S25177
and Remie Scout
Serial # S15210
1932

Not to be confused with the later Monarch pioneer based upon the Remington Portable #3, the upper typewriter is one of eight known name variations of the Remie Scout. To make matters more confusing, the Remie Scout itself was available in four different versions, giving collectors 32 possible combinations to look for! Additionally, they could be had in four different colors, such as this two-tone blue Remie Scout. (See All About the Remie Scout for more variations.)

This particular model is the cheapest, lowest-end of the four versions, being caps-only with a no-nonsense, san-serif typeface, and having no protective front frame around the keyboard. Though the option of a case was available for extra, it often came with just an oiled cloth cover. It's not surprising that so few survived. It was marketed as a "child's typewriter", though that was most likely a euphemism for "inexpensive". It sold for $19.95.

Remie Scout
Serial # S65118
c.1933

Now that you've seen the oddballs, most members of the Remie Scout family look like this.

Butler Brothers Remington Portable #2
Serial # BB2875
c.1933

The BB serial number code and a few other features tell us that this was a Remington sold through the Butler Brothers department stores. Only a few thousand were made as near as anyone can tell. According to Richard Polt, Remington's own serial number data does not match those of any Butler Bros editions seen so far!

While to all outward appearances a Portable #2, closer examination reveals that it also shares some traits of the Portable #3. The Portable #2 has four additional side screws exposed; here and on the #3 they are hidden behind the outer shell. The Portable #2's paper release lever is a simple bent wire; here and on the #3 the lever ends in a little ball. The #2 has no paper fingers on the front of the platen; this and the #3 have identical paper fingers.

Most #2s don't have a tab key, but later ones do. Likewise, most #2s did not have a right-hand carriage release lever, but later ones did. Photos I've seen on the later #2 seem to still have only a single lever, just moved from left to right. This Butler Bros and the #3 have levers on both the left and right.

So is the Butler Brothers edition simply a #2 with its own serial number sequence, or an entirely different typewriter altogether?

This particular specimen has the unusual feature of three prongs that pop up out of the platen at the press of a button. Presumably, these are to help hold index cards or something similar.

Remington Noiseless #6
Serial # X241010
1934

The typebar cover is missing, but gives us a good peek at the unique "noiseless" thrust mechanism.

Remington Noiseless 8
Serial # E35722
1937

In size, the Noiseless 8 falls between being a portable and a standard typewriter. It is, in Olivetti's nomenclature, a semi-standard. It was specifically targeted toward smaller offices that did not have the room for a big, heavy standard Noiseless but needed more features than a portable could provide. It's easily one of the most Art Deco typewriters Remington produced, right down to the hexagon knobs atop its ribbon spool covers.

As always, Richard Polt provides a richer history of the Noiseless 8 than I possibly could.

Remington 9
Serial # F16110
1937

The Remington 9 was a low-production alternative version of the Noiseless 8 made without the weight-driven Noiseless mechanism, similar to Remington's "noisy Noiseless" Model 1. Save for that and a non-embossed paper tray logo, it is otherwise identical to the Noiseless 8.

Remington Noiseless Model 10
Serial # X454830
1938

Remington Model 1
Serial # PD178930
Early 1940

The Model 1 uses a mechanism similar to the Noiseless Portable, but is not actually noiseless. It was referred to in Remington ads as the Speed Portable and "noisy noiseless". It originally sold for $64.50, which Consumer Reports called "considerably overpriced" given its loudness and poor imprint quality. I'm personally quite pleased with its performance, and its much quieter than many other portables from the era.

The same machine in a slightly different housing and with a red tab key was sold as the Remingon-Rand Model 1. The Remington-Rand Model 1 is found much more frequently than the Remington Model 1, three times as many having been made.

Remington-Rand Model Seventeen (x2)
Serial #s J159654 & J161478
1941

Sometimes alternately labeled "Model 17" or "No.17" or not labeled at all . The model debuted in 1939 and became the primary workhorse for government offices during WWII. In 1947, it was renamed the KMC (for Keyboard Margin Control). The model was discontinued in 1950.

The story behind this bright red world traveler is that it was purchased by a serviceman at a PX on a US Army base in Turkey. It traveled with its owner to Korea, and eventually back to Minnesota, where it turned up in Minneapolis. Obviously, it's been repainted, and possibly rebuilt. The keys look like Smith-Corona keys, but I have seen similar keys on later Remington standards; either way, they aren't original. The tag on front is for Roger A Podany's typewriter service, at 7 W Lake St, Minneapolis, who may have done the alterations. The site is now part of a K-Mart parking lot. (Mr Podany, incidentally, is still alive and has been the proprieter of Office Equipment Warehouse, Inc since 1976.)

Remington Quiet-Riter (x2)
Serial #s QR2994162 & QR3387263
1957

Emeritus collection.

See these typewriters in the upcoming film "Howl"!

Remington Super Riter
Serial # J2882193
1959

The Super Riter is the direct descendant of the Seventeen and KMC models. Mechanically, all three are nearly identical under the shell. Noteably, the Super Riter seems to take a step backwards, abandoning the automatic margin set mechanism for old-school manual margin sets behind the paper tray. The change may have been repercussions from the patent infringement lawsuit Royal won against both Remington and Smith-Corona for ripping off Royal's Magin Margin system.