It’s a Sears Citation. Anything more and it’s tough to tell you, because there’s no reliable place to check. I can find the image of the typewriter, but I can’t find exact models or anything.
The choice was between the Sears Citation or an Olympia SM7 typewriter. Both are nice and have their advantages and disadvantage in terms of fonts, feel, size, so on, so forth. I’m not a hoarder. I don’t need more than one typewriter. There’s only so much space to go around. And also the Olympia SM7 wasn’t in good shape.
The SM7 was flat out filthy. Its front cover piece never hooked in correctly. The latches on the carrying case didn’t always fully lock. If I didn’t press down hard to type, the print sometimes wouldn’t show up. Needless to say, I could tell which one I was picking up right away.
Typing feels nice on the Sears Citation. I don’t have to mash down to get clear print. Every once in awhile I think I hit it too lightly, and when I look it’s on the paper. I love it. The carrying case is in good condition. Sure, it’s a little worn down, but that’s what happens when you stick around since the 1960’s.
That’s the estimate year of the typewriter, the 1960’s. I want to say 1970’s, except I can’t find anything to back me up, so 1960’s it is! I’ll be posting more about it once I clean it well. If you can see in the photo, there’s still some sticker residue and other blemishes on it. Nothing a wash can’t fix. I’m looking at the keys right now and I know I’ll need a toothbrush to get around them.
What’s the practical benefit to a typewriter? I can’t say much. There’s no chance I’m abandoning the luxuries of my computer for a retro romp with a typewriter. Do you know how long it’ll take to transcribe the typed text to computer? No one has time for that.
I’ll leave my analysis of the typewriter for a later weekend musing.