Long time desire ( want ) finally came true.

[J Miller]

Step in to the Way Back Machine to 1969. I was a junior in high school and IBM had just brought out the Selectric type writer. The one with the little ball that has all the characters on it. No separate keys to jam up.
Our school got two of the machines. The teachers fought over them and I was one of the very few students who actually got to touch one. Oh my I fell in love with that machine. Never did get to use it more than that one time, but it made me want one every since.
Fast forward 43 years, and I finally have my IBM Selectric type writer.

IBM Selectric.JPG

We found it in a thrift store last week but didn't buy it. My wife picked it up for me yesterday. It works. But I have no owners manual and I've been keyboarding on the computer for the last 12 years and it's ruined my typing skills.

So here's a question for those who might remember how to run one of these things:
How do you get the brackets and the ± characters to print? They are on the "1" key.

I guess things do come to those who wait.

Joe

[Pitchy]

Think ya gotta hold down one of the other keys on the left side at the same time, i`m no typer but seems i ran into that problem once on an old machine.
Probibly made things worse Joe but cool type writer.

[2571]

I've got 2 in my office. We use them for government forms that are stupidly still not available on the internet. Last time I had a machine repaired, guy told me there are/were so many made, they will always be capable of being repired.

I'm guessing you have a specialty ball that doesn't have the capabiity of typing +/-. I've had font balls for special uses in the long, long ago past.

How many keys on your machine? Ours have different numbers of keys because one is older.

[Blaine]

I remember the old days of five copies with carbon paper....that really sucked to screw up

[junkbug]

My Dad work as the press secretary for an Illinois congressman from 1982 to 1996. He refused to have anything to do with real computers, so the other staff began calling his Correcting Selectric III "his computer". The machine became unrepairable due to lack of parts and was replaced before he retired. But his co-workers removed the emblem and set it in a plaque, that they gave him.

That is also the model typewriter I learned to use an electric typewriter with. If you hold down a key, it hammers away like a machine gun.

Still have a "Courier 72, 10 font" ball laying around the house.

Have fun.

Sean

[rjohns94]

Congrats Joe

[gak]

That's cool Joe! Somewhere in storage I may still have what was essentially a clone--or at least functionally (ball) copycat. I used it at the end of high school through college. Don't recall the name but wasn't S-C or Brother--or IBM. I don't recall seeing it in the past several years, but neither do I remember tossing.

[Blaine]

Just remembered: My Mother would take direct dictation over the phone to an old WWII Manual typewritter....when the new electrics came out, she had an case of the vapors for years over them The Selectrics scared her to death.

[jnyork]

Joe, did you "google" for an owner's manual, there just might be one somewhere on the web that you can download.

[Hobie]

Ran one of those for a lot of years. I'm thinking you might not have the correct ball. It was pretty straight forward to operate. MUCH easier to type orders, letters, and such than on the Royal 440s!

[J Miller]

I have no idea weather this has the correct ball or not, it's the Courier 12 ball.

I haven't touched one of these in 43 years. So it's a totally new learning curve for me. I still have my mothers old manual typewriter and and even older one my wife got at auction some years ago.

I haven't Googled anything yet. Before I do that I'm going to call the repair shop that's stickered on the machine. They might be able to fix me up with one.
Also if I can get one I want a Cent Schoolbook font ball. Assuming they ever made such a thing.

Joe

[Griff]

IIRC, (last one I used was in the late '90s with the SO), you have to have a certain font ball that uses the lower case "L" for 1 and has ± where the "1" would be on your ball. Congrats, they're nifty machines! They were quite the machine in their day!

[J Miller]

Thanks. I guess part of being an anachronism is when I get something new, it's really 40 years old.

Joe

[Nazgul]

Wow! I used one of these in college. Typed many a paper on one.

Don

[mack]

I can relate! In '69-'70, I was learning to punch holes in paper tape for a Pratt Whitney "tapemate" mill and turret. Sort of the grandaddy of CNC machines. I remember those daisy wheels writers, but I still can only type with four fingers,(2x2).
J Miller, we are old! Don't know about you, but I can say that I have won the battle with anorexia, and I no longer fear dieing young. I remember IBM cards too.

[rodeo kid]

Joe, that is the exact machine I had at the Sheriff's Office from1972 until 1989 for typing arrest reports. Brings back old memories. Thanks for showing it. God Bless.

[madman4570]

Read that-----and thought "oh sh## he is finally moving to the "zone"
Cool old typewriter but would have rather had it been the other bud!

[Thunder50]

I still have mine, that I bought about 35 years ago. Still use it now and then.

[1894c]

So here's a question for those who might remember how to run one of these things:
How do you get the brackets and the ± characters to print?

honest Joe don't want to remember...that's so long ago in a life-time so far away...at least it has a lever... :)

[stretch]

I typed many letters on one of them on Okinawa back in the
early 1980s. Great typewriter! There were a section of balls in
the office for different fonts/character sets.
-Stretch

[mergus]

When I started working at IBM almost 30 years ago, one of the first things my mother asked me was if I could get her a Selectric at a discount? When I looked into it, there was an employee discount purchase plan, but I was limited to buying only 2 a year and had to sign something saying I wasn't going to sell it (and be in competition with the company).

After I bought it for her (and as I recall, it was around $1K), she wouldn't let any of the other women in her office use it. When she left the work force, she brought it home with her and I belive to this day, its still wrapped up securely so no dust gets to it. Its one of her prize possesions.

I wonder what technological wonders I will treat with reverence in 30 years?

Mergus

PS, my first couple of years with IBM was at a plant where they printed punch cards. The press I ran would produce 2000 cards every 5 minutes. You got a 30 minute lunch break and no other breaks. We had 10 of those presses. That ought to give you some kind of idea of the volume of punch cards we made....

[J Miller]

Mergus,

Is your mother treasuring the machine because it's a technological marvel, or from her son?

..........................................................
I need to get mine serviced and then I'm gonna type out a letter to my two old ants back in AZ. One of them doesn't even have a computer.

Oh, and I did find an owners manual on line. The problem is it's a huge .pdf and my dial up choked on it. So, I'll have to find a hard copy somewhere.

Joe

[samb]

Joe,
Yah nearly gave me a heart attack. I was convinced you had won the lottery and where headed for Arizona. Congrats on the great find.
Sam

[Hobie]

I can relate! In '69-'70, I was learning to punch holes in paper tape for a Pratt Whitney "tapemate" mill and turret. Sort of the grandaddy of CNC machines. I remember those daisy wheels writers, but I still can only type with four fingers,(2x2).
J Miller, we are old! Don't know about you, but I can say that I have won the battle with anorexia, and I no longer fear dieing young. I remember IBM cards too.

Have punched many an IBM card...

[J Miller]

Joe,
Yah nearly gave me a heart attack. I was convinced you had won the lottery and where headed for Arizona. Congrats on the great find.
Sam

samb, had I won the lottery you guys wouldn't have heard a thing until after I was back home. Then the celebration would be on.

Joe

[Mescalero]

Better pick me up on the way by.

[J Miller]

Better pick me up on the way by.

Absolutely, the more the merrier.

Joe

[Hillbilly]

I learned how to type on a Selectric in 1978. That spoiled me... never could get a "conventional" typewriter to run as fast. My sister could get near 100 wpm on such a machine... I think I tested at 75.... and was still looking at my fingers.

We still have an IBM at the office... let me see about your question.

[J Miller]

I learned how to type on a Selectric in 1978. That spoiled me... never could get a "conventional" typewriter to run as fast. My sister could get near 100 wpm on such a machine... I think I tested at 75.... and was still looking at my fingers.

We still have an IBM at the office... let me see about your question.

Hillbilly,
Thanks, I appreciate it.

Joe

[1894c]

There were a section of balls in
the office for different fonts/character sets.

gotta like an old ancient type-writer that had a selection of balls...nice... :)

[Hillbilly]

I learned how to type on a Selectric in 1978. That spoiled me... never could get a "conventional" typewriter to run as fast. My sister could get near 100 wpm on such a machine... I think I tested at 75.... and was still looking at my fingers.

We still have an IBM at the office... let me see about your question.

Hillbilly,
Thanks, I appreciate it.

Joe

Have not forgot... been away from the office for about 2 weeks... I passed by and the lady who uses that machine was away...~J

[Hillbilly]

I learned how to type on a Selectric in 1978. That spoiled me... never could get a "conventional" typewriter to run as fast. My sister could get near 100 wpm on such a machine... I think I tested at 75.... and was still looking at my fingers.

We still have an IBM at the office... let me see about your question.

Hillbilly,
Thanks, I appreciate it.

Joe

Have not forgot... been away from the office for about 2 weeks... I passed by and the lady who uses that machine was away...~J

We cannot find our manual for this Selectric...

[Griff]

I learned how to type on a Selectric in 1978. That spoiled me... never could get a "conventional" typewriter to run as fast. My sister could get near 100 wpm on such a machine... I think I tested at 75.... and was still looking at my fingers.
We still have an IBM at the office... let me see about your question.

Hillbilly,
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Joe

Have not forgot... been away from the office for about 2 weeks... I passed by and the lady who uses that machine was away...~J

We cannot find our manual for this Selectric...

IBM Selectric II Manual
History and other info, including different font balls available. Also lists numerous citations for other data on the Selectrics.

Joe,
Check out this guy's "IBM Selectric Resource Page".

[J Miller]

Griff,

Thanks a bunch. I've got the .pdf downloaded and will get it printed directly.
Gonna check out the other links now.

Joe

[adirondakjack]

Cool beans Joe. I was USAF, 74-78, and used to watch in awe as our Sq. Chief Clerk would type on one at speed. I was amazed that it could rock that ink so fast.

[J Miller]

Mine desperately needs servicing. There's a few controls and features that don't want to work. But it still types and it's fun to use. What I want to get is a script ball. The one I used back in High School had a script ball and you had to look real close to see it was typed and not written.

Joe