Royal

The Royal Typewriter Company Founder:Edward B. Hess & Lewis C. Myers 300px Caption General Information Based In:: Location Type: Types of Machine Founded: Founding Year Fate: Fate w/Year Rebrands: Common Rebrands Related Companies: Affiliated companies

The Royal Typewriter Company' was one of America's four largest typewriter manufacturers, alongside Remington, Underwood, and Smith-Corona. Founded in Brooklyn, New York in January 26, 1904 by Edward B. Hess and Lewis C. Myers, the company survives today as Royal Consumer Information Products, Inc.

Royal released its first typewriter - the Royal Standard - in 1906, and it's famous for the Royal Model 10 and the Royal Quiet Deluxe. Throughout the company’s history, Royal was known for manufacturing manual and electric typewriters. The company merged with McBee Binder Company in 1954, and was later owned by three different companies, notably the Litton Corporation.

History

Beginnings

Royal was founded in New York in 1906 by businessmen Edward B. Hess and Lewis C. Myers. Their first product, the Royal 1, was sold at $65 while all other manufacturers priced their standard typewriter at $100. This led to Royal gaining a share of the market.

Portables

Royal launched their first portable typewriters in 1925, to compete with Underwood's 4-bank Portable, Remington's Portable no.2, and Corona's Portable 3. The Royal company

60's & Merger with McBee

e

Today

As of 2004, Royal, now Royal Consumer Information Products, became again a private U.S.- based company, now manufacturing printers and other business equipment. Their website is https://www.royal.com/. Typewriters under the Royal name still exist, although these are badly-manufactured Olympia Carina II clones built in China by the Shanghai Weilv Mechanism Company.

Standards

Here you may find a list of Royal typewriters. As the manufacturer was extremely prolific, not all models may be covered or listed here.

Name	Date Range	Description & Rarity	Placeholder
Royal 1-4	1906-1909	Known as Royal "Flatbeds", these are the first iterations of Royal machines. They are somewhat rare, but not extremely rare. Carriage widths vary by model. The 2-4 are rather hard to find.	-
Royal 5-9	1910-1912	These are the second generation of Royal flatbeds. Essentially the same as the 1-4, but with fancier decals and tabulators that came equipped standard. Same as the 1-4, the 5 isn't hard to find but the 6-9 are.	-
Royal 10	1913-1934	The Royal 10 was the major redesign of the Royal flatbed typewriter. These machines were made throughout the 1910's-1930's, and went through several design changes.	-
Royal H & KH	1934	Made for one year only, the Royal H and KH typewriters were essentially late model Royal 10's with redesigned shells. As they were made for one year only, they are harder to find.	-
Royal KHM	1935-1938	The Royal KHM series of typewriters is the direct successor to the Royal H and KH.	-
Royal KMM	1939-1948	The Royal KMM is one of the most common Royal standards available today. They were made in large numbers and widely used by the US Government in WWII.	-
Royal KMG	1949-1952	These are basically KMMs but with the tombstone keys of a Dreyfuss QDL	-
Royal HH	1952-1957	Shell redesign of the Royal standard. These machines are also equipped with a palm tabulator.	-
Royal FP	1957-1961	1960's shell of the Royal standard. Unlike earlier Royal standards, these came in different colors.	-
Royal Empress	1962-1965	The curvy late 60's redesgned shell of the Royal standard. These also come in many different colors.	-
Royal 440 & 470	1966-1969, 1970-1975	The beginning of the end (and the end) of Royal standards. These machines are not very common, but that does not mean they are worth a lot.	-

Portables

Here you may find a list of Royal portable typewriters. As the manufacturer was extremely prolific, not all models may be covered or listed here.

Name	Date Range	Description & Rarity	Placeholder
Model P	1925-1933	The Royal P was Royal's answer to the [Underwood Standard 4-Bank Keyboard] and the [Remington Portable no. 2]. The P is a relatively small portable that came in 2 shell types, one with exposed spools and one with closed gull wings. Despite their visual similarities, a number of changes were made between the two versions. The P often comes in a desirable typeface called [Vogue]	Example
Model O	1932-1938	Example	Example
Depression Portables	1935-1938	Royal made a series of depression portables, cheap machines with fewer functionalities and sold at lower prices. Of note are the Junior and Signet I.	Example
Royal Quiet, Speed King, O derivatives	Example	Example	Example
Royal Quiet De Luxe	Example	Example	Example
Royal QDL Derivatives	Example	Cheaper variants of the QDL existed to cater to students and other market.s	Example
Royal Royalite	Example	Example	Example
Royal Futura	1963 - 196X	Example	Example
Royal Safari	Example	Example	Example
Royal Diana	Example	Example	Example
Royal Silver-Seiko Ultraportables	Example	Example	Example
Royal Fleetwood	Example	Example	Example
Royal Modern Portables	201X-present	This machine isn't recommended.	Example