Remington Portable No. 2
The Remington Portable No. 2 was a portable typewriter designed and built by Remington as a successor to the Remington Portable No. 1. The first 4-bank portable typewriter to be built, it was a success and saw an estimated 400 000 examples produced.
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Basic Info
The Remington Portable No. 2 is a manual portable typewriter built by Remington as an upgrade to the Remington Portable No. 1. The typewriter was essentially the same mechanically but had many small differences from the No.1, including a set of curved metal pieces to the left and right of the typebars, a more complete dust covering system, as well as a longer carriage lever.
History
In 1925, with the introduction of the Underwood portable and the Royal P, Remington decided that the Portable No. 1 needed an upgrade.
Variations
The biggest variations for the Portable No. 2 are the colors. Remington introduced a series of color combinations -- two-tone green, two-tone purple, two-tone blue, red and yellow, green and ivory, two-tone red, and a leopard-skin-like pattern called Mountain Ash Scarlet in dark red.
Due to similarity with other Remington Portables, this section will discuss how to distinguish a Remington Portable No. 2 from a No. 1 or other variant with similar mechanisms.
Typefaces
The Remington Portable No. 2 was not offered in any special typefaces.
Common Issues
One common issue is that users are often confused as to why these machines will not type. There is an arc-shaped cutout in the right side of the typewriter with a knob. The knob must be pulled out and forward in order to raise the typebars to type.
Remington portables also often suffered from rubber issues related to the feeding rolls. They are rather hard to get to and the paper tray must be removed first.
Resources
https://typewriterdatabase.com/remington.42.typewriter-serial-number-database https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tDR3kSHnPE&ab_channel=TypewriterJustice https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/rem-portables.htm#2 https://myoldtypewriter.com/2019/10/06/platen-regeneration-remington-portable-2/ http://badonoer.blogspot.com/2017/05/replacing-paper-tray-on-remington.html
