1952 - 1959
Remington-Rand
Sperry-Rand
Ilion, New York US
This Remington Quiet-Riter started to show up on the market around 1952. Today it's one of those typewriters that's constantly found if you're out antiquing or hopping from garage sale to garage sale, but for good reason: it was made really well and, so, it sold really well.
To me, the curvy shape of this model is brilliant, especially from its profile. It kind of resembles a woman with an ample bust spilling out of her top (Freud would have something to say about that, I'm sure). One collector likened the profile to that of movie maker, Alfred Hitchcock.
Quiet-Riter
The Quiet-Riter was considered a portable typewriter even though it pushed the classification's limits, being as healthy as it was. It also wasn't quite quiet, per say, just less noisy. Construction was mostly of pressed steel. The knobs and keytops were bakelite. Quiet-Riters were made in the U.S. while examples with the Travel-Riter moniker (essentially the same typewriter) were produced in one of Remington's overseas factories. Either way, the design was one of Remington-Rand's last before the company merged with the Sperry Corporation in 1955. Quiet-Riters produced after the merger had chrome accents around the ribbon cover whereas the ones made prior to the merger did not.
Before the decade was over, a whole new line of designs were rolled out. Some models' names were kept, like the Quiet-Riter, and applied to the newer, mostly-ABS typewriters. Like most Remingtons, there were too many of the Quiet-Riter produced to have any real monetary value today. There are a few exceptions, though. An example with a DVORAK keyboard layout could be worth a little more or if it was finished in chrome, nickel, gold (see my gold Remington here) or other exotic material, then it would be worth more, too.
Questions? Comments? Have a Quiet-Riter with an interesting finish for sale? Email me at Antikey.Chop@gmail.com
