Saying Goodbye to Gandalf the Grey or Too Many 721s

Weapon of Choice: “Gandalf the Grey” 1970 IBM Selectric I [721] #5846248
Heh, this was the 7th typewriter gallery uploaded to TWDB! :D

Folding Hammond Multigraph foot headed to Anthony Valoppi at The Type Space for re-engineering and replication. Should you need such feet, he will soon have them in stock!

12 Pitch Italic on a 10 pitch machine, in case you were wondering why the letters are all spread out.

This Dymo label with the model number, serial number and pitch value was on the machine when I picked it up at the yard sale in 2013. Not sure why, doesn’t look like a fleet label, maybe the owner had multiple Selectrics and wanted to be able to tell pitch and ribbon type at a glance. We may never know, but I left it on so we can wonder.

Updated: September 19, 2022 — 8:43 pm

8 Comments

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  1. Cool! You have a big heart.

    Is that colour original to this machine or is it the colour that IBM re-painted it after having gone through a restoration?

    1. I think it’s original. Generally, IBM techs would use the more common beige paint on a machine when refurbing it, regardless of the original paint color – that’s what happened to the Blue Bomber, it’s got at least 2 coats of beige paint over the original white.

  2. Guilty as charged!

  3. I have been dithering about a Selectric. WHen I went to work for them in ’67 I told my boss I was bringing my Underwood in so I had a typewrite. I was quickly informed that typewrites from other manufacturers were NOT allowed on IBM premises. He took me to an office next to mine where there was a lightly used 2742 SerialTerminal (with AT&T Rosewood 300 baud box modem) that I could use. If that didn’t work out, he promised to requisition a Selectric for me. Nostalgia. If I watch Joe’s video’s I’ll head over to McDade’s and pick one up :-O

  4. I am trying to become a Typewriter Hunter. I hope I am at the right blog. dyn2type is the user name.

    1. Welcome, Typewriter Hunter! (:

  5. Farewell! I can’t imagine having more than one Selectric lol. It’s wonderful you found a good home. Is my twin typewriter, your green Correcting SII still typing well?

    1. Yep, just typed up a letter to Brian on it about 20 minutes ago – working great! (:

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