TOP: Photo of envelope from 3M to a woman who worked at New Jersey Bell. MIDDLE: The 3M facility in St. Paul, Minnesota, that sent the letter. BOTTOM: A building in Jersey City, New Jersey, that once housed New Jersey Bell’s offices, where the recipient worked.Here’s the letter from 3M that included a sample of a special paper used to clean typewriter type slugs.The cleaning paper stands ready to be used in the Hermes 3000. The little piece of paper at right also was in the typewriter case; it has information about the kind of typewriter ribbon the owner needs to buy.At left is the backside of that little piece of paper. It’s an ad for Green Cross Pharmacy in Morristown, New Jersey. The pharmacy used to occupy the building with the “Boutique 161” sign.Before purchasing the Hermes 3000 at Allied, its owner might have considered getting a machine from Smith’s Office Machines & Equipment Inc. in East Orange, New Jersey. A coin-operated laundry now stands on the site.
I love how the typewriter cleaner letter to the customer is actually typed out. And I didn’t know you could clean the strikers with fabric.
It would be funny to bring that typewriter to that New Jersey Bell building, and say “anyone recognize this?!” Maybe they have a couple more of that model laying around. Actually… back in the day, did people have to purchase their own typewriter? Or did companies supply the typewriter?
The special typeslug cleaning sheet is similar to extremely fine sandpaper, so fine you can barely feel any grit. I variously clean the strikers with isopropyl alcohol, naphtha, or even by pressing Silly Putty to them to extract ink. From time to time I also use a toothpick to coerce dried ink from p’s, q’s and insular areas.
I’m pretty certain this Hermes 3000 was a personal typewriter and not owned by New Jersey Bell. First, it’s a portable, not a desk model. Also, the Hermes was made in Switzerland and I’m thinking that the Bell System probably had regional contracts for domestic machines like those from IBM.
[…] During the COVID-19 pandemic, an Italian graphic designer contacted me with a unique request. He wanted to create a digital typeface from the Techno Pica characters on my Hermes 3000 angletop typewriter. […]
L.T. Hanlon 
Now that’s a find – a veritable treasure. Not only did you acquire a mighty fine writing machine, you got a piece of its history too.
Glad to see you writing here again.
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I love how the typewriter cleaner letter to the customer is actually typed out. And I didn’t know you could clean the strikers with fabric.
It would be funny to bring that typewriter to that New Jersey Bell building, and say “anyone recognize this?!” Maybe they have a couple more of that model laying around. Actually… back in the day, did people have to purchase their own typewriter? Or did companies supply the typewriter?
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The special typeslug cleaning sheet is similar to extremely fine sandpaper, so fine you can barely feel any grit. I variously clean the strikers with isopropyl alcohol, naphtha, or even by pressing Silly Putty to them to extract ink. From time to time I also use a toothpick to coerce dried ink from p’s, q’s and insular areas.
I’m pretty certain this Hermes 3000 was a personal typewriter and not owned by New Jersey Bell. First, it’s a portable, not a desk model. Also, the Hermes was made in Switzerland and I’m thinking that the Bell System probably had regional contracts for domestic machines like those from IBM.
LikeLike
[…] During the COVID-19 pandemic, an Italian graphic designer contacted me with a unique request. He wanted to create a digital typeface from the Techno Pica characters on my Hermes 3000 angletop typewriter. […]
LikeLike