All images: Nerd Nest
While doing some vintage thrift shopping at Goodwill yesterday, Chris found a gem for $9.99. It’s a 1950′s Italian Typewriter- an Olivetti Underwood 21 to be exact. I had been wanting an old vintage typewriter to put in my studio, and I was hoping to find one that could easily be taken apart and painted purple. Well, now I don’t know if I want to do that b/c this one is in near perfect condition. Only problem- I don’t have anything blue in the studio! We had seen many typewriters at other thrift stores and flea markets, but they are usually priced at $35-50.00. And I really didn’t want to invest that much in something that would just sit around and look pretty.
I was honestly expecting to settle on an old typewriter that would not work, and would need some TLC. Well, not only does this little baby work-There’s not a scratch on it! So now I’m conflicted about painting it or not. I would only be painting the 2 dark blue pieces, which can be removed fairly easy.
It even came with the original hard case, and full color booklet:
So what would you do? Paint it, not paint it?
It is rather cute the way it is…
After doing a little research about it, I stumbled upon a pretty interesting ad from the 50′s for Underwood Typewriters. Hehe- love it!
About Heather 'Violet' Jones
I think you should leave it all blue the way it is….. I actually love placing coloured items in a room that it’s not expecting in. Such a great find!
I am designing my nieces room and I am actually mixing colours together now that are completely unexpected. It energized the space with that jolt of colour!
xx
callie
Vivi – Thanks for using our typewriter photos, the combination looks great!
As a typewriter collector, I’d recommend against painting this particular model. Olivettis are the BMWs of typewriters; they are hard workers and are sturdy and great to use! This one is worth at least $90.00, but painting it would seriously devalue it. I’d either sell the current one and use the funds to get a typewriter that is better suited for painting or keep it around to use and find an additional typewriter to paint. We never thought we’d use our typewriters at first, but now we love using them to add a more personal touch to cards, to add quick journaling to scrapbooking pages
My husband and I find cool non-working typewriters for under $10 at thrift stores all of the time; you are likely to find one after just a few visits.
XO,
Megan
Love this post! My boyfriend just bought me this exact typewriter for Valentines Day and works great. I love the cursive typeface this typewriter has, I thought they all used the same “Typewriter” font. Very pleasant surprise!