The Problem with Olympias

For me, that is.

I’ve had three Olympia typewriters:

1. 1966 Olympia SM9;

2. 1960s Olympia SM7 wide-carriage;

3. 1958 Olympia SM3 with script typeface.

Mechanically perfect, as well as cosmetically perfect, I sold two and donated one.

Some couldn’t believe I would part with a pearlescent, mint-condition, SM3 with script typeface, but I just couldn’t get on with it.

For me, looks, and even typeface as coveted as script, place a distant second and third, respectively, if it doesn’t feel great to type on. It’s no secret I’m a fast touch-typist and I’ve been typing (virtually) every single day since 1972. I’m of the generation of women that were funnelled through “office practice” courses starting

Olympia 1958 SM3 with script typeface.

in grade nine, though, that was my choice. I loved the classes, found them easy, and typing came especially easy, even on the big black standard machines with no characters on the key tops. We were forced to learn how to type correctly without looking at a keyboard and to this day, I can’t type if I look at the keys, or keyboard. My speed slows and, well, it’s almost disorienting, for lack of a better word. Knowing how to type has served me well over the decades.

So, as great as all those three typewriters were, they sat on a shelf and collected dust, as the saying goes. I had no desire to type on them. They didn’t feel comfortable to me; instead, they felt a bit cumbersome - awkward, perhaps - especially when compared to the 1940s' Corona Silent and Sterling machines I have. Now those are typewriters made for speed. If I ever had to enter a speed typing contest (haven’t done one of those since about 1977… lol) those two would be my machines of choice. I certainly wouldn’t win using the three Olympias, I can guarantee that.

It’s an odd thing how you connect to a machine. The SM9, as mechanically sound and as mint as the day it left its factory in West Germany, was one I was told I really should have and, back then, thirteen years ago, I bought it because… it was an Olympia, and the engineering was superb.

Olympia 1966 SM9.

Well, that may be so, but, meh, I just couldn’t type at speed with it. The same happened with the SM7 wide-carriage and the pearly, mint-condition SM3. Not one of those Olympias could count me as a fan. Sure, they looked like ideal icons of mid-century design and renowned German engineering, but typing on those three was like walking through light sludge.

Before anyone sends me vile emails condemning my words, remember that this is only MY opinion and experience with Olympias. If I was a hunt-and-peck typist, I’d probably have kept them for looks’ value alone, but I need a machine that I can really type quickly on and those three just didn't fit the bill.

I donated the SM7 to a charity shop, but I know the two individuals who bought the SM9 and SM3. I still see pictures of the SM3, with comments literally drooling over its looks and its script typeface, but there are no pangs of regret, whatsoever. I’d rather it be appreciated by someone who really enjoys it.

I was just not that person.