1913 Smith Premier #4

See more photos of the 1912 Smith Premier #4

A Strong Commercial Success for 20+ Years - Without “Visible” Typing

The 1913 Smith Premier #4 uses a 7-row, 84-key, up-strike impact mechanism.

This typewriter is a real puzzle!

The Smith Premier #4 typewriter was one of the most commercially successful typewriters for more than 20 years after its introduction in 1890, despite the fact that it was an understrike machine typing on the bottom of the platen, where the typist had to raise the platen to see what had been written — AND many older brand machines had already been offering “Visible” typing and shift keys instead of double keyboards with both upper case and lower case keys for more that 20 years.

This workhorse is sturdy, very heavy and reliable. It also includes a built-in circular cleaning brush underneath the type basket. The user would simply tip up the typewriter, screw on the removable crank through a hole in the base board, and crank it to brush the dust and dirt off the surface of the type characters. Otherwise, cleaning the machine was a very messy project. Both the hole in the wooden base and the removable crank are missing from this machine.

Another advantage of the machine was that the platen could be easily removed and replaced by other platens with varying degrees of hardness, useful for making multiple copies – or for cutting stencils.

The machine produced crisp, easy-touch typing due to its unique metal rod and crank levers. It was equipped with a 1-1/2 inch wide tri-colored-capable ribbon. The type color was adjusted by a slider on the front top of the machine pointing to the desired color. The zig-zag path the typewriter ribbon took from one ribbon spool to the other also provided much longer ribbon life. Also included is a manual, reversible ribbon direction selector.

As with many of the early, heavy-duty and reliable machines, the spacebar is made of painted wood and shows the result of many years of use by right-handed typists.

A sturdy metal case is still with the machine and perfectly functional.

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Overall condition: Fair
Year: 1913
Serial No.: 115256
Type language: English
Manufactured by the Smith Premiere Typewriter Company, Syracuse, New York, USA.