Antique Underwood 5 Typewriter. Spanish Keyboard. USA, Circa 1920

Awesome antique Underwood 5 typewriter with Spanish keyboard, a real classic in the field of office antiques made in the USA circa 1920. This piece remains in excellent condition, both aesthetically and concerning its working order. It can be used to type documents with no problem at all; al the keys are operative and remain in perfect condition, though the G does not returns all the way to its place. When it goes back it eventually stops at 1 cm from its place, probably due to a loose string. Nevertheless, this detail does not interfere at all in the typewriters great working order, a wonderful article which dazzles us with its charming and nostalgic writing. The typewriter has black-enameled metal body with golden decals and inscriptions, all greatly preserved. The enameled finish looks good too, shiny, even and uniform. The typewriter has a Spanish keyboard, with the Ñ letter and Spanish words. The circular keys are white with black symbols, and are all reinforced with the classic nickel-plated ring. Over the carriage we can see the brand name UNDERWOOD and the brand logo; at the front, just under the keyboard there is a printed inscription with the models name, UNDERWOOD STANDARD TYPEWRITER Nº 5, in clearly visible golden lettering. At the back of the typewriter we find another golden inscription with the manufacturing companys name, and just over it we see an orange and golden decal with the name of an authorized distributor of the brand in New York. Stately, functional and truly amazing, this antique Underwood 5 typewriter with Spanish keyboard is bound to shine in a charismatic study, living room or stance.Underwood Typewriters History The Underwood Typewriter Company was founded in 1895 by John T. Underwood. The family business made typewriter ribbon and carbon paper from 1874, but when some of their clients (such as famous Remington brand) started making their own supplies, they considered starting to manufacture typewriters. The first model produced was a design by Franz Xavier Wagner who showed it to J. T. Underwood: then, the Underwood No. 1 was born. The Underwood No. 5 launched in 1900 has been described as "the first truly modern typewriter". Two million had been sold by the early 1920s, and its sales were equal in quantity to all of the other firms in the typewriter industry combined. In 1959, Olivetti bought a controlling interest in Underwood and completed the merger in October 1963, becoming known in the US as Olivetti-Underwood with headquarters in New York City, and entering the electromechanical calculator business. The Underwood name last appeared on Olivetti portable typewriters produced in Spain in the 80s.