Foundation and Empire

Imperial The Good Companion. s/n EN839, 1948
By Appointment to His Majesty King George the Fifth.
This, and the following four images are at the same scale.
Click any to supersize to 1000 pixels

Imperial Good Companion 4. s/n 4BS401T, 1958

Imperial Good Companion 5. s/n 5A756, 1957

Imperial Good Companion 5. s/n 5G990, 1958

The Good Companion, return lever

Good Companion 4, return lever

Good Companion 5 serial number. Earlier model had the number on the bottom
of the molding, later ones are numbered under the top cover

Ribbon selector is different between earlier and later models

Older and newer line-space ratchet pawls. What is the later arrow pointing to?
Possible platen re-covery? The ratchet on the later model doesn't work consistently when
it doesn't engage with the cog. This might be because it fouls the platen rubber.

Under the hood of the Good Companion 4

Under the hood of the Good Companion 5

What lies beneath. A Good Companion 4's nether regions exposed

...and the Good Companion 5's revolutionary though
more delicate undercarriage

Read my spoof manual for the Good Companion 5

Imperial Good Companion 4

Erratum: line 16 should read model 4 in the first instance.

Five's a handful

Pretty clean. Skinny rubber. Early Model 5: twdb says 5A 756 is 1957-ish.

You might expect a 99p Imperial Good Companion Model 5 to be too good to be true. I can't complain, but the immaculate all-round cleanliness belies a problem or three. Here's the running order:

1. The platen won't engage the internal clutch so it is just spinning - no line returns. Yes, I undid all the screws but still having trouble removing the platen.
2. The tabs won't set and the linkage is buried deep!
3. The space bar linkage was hanging off and was quite inscrutable to reassemble. This connects to the whole escapement so is pretty critical to get right. Working well now though!
4. There's an annoying snag just as you depress the shift - problem isolated but I need a 3mm right-angle cranked spanner to adjust - or a file.

On lots of machines the cover comes off to reveal the workings - having little practical use except to hang luxuries like feet and paper rests off. This one, though, is an incredibly intricate alloy molding with various bits bolted to it and assembled around it. Maybe because it is a basket shift, but I'm blowed if I can see how to remove the carriage. Could be just a matter of time. I'll leave it a week and have another look then.

The Imperial came from a lady who rescued it from the dump. It belonged to the daughter (who now lives in the States) of a recently late friend. It has suffered some traumas and there are enough gnarled screw-heads to suggest it has been regularly repaired. Out of the case it is a very low-slung machine and the space bar linkage barely clears the desk top. The soft case has no retaining clips and offers very little protection.

Full decals and no skid marks on the lid. Spot the minor crack between the tab keys.

Don't let this put anyone off getting one!

Mint Imperial

...well, almost mint. Here's a second booklet hand-made by the cherubim in Typewriter Heaven along with the Antares Parva manual. This one is about a basket-shift tabulator from an outpost of Imperial's empire on England's East Coast*.

Open publication

*Try saying that with a mouthful of Rice Crispies.

Disclaimer: publication not intended as a user guide or maintenance manual. 

Open and shut

I'm in the process of making a new typewriter manual for The Good Companion Model 5 and I just couldn't resist sharing a couple of the photos.

News just in: The Imperial Typewriter factory in Leicester, UK, was raided yesterday and 33 illegal workers arrested. Leicester has a large community with origins in India and Pakistan who have found UK borders alternately open and shut.  Read the full story...