THE SCOUT

Remie Scout, that is. I had pretty well made up my mind to not acquire any more typewriters; I have a small collection now, plenty of fun stuff, and there's a time to stop.

I had my fingers crossed on three items. This is one of them: When it showed up on eBay, I put in a bid and hey, nobody else wanted it more.

It's a fascinating and uncommon machine, Remington's "Scout" model, and that's scout as in fast and light, not as in the organizations for young men and women. It was an inexpensive machine, intended for students and other highly-mobile types.

You'll notice some missing bits -- yes, there is no front frame and yes, there are no shift keys and darn-all special characters. In this, it is very similar to a radio operator's "mill," an all upper-case typewriter used to copy radiotelegraph messages.

It's a folding Remington, similar to their early portables. There's a little lever on the right side to raise the typebars. Here it is, ready for action.

It still need more cleaning, lubrication and degreasing, not to mention a new ribbon. The side plates were originally a darker blue and are now nearly innocent of paint. But it does type, in a surprisingly modern-looking font:I'm looking forward to using this one with my radio gear. I have been looking for a "mill" for years; passed up some nice ones (nice, big and heavy) in the flea market at the Dayton Hamvention this Spring, wondering if I'd see another. Answered that! Or close enough.

You're probably wondering about the identity of the other two machines I'd consider buying if I happened on them. ...I'll tell you if ever I find them!