Here at Chrystal & Hill, one of our key values is ensuring we provide you with high quality and durable products. Whether it is purchased brand new or has been loved before, we make sure to provide only the best quality for you. This has been a high priority for us since we opened our doors over 75 years ago, and we can confidently confirm we have been able to achieve this thanks to this amazing message we received all the way from Poland recently.
This email informed us that this gentleman had recently purchased a typewriter to add to his growing collection, and whilst assessing his new purchase he found our name attached to the back.
After a little bit of research, we were able to discover this particular typewriter is an Olympia Traveller de Luxe, which was manufactured until the early nineties when the Olympia Company ceased their productions in 1992. Olympia, a German company, started back in 1903 with their typewriters becoming a popular purchase by the end of the 1930s. They were known for their innovation and low priced yet high quality products, such as the one-handed typewriter created for those who didn’t have the ability to use both hands. This inclusive design was very well received by the public, who appreciated the variety of options and price points available to them. After the Second World War, there was various issues within the company, however, despite these setbacks by 1948 Olympia reopened in Wilhelmshaven where they produced their typewriters until the closure of the company.
After the war there was a legislation brought in so that every typewriter made has a serial number, to identify where and when it was made. This was due to troubles ongoing in the world at this time, and this helped find out where people were buying their typewriters and put a stop to dangerous underground organisations. This Traveller de Luxe’s serial number allowed us to easily find that this specific model was originally produced and sold in 1975!
Something unique about this typewriter is that when it was being repaired it actually was altered to make it possible to write in Polish. This was fairly uncommon, especially back in the mid-seventies, making this an incredibly special find. With added keys to the typewriter, it allows for our customer to write in his own language, without having to misspell words or manually go through pages individually to add a diacritical mark.
So, you may be wondering, how did we come to sell this? Well for many years we have supplied various types of office furniture and equipment, just as we do now. However, before this, we started our journey by repairing typewriters. Although we continued to grow with the latest technologies we still ensured to carry on this craft into the modern day, with our in-house engineer/typewriter connoisseur fixing typewriters for over 40 years. This brings us to now, where after many exciting moments and achievements, we continue to provide you with the latest and greatest in our Glasgow Showroom! It is a great honour for us to know that our products have, not only lasted nearly 40 years, but they are still being repurchased and used as they were back in 1975 when first produced. Whether it has been purchased from us directly or purchased via an auction site across the world, like this one has, we are grateful to have our name globally recognised for the craftsmanship and talent of our team. We put pride into our work and into the quality of products we supply to you, here you can have a look at the many brands we offer. It is always heartwarming knowing our hard work has paid off. Have a look below at some of the brilliant images that were shared with us! Get in touch and share your story with us – we look forward to hearing your Chrystal & Hill memory!