1961 Royal FPP standard typewriter at work
Video will open in a new window
Using the eBay App? Paste link into a browser window:
The Royal FP -- the model designation was taken from the initials of Fortune Peter Ryan, who became the Royal company's president in 1951 -- was the company's flagship office typing machine from 1957 to 1962. Its internal mechanism is directly descended from the classic Royal KMM, a typewriter that was introduced just before the Second World War.
I have the greatest respect for the Royal brand. If I were allowed to keep just one machine from my collection it would be the KMM standard that my father kept at his office desk at the theological school where he taught for several decades -- systematic theology, homiletics and history of the church. My professional attachment to Royals was cemented during my two-decade stint as an editor at our local weekly newspaper, where in my early years every writer had a KMM at the desk.
We didn't have any of these newer FP standards in our newsroom in the 1980s, most likely because our KMMs refused to wear out. The bodywork of this typewriter is more modern (the original finish is what I think Royal called Pearl Gray), but when I sit down to write at the FP and close my eyes, it could be my crinkle-black machine from the late 1940s -- entirely familiar and perfectly comfortable.
If you peruse the comments of Royal FP owners on the Typewriter Database you'll find things like "my absolute favorite typewriter . . . it's a workhorse . . . solid and sturdy . . . my "go-to" typewriter . . . man is it satisfying to type on . . . solid as a tank and scarily quiet." You should understand that these commenters are serious typewriter enthusiasts, the sort who are willing to commit to a machine that pretty much takes over any desk you put it on. (One of my favorite comments: "One of my favorites to use, not to move around.")
In his terrific book, "The Typewriter Revolution," Richard Polt lays out the pros and cons of full-sized office typewriters. Standards, he writes, are "big, heavy machines designed to stay put and get extensive, professional use. They were built to produce millions of words and last for decades. Good standards have the most features and the best touch -- a snappy, speedy, springy feel that most typists like." So: they're big and heavy, that's true. Everything else about these standard office machines is good.
This late-1961 FP is the embodiment of what Polt is talking about. It weighs almost 29 pounds, but it wasn't built heavy just to keep it planted on the desk. It was built this way because this is simply how you make the best manual typewriter if your criteria for excellence are durability, the quality of the typist's experience and the quality of the printed impression.
Cosmetics of this machine are excellent, as I hope the images here show. As for features, the FP has just about all the conveniences that were available on manual typewriters in the 1960s -- touch control, handy card-holding fingers, full tabulation, Royal's patented Magic Margins. Its 10.5-inch platen can be extracted without tools. Line spacing can be set at single, double and triple. The type is Royal's standard pica, 10 characters to the inch. If you're considering the commitment this typewriter involves, please do spend some time with the specimen page, which shows the excellent quality of the FP's printed impression.
(Typing a full specimen page is an important part of my routine with every typewriter I restore. If you look closely enough at the typed page here, you can see that even after my cleaning, a bit of grime was stuck in the lower part of the letter k. I picked the grime out with a needle before recording the video clip.)
I'm experienced at shipping typewriters, and I'm always happy to answer questions from owners getting started with a new machine. Please review my seller feedback. Thanks for reading!