MOLLE Nº3 YEAR 1918

Molle Nº3 typewriter, manufactured in 1918 approx. by Molle Typewriter Company Company, in Oshkosh, Wix, USA.

The history surrounding Molle typewriters is a story with an unhappy ending. The Molle was invented by John Molle a Wisconsin jeweler and watch repairer. Due to the frustration he felt every time he had to repair his Smith Premier machine and the difficulties in solving any technical problem, Molle decided to build his own typewriter. There was no Molle #1 or #2, and he decided to call it Molle #3 because he had previously had two failed prototypes. He decided to make a very simple machine and above all very easy to repair. And so it was, the Molle is disassembled very easily and in just a few seconds the chassis, the keyboard, the carriage and the basket of type bars are disassembled. In addition, it is a small machine, very light in weight (barely 5 kilos) and with few parts. Of the first 5,000 machines that left the factory in the first two years of life, only 16 units returned to the factory due to some mechanical failure. Thus, Molle had fulfilled his dream of making a compact, durable and simple machine.

We said that the company had an unhappy ending and that is that due to the strikes and the shortage of raw materials that took place at the end of 1919 in the American steel industry, the Molle company, after four years, had to close its doors. Being a young company, it did not have sufficient financial resources to withstand the crisis and the lack of raw materials did not allow it to finish its orders....finally the company went bankrupt. Had it not been for this, it is very likely that the Molle company would have given a lot of play in the manufacture of typewriters.

This machine that we sell is kept in excellent condition and works perfectly. Its design is very geometric, the cover of the type bars is formed by right angles and we hardly find anything in the machine that has curved shapes. It is made of black enameled cast iron. It has a keyboard made up of three rows of keys. We can see the name of the machine on the clipboard and under the keyboard in gold letters.

In total, 11,000 typewriters were manufactured. It may seem like a large number, but it really is not and today very few are preserved. The Molle typewriter is certainly a special and very rare machine. It is a collector's item and highly desirable by collectors of vintage typewriters.

Antiquity: 1918 approx.

Measures:

Condition: Excellent

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