Smith Corona Silent – 5S121700 (1949)

I found this Smith Corona Silent in a flea market outside Washington, North Carolina in 1989.  I had just moved to the city to work at WITN-TV, and needed a typewriter to write home to friends.  These were the final days before email.

If you look closely at the keys, you’ll see some unusual ones for a typewriter found in the U.S. It has everything needed to type in all the European Roman alphabet languages – Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, and yes, even English.