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As I already had the three-bank Bijou (an
illegal 1910 take-off of the Corona 3), the first of the four-bank Bijous (of On the Nile fame, my favourite typewriter)
and the 1950s Bijou (courtesy of Richard Amery), I couldn’t resist it when this Bijou
version of the Erika Model 5 came up for sale on eBay:
It arrived on Friday and I was surprised
to discover two things about it: First, it was marketed by the Palestine Typewriter
Company, with branches in Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem (and elsewhere), whose decal
was on the front.
Also, it is some sort of specialist typewriter, perhaps
medical or science, with some strange keys on it. The MLS would stand for milligrams, I
presume, but I’m not sure what the LP key, or the one with an upright stroke
and a figure one over a backstroke, are for.
POSTSCRIPT: As you will see in the comments below, follower Scott Kernaghan has solved the mystery - it is a Palestinian banking typewriter. The LP stands for Palestinian pounds. Scott points out the old Palestinian pound was broken up into units of 'mils', and each mil was 1/1000 of a Palestinian pound. Thank you, Scott!
"What I think you're looking at is a typewriter used by British banks or government - pre-World War II," wrote Scott. "I'd dare say that this unit was used to log currency exchanges, or accounting between British firms and Palestinian interests."
POSTSCRIPT: As you will see in the comments below, follower Scott Kernaghan has solved the mystery - it is a Palestinian banking typewriter. The LP stands for Palestinian pounds. Scott points out the old Palestinian pound was broken up into units of 'mils', and each mil was 1/1000 of a Palestinian pound. Thank you, Scott!
"What I think you're looking at is a typewriter used by British banks or government - pre-World War II," wrote Scott. "I'd dare say that this unit was used to log currency exchanges, or accounting between British firms and Palestinian interests."
Anyway, here are my four generations
of the Bijou portable typewriter:
14 comments:
Figure 1 over a back stroke is there to make your own fraction.
One more comment if you don't mind, or, rather, guess. I think 'mls' might be better read as "milliliters". The vertical stroke on the "make your own fraction" key might be for drawing vertical lines as we have an underscore for underlining horizontally. If it's not that, then it looks like the logician's Sheffer stroke, writing P|Q means -(P&Q). "LP" if it doesn't mean "long playing" still mystifies me.
Thanks Martin. I don't mind at all, other that I should be in Cologne picking up your Oliver! Yes, I figured the 1/ was a make your own fraction, but wouldn't it look rather awkward when typed? The LP also has me mystified, as I have looked at various medical LP terms without finding one that might fit the bill for presumably regular use.
It so happens that maschinengeschrieben recently commented on the 1/ character:
http://maschinengeschrieben.blogspot.com/2012/05/half-thought.html
I don't know about the others, but Marty may be right about milliliters.
It's not medical. I'll tell you that now. There would be no rational reason for a 'Lumbar Puncture' abbreviation key, and there's no pharmaceutical term to match it.
I can say this with certainty, as I am writing to you from a computer in the bowels of the hospital that I work in.
However. As a coin collector... I can tell you something else.
What you are looking at is a machine for banking. Probably in the middle east. The old Palestinian pound was/is broken up into units of 'mils', and each mil is 1/1000 of a Palestinian pound. These are often broken into units of 1/500 (half a pound) etc.
Where things go a little askew here, is that the Palestinians never used the pound symbol (that I am aware of) to denote their pound. However the Egyptian pound is denoted with the LE abbreviation, implying that the Palestinian Pound (a more or less dead currency) might have been abbreviated with LP.
What I think you're looking at is a typewriter used by British banks or government - pre world war 2. I'd dare say that this unit was used to log currency exchanges, or accounting between British firms and Palestinian interests.
Modern day Palestine is a very different place, and the British involvement and governmental influence isn't what it used to be.
Thank you so much Scott, this is brilliant work. Yes, I just checked and LP is the Palestinian pound all right. Well done you!
I think this is a mystery solved then!
Can I just say... That makes this a rather rare machine. And wow! What a story this machine could tell...
I'm jealous. This is the kind of thing I love most about old machines like these. On this occasion there's a few telling hints about the secrets of its past. Great find.
Hi Scott. I have added a postscript to the post to point that out. Again, my heartiest thanks. No need to be jealous - when you come to Canberra for the exhibition, you can collect the Bijou and take it home with you as a gift from me. I think four Bijous and also three versions of the Erika Model 5 are quite sufficient for me!
I'm not sure what to say!
I'll have to give you something in return. But what do you give a man that has so many typewriters that they are in storage!
Something to think about. Have a great day Rob. I'd better get some work done.
Outstanding, outstanding!
I think I can clarify further. I own the Hebrew-keyboard version of the same typewriter
model (https://typewriterdatabase.com/see.12854.typewriter).
After WW1, the British had established control over larges areas taken over from Turkey.
Among those, they held to what is known as "British mandate Palestine (Erez Yisrael)"
(Erez Yisrael - "Land of Israel"). Official languages: English, Hebrew, Arabic. Currency
and stamps from the period (1918-1948) show all three languages.
The local currency during the period was known in English as Palestinian
Lira (hence, LP), and in Hebrew "Lira Erez Yiraelit". In the Hebrew keyboard of
the same machine, the currency symbol is different (the Hebrew equivalent to
"ey" or "ley"). It was indeed broken up into 1000 "mils". The 'Lira' was
used as currency in the State of Israel after the war of 1948, but the coin
was broken into 100, instead of 1000. The Lira was replaced many years later
by the "Shekel", and later by the "New Israeli Shekel", still used today (NIS).
I have yet to see an Arabic typewriter from the British mandate period,
though I keep searching. I am very curious to see the currency symbols used on it.
I think I can clarify further. I have a Hebrew-keyboard version of the
same model, dated (based on the serial number) to 1934.
My machine can be seen here:
https://typewriterdatabase.com/1934-bijou-5.12854.typewriter
Please excuse the longish history introduction. It has a point.
Post WW1, 1918-1948, the British established control on areas taken from Turkey.
In particular, "British-mandate Palestine" was established in the area
between Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon -- now Israel, the Gaza strip,
and the West bank.
There were three official languages: English, Hebrew, and Arabic. Coins and
stamps from the period show all three languages. The area was called
"Palestine (Erez Yizrael)" (in Hebrew: Land of Israel).
Until 1927, the British used the Egyptian Pound (known also as the Egyption Lira, thus LE).
From 1927, the official currency becamethe Palestinian Pound,
also known as Palestinian Lira (hence LP), or "Lira Erez Yisraelit" (in Hebrew).
Each Lira was broken into 1000 mils. Post 1948, the state of Israel kept the Lira
name for currency, until years later it was replaced by the Shekel, and then the New
Israel Shekel (NIS) still used today.
The currency key can be used to roughly date Hebrew typewriters: from 1952,
Hebrew keyboards for use in Israel would show "ly" (Lira Yisraelit -- Israeli
Lira). Before 1952, they would show 'ley' or 'ey'.
And this leads to my point.
English keyboards from the period, such as the one shown above, will show
'LP' and 'mils'. Hebrew keyboards show 'ey' (sometimes, in other machines,
'ley') and 'mils' (both in Hebrew letters). I have yet to see an Arabic
keyboard from the period, so don't know what it would show.
All of the above is true of any machine of the period (I have several in
my collection). There is no reason to assume the machine was used in banking
or accounting. The LP currency key is no different from having a '$' key
in machines for the American markets, for example.
This is true of any machine of the period (I have several in
my collection). There is no reason to assume the machine was used in banking
or accounting. The LP currency key is no different from having a '$' key
in machines for the American markets, for example.
Beautiful! I just got my first typewriter, it's a hebrew bijou, just like the one in the first photo. I guess there are of the same model, and mine just got its typebars changed.
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