f a t, flat but fully functional: Nakajima's Olympiette S12

I'm not sure why I've kept this typewriter all these years. Perhaps nobody wanted to take it off my hands. It has never appealed to me aesthetically, and others have probably felt the same. After all, it's plastic, f a t (I'm no wide carriage fan; I like my paper to be portrait shape) and, given its width, it's disconcertingly flat. 

And it's a Nakajima. It was made by Nakajima ALL in Sakaki, Nagano, for Olympia International and distributed through Olympia USA Inc of Somerville, New Jersey. 

I would question the labelling on the back of this machine, which doesn't mention Nakajima and misleadingly has "Olympia Werke AG, Wilhelmshaven, West Germany" more prominently expressed than the words "Made in Japan", which are in tiny print at the bottom of the sticker. The fact it was handled in the US and not in Wilhelmshaven is equally obscured, with the small sticker underneath the machine. The impression allowed is that there is some tangle link with Olympia, Wilhelmshaven, when in reality there is not. This is NOT an Olympia typewriter, it's a Nakajima ALL typewriter.

Yet I can't fault the functionality of the Olympia Olympiette S12. It types wonderfully well.

I note that among fans of the S12 is Lebanon, Virginia, lawyer Gregory S.Hancock, who has a nice collection of modern typewriters here. Greg says on his typewriter webpage, "I really like this machine [the S12]. It is a sturdy, smooth type without 'double printing' or 'spacing ahead' problems. I write most of my correspondence on this one because it is the most comfortable machine I own." I wholeheartedly endorse Greg's comments about the S12's typeability.

The Olympiette S12 is an adaption of the Nakajima ALL 800 (of which the wide carriage version is the 8000), as well as other Nakajima-made Olympias, such as the Carina. In a post on the 800 in July last year, I remarked on how taken I was by its almost flawless typing. But like all Nakajimas, including the small portables, the mechanics are identical. Perhaps the larger, heavier plastic masks give more balance and produce a better typewritten result - quite the opposite effect to the Olivettis of the later 60s. The carriage running smoothly over a rail positioned at a 45 degree angle might well help the cause.

These S12s are readily available on eBay of Etsy, so don't let me hold you back. Don't be fooled by the labelling - it's not German, it's Japanese. But also be prepared to be surprised by how well it types (blame the juiced up worn ribbon for the unevenness of this typecast).