Pauline Elisabeth Ottilie Luise zu Wied (1843-1916), the Queen consort of Romania (as the wife of King Carol I) and widely known by her literary name of Carmen Sylva, is unquestionably the most famous typewriting royal of them all:
From the Evening Post, Wellington, New Zealand, 1908
So much so, many typewriters brands wanted to give Carmen typewriters to use - and be seen using them, presumably ...
Which is all very well, but how many different typewriters did Carmen actually use? I ask because she endorsed at least three brands that I know of: the Erika, Fay-Sho and Yost.
And yet, in almost all of the images I have seen of Carmen typing, she is only using a Hammond:
It's a Hammond, right?
Has to be a Hammond?
Looks like a Hammond to me
And another Hammond, maybe?
And yet ...
... And ...
... And?
4 comments:
I'm almost getting the desire to actually read some of the Queen's stuff.
In those photographs the typewriter looks positively modern! She deserved to have a "Carmen" typewriter named after her.
We all need money, don't we?
Queen Carmen would have been typing away when my grandfather emigrated to America from Romania.
Looking at her writing spaces, especially "Has to be a Hammond?", I'm struck with the similarity to mine, in that any twitchy or otherwise thoughtless movement would create minor avalanches of chotskies.
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