Remington Portable (1930)

Remington Portable
 
Year of production:  1930
 
Company:  Remington Headquarters, 100 Gracechurch Street, EC3
 
The Remington Home Portable Typewriter was assembled by "British labour" from parts made in the US. The typewriters were assembled at Remington's factory in London, starting in 1930. Remington did the same thing in Australia during the 1930s, with US-made parts assembled at a "branch plant" in Sydney.
 
Remington's headquarters in London, dating right back to the days of Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict in the 1880s, were at 100 Gracechurch Street, EC3.  
 
The London factory where these "Home" portables were assembled, however, was nearby at 16 Crutched Friars, EC3N, close to the Fenchurch Street Station (it's on the Monopoly board, along with the Liverpool Street, Marylebone and King's Cross stations). 
 
The street name comes from the Roman Catholic religious order Fratres Cruciferi, or Brethren of the Cross. The name refers to the staff carried by the brothers, surmounted by a crucifix.
 
These little machines were marketed aggressively and were a great success. They were the first truly portable typewriters with four-bank keyboards, and in this category they had no competition until Royal and Underwood introduced four-bank portables in 1926. The "folding-typebar" mechanism raises the typebars to a 45-degree angle, the printing position, by means of a lever on the right side of the typewriter. The typebars must be lowered again when the typewriter is returned to its case.
 
The carrying case is sometimes wood or metal covered in leather or imitation leather; usually (as on all subsequent Remington portables), it is wood covered in black cloth. In 1924 the price of the Remington Portable was $60. It was sold in France as the "Smith Premier Portative."
 
We also have an American model from 1925 Serial No. 55129.