Today I did my usual monthly trawl around the antique shops and came across three very interesting typewriters.
First and foremost, what appears to be a German EFKA typewriter with a Polish company badge (“panstwowe wytwornie uzbrojenia w warszawie” which Google translates to “federal armament production company in Warsaw”and the initials “f k” Frankfurt?
A very sturdy looking machine whatever it is, with a hefty price tag to match.
Another heavyweight contender was this BAR-LOCK No. 21. I say “No. 21” only because a similar typewriter (with a wider carriage) is currently advertised as a “21” on Gumtree ($220 negotiable):
The Gumtree seller dates his to 1946.
The Bar-Lock in the shop is a very nice looking typewriter, but not one I would consider buying since I already own a similarly green but more beautiful fat-bottomed Italian …
… and besides, as is always the case at this particular antique shop, the $325 asking price is way too high.
This more reasonably-priced but still pricey Erika left me feeling lovesick as I left the store.
Since I was within earshot and under the watchful eye of the shop proprietor (on surveillance camera), I didn’t “play” with it.
I would have dearly liked to take her home, but after doing a quick mental calculation …
… (I wasn’t allowed to play with this one either) decided I couldn’t afford to part with $275 (or whatever I might have been able to haggle the price down to).
Really I don’t know why I torture myself.
Thanks for these beautiful pictures! I hadn’t seen such a well preserved logo before. EFKA is the pronounced “F.K”, itself short for Fabryka Karabinów. You can read about the company on http://www.typewriters.ch/blog/2014/07/f-k-mala-typewriter/ (translation button)
You’re welcome. And thanks to everyone for the information. 🙂
The Efka is a different name brand version of the F K Mala, (spelling out how the F and the K are pronounced in Polish) which was made in Poland, rather than Germany. http://www.willdavis.org/FK.html
Neat rear-window 🙂
Machine could be from/by EFKA (Fischer, Karl), Vienna? Manufacturer of small electro-mechanical stuff afaicf.
Cancel that – methinks Nick got it !
Cool machines! As Nick says, the Efka is Polish-made, and must be quite rare in Australia.
Those are some damn good high quality machines- but those prices are absurd. The Efka is pretty much never seen in Australia though, so I can understand that. The Erika is a bloody good machine. But I only paid $80 for mine. You could get one from Germany and have the type-bars re-soldered for half of that.