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| At right, the ATLAS. From its instruction manual: "This portable typewriter is a product resulting from long experience and research since 1935 and boasts of the highest production among typewriters made in Japan. The typewriter is the essence of highest Japanese techniques and is made of superior materials and with up-to-date precision machinery and asembled with minutest care. It is of the topmost world level. Being moderate in price, it is within easy reach of everybody and is handy for businessmen as well as for students. It is supplied with a convenient carrying case. It will also form an attractive accessory for a study. Rhythmical in touch and clear in imprint, it gives satisfaction to every user. Produced with types for the English, German, French and other languages as well as with Japanese phonetics, this typewriter enjoys high reputation all over the world. |
| Of course, when the material at left was written in the middle 1950's, the NIPPO machines were the ONLY portables being made in Japan! The meaning of "research dating to 1935" is unclear. |
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| Return to "Japan" index page at my Portable Typewriter Reference Site |
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| On to the Del Mar, the Halberg and the Royal connection. |
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| Here are the Atlas and a Royal Royalite '64 together for comparison. Note the overall similarity, but the lack of the side shoulders on the body of the Royal. The Royal also has a one-piece top ribbon cover. On the Halberg page, you can see very early Nippo and Royal machines of this design in much greater detail. Neither the Royal nor the Nippo is great to type on, but the Nippo is at least two orders of magnitude rarer (and harder to find) than the Royal variety. |
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| ELGIN COLLEGIATE Here is another member of the NIPPO family. This pleasantly powder blue machine is an Elgin Collegiate, serial number 711207. It is, of course, a member of the earlier body style family, and is not different in any significant way from the Del Mar or the Atlas. The name Collegiate is traceable to the Elgin Watch Company, well known for precision railroad time pieces. This company had evolved into the Elgin National Watch Company by the mid-1960's, and appears to have attempted to diversify. A separate Elgin National Industries was set up in 1969, but it appears that both companies ended up in liquidation in the 1970's. |
| NIPPO portable typewriters Pg. 2 |
| Soon enough, the Nippo Machine Company would have competition; Brother, in 1961, and both Nakajima and Silver-Seiko in 1965. Nippo had lost any lead advantage, and was forced to settle for fourth place among Japanese typewriter manufacturers. |
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| ROBERT MESSENGER, an Australian collector / researcher has sent us some fine photos of his Model P-200 portable. The instructions don't mention the make of the machine, and in fact there's nothing on the machine itself that does either - but the classic Mod-style late Nippo body is hard to mistake for anything else. The machine is in great shape as we can see by his shots. |
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| The machine is serial number 2102409. Thanks to Mr. Messenger we can finally answer the question of the difference between models P-200 and P-201 since this is the first actual P-200 anyone has been able to examine. The P-100 has no ribbon selector, touch regulator left of keyboard, and has the carriage lock at the left end of the carriage. P-200 has a ribbon selector lever to the right of the keyboard, and a touch regulator lever to the left of the keyboard with carriage lock the same as P-100. P-201 has the ribbon selector to right of keyboard, but has no touch regulator; on the P-201 the carriage lock is a lever to the left of the keyboard (which is where the P-100 / P-200 touch regulator would be.) |
| On the right, a scan of the detail illustration from the P-200 manual. Note that the margin release key on these machines also acts as a jam clear key. Mr. Messenger, as noted, lives in Australia and notes many brand names under which machines were sold in Australia - all virtually unknown to us here in the US. His feeling is that this P-200 may have been sold by a firm called Macdouealls. And what is most interesting is that our entire field of research on the NIPPO make began years ago with the "Atlas" - which I got from Australia! |
| PHOTOS AND SCANS, THIS SECTION, COURTESY ROBERT MESSENGER. |
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| A brief review of the various known NIPPO body styles and model numbers (where known.) |
| NIPPO (Early 1) Small, flat machine with gull-wing style ribbon spool doors in one-piece body casing. Pronounced side shoulders on body casing. Green keytops, platen knobs. Crinkle-finish paint. Rear of machine extended to protect carriage when in case. "Japan" or similar stickers found on top of left side of carriage, or rear or both. |
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| NIPPO (Early 2) Identical with previous except finished in various smooth enamel paint colors with white keytops. Both Early 1 and Early 2 variants manufactured with a wide variety of brand names specially-made for customers (wholesalers, export/import firms, stores or any such.) Retains gull-wing ribbon doors. |
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| On the left, Early style NIPPO machines. |
| On the right, Late style NIPPO machines. |
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| NIPPO P-100 42 keys. Touch regulator lever to left of keyboard; carriage lock device near left end of carriage. |
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| NIPPO P-200 Much like P-100 but adds ribbon selector lever (3-position) on the right of the keyboard. |
| NIPPO P-201 Much like previous except NO touch regulator. Carriage lock device operated by lever on left side of keyboard. |
| NIPPO P-300 Completely different body style from anything seen here, with pronounced frame extension on front to go around the space bar. Much less angular than P-100/200/201 and more "1970's looking" with rounder lines. None known in the hands of any collector; pictured only in Wilfred Beeching's book. Exact features not known. |
| Late-style machines have one-piece pull off top cover, and chrome surrounding the keyboard. Note the "Mod" angular lines, like some other typewriters of the day but yet individual and distinctive - and hard to mistake for anything else. |