Voss Privat

Voss Privat

the Portable Typewriter Reference Site by Will Davis

On the previous page concerning Voss typewriters, I've given the history of the company. We can now see that Ernst Voss' desire to produce a true "travel typewriter" was a central theme to his company's actions in the latter half of its history. It is also apparent that the machine actually produced, the Voss Privat, played a central role in the very final period, and that it may be considered as central to the events surrounding the end of this company. I now have one in my possession, and many questions about this machine can now be answered.

There have been some questions about the acquisition of this design by Voss, and some questions about just what the "detail changes" were that were made to the machine (and which helped deplete the company of money.) In order to answer these, I deployed every single machine in my collection which belongs to this family group. For once, I had the presence of mind to actually stop, and take a picture, while this was in progress. Below, my living room with machines all over. They are, from left to right: Oliver Portable, 1952; Patria (Swiss) 1946; Florida A85 (Spain) 1968; Commodore C85 (Spain) mid -1960's; Oliver Courier, 1959; AMC (actually Japy Script, France) ca. 1967; Japy Personelle, early 1950's.

The above was performed before the Voss Privat had arrived. Using these machines, I developed a complete description of the various differences between the marques, and developed a chart of how the design was likely altered and spread. It would appear that the nearly simultaneously introduced pre-war Japy (France) and Patria (Switzerland) had some differences as soon as immediately post-war. It seems that the Spanish-produced machines (in the later 1960's) were developed from the Japy. This may well help to indicate that when Swiss production changed from the Patria to the Swissa in 1950, the following Spanish machine known (confusingly) as the Patria was based directly on the Swiss Patria. In any event, it seems that the Oliver portables owe their design to the Patria line and not to the Japy line. All of the differences were charted, and a plan of inspection produced.

(For those who are wondering, this exact topic has been the source of some speculation for some time, and it is thus necessary to explain fully my research methodology here, in order to support the following discoveries and my assumptions about the Voss Privat. This is the first time that I have gone into full detail about my research, for these reasons.)

The Privat arrived today (Mar 4, 2004) and was immediately inspected (and photographed) with the other machines and data present. As had been indicated by Beeching in "Century of the Typewriter," the Voss Privat is clearly developed from the Oliver Courier. This can be assured because of the numerous mechanical and design peculiarities associated with Oliver machines of this line. However, it is also known that Ernst Voss tried to make many improvements to the Privat, which in the end resulted only in small improvements and changes in some of the small details. It was this fact that required so much exacting inspection. Even with the detail improvements made by Voss (which I will describe shortly) it is clear that the Privat is the result of acquisition of the tooling for the Oliver Courier, after production of that machine was ended in England. The machine on the right, used for reference, is my Oliver Courier, serial number CF 78557, manufactured in the second to last month of production. It is the highest known serial number for a Courier, and it is fairly certain that no changes would have been made in the last 1274 machines following this one.

Some of the design characteristics which link the Privat to the Oliver Courier are as follows. The Oliver machines always, post-war, used four externally-visible screws (seen on the sides) to attach the outer body shell to the frame. This required a frame design peculiar to the Oliver line. The Privat has this frame. Also, the Courier had a peculiar design of latch to limit motion of the carriage release lever when raised or lowered; this is present on the Voss. The keytops are identical on the Privat and Courier, but match no others. (Note that color is not significant.) The platen knobs are also peculiar to these two. The soundproofing material is exactly the same, and applied in the same places, matching no others. There are also other factors ruling out other product lines; for example, the main frame casting on Spanish-made A85/C85 machines is very different from all of the others. There are, also, a few similarities between the Privat and other machines; for example, the Privat carriage release levers are pushed away from the typist to release the carriage, as on the Oliver Courier, but also as on the Patria. However, it seems that the Oliver machines were descended from the Patria machines, and so this commonality bears reference only to the Oliver and not Patria machines as regards the Voss.

Another certain link between the Oliver and Voss machines is the nature of the owners' manuals. (Keep in mind that the top half of the front page of the Privat manual has been cut away, for reasons unknown.) It is clear that the Voss manual is simply a rewrite of the Oliver manual, and is the same size, using the same format with nearly exactly the same picture. One interesting note is the black rectangle on the lower front page of the Voss manual; it can be seen that this is covering up the name 'Karin.' This may indicate that the Privat was originally called 'Karin,' or was originally supposed to replace it. There is no other reason that the name 'Karin' would be blocked out and replaced with the name "Privat" above it.

Manuals are side by side in both pictures, with the Voss on the left and the Oliver on the right. Note the black rectangle next to the blue VOSS emblem, blocking over the already printed name Karin. At least one true Voss machine labelled 'Karin B" has been seen; perhaps for a time the Privat was the Karin, and a Voss design was the Karin B.