Groma Kolibri (1950s), Green

Welcome to one of history's finest typewriters, lovingly restored for your writing pleasure.

This is the exact machine pictured. There is one available, and when it's gone, it's gone.

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Kolibri is German for hummingbird. It's a fitting name.

The Groma Kolibri is one of the flattest typewriters ever made. It stands about two and a half inches tall, which puts it somewhere between a hardcover book and a sandwich. It was built in East Germany, behind the Iron Curtain, by a company whose name combined its founder, G.F. Grosser, with its hometown, Markersdorf.

Think about that for a second. The same government that brought you gray concrete apartment blocks also produced this jewel of a writing machine. Somebody in that factory cared deeply, and it shows.

If you've seen The Lives of Others, the Oscar-winning film about the East German secret police, you've seen this machine at work. A Groma Kolibri is smuggled into a playwright's apartment under a cake, then hidden beneath the floor. The whole story turns on that little machine. That's what a flat typewriter does for you.

The novelist Will Self saw it on screen and had to have one. He later wrote that he hadn't seen anything so beautiful since his youngest child was born. I understand the feeling.

This one is green, the color of a 1950s kitchen or an old schoolroom before everything turned gray. You don't see this shade anymore, and you certainly don't see it on a typewriter.

When found out in the world, Kolibris are often scratched, nicked, rattled around in their cases, stored upside down, and generally mistreated by people who didn't know what they had… ok, I'm getting ahead of myself. This one has been restored, and it's ready to go.

A tip from the bench: when you return the carriage, don't press down on the lever. That's how most Kolibris pick up the little nick by the carriage return handle. Push it, don't mash it.

So slip it in your bag, and write on.

Features:

• Ultra-flat design, about 2.5 inches tall

• Original green finish

• [KEYBOARD LAYOUT: Kolibris came with many European layouts, so confirm this one's before listing]

• Pica typeface (10 character per inch)

• Adjustable margins

• Two-color ribbon selector

• Original metal ribbon spools

• Intact manual paper support

• US QWERTY keyboard non converted (a lot of these are converted from QWERTZ where they switch the Z and the Y, so you’ll have a lot of strange accent keys you may not need. This just has English keys and a dollar sign, etc.

Includes:

• Fresh black ribbon installed

• Original zipper case that works (rare!)

• Original manual

• Video Tutorial

• One Year Warranty

• The Classic Typewriter Guarantee

• Lifetime Trade-in Policy

Cosmetics:

This is an eye catching beauty. Rare green paint with green keys. The paint gleams. There are some cracks and checking in paint, mainly on paper tray (see pics). And the ding from carriage return lever, smaller than usual. Function is great. Soft rubber. Original feet, still soft.

Mechanical:

The single and double line spacing is not working. There is only one setting, which is single. You can hit the return lever twice to double space. Every other function works well.

Price has been marked down for these factors, though in general this is nicer than 90% of these.

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We restore beautiful machines and put them in the hands of writers, poets, and dreamers. Our factory-trained technicians do the difficult magic. We pride ourselves on quality, and we won't rest until you're thrilled.

When the inspiration strikes, be ready!™

Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Most sincerely,
Steven Budden Jr.
Classic Typewriter Co.
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
classictypewriter.com

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