1949 Smith-Corona Silent

This typewriter was originally sold by Walton Typewriter, 505 Broadway, in Pueblo, Colorado. It came with a touch-typing card advertising Walton Typewriter. This was most likely the dealer who sold it when it was brand-new. (There is a dealer label for G.W. Boyce, 601 N. Santa Fe Avenue, in Pueblo, located under the carriage, but its phone number does not match their number in the 1949 Pueblo. CO telephone directory; the number for Walton Typewriter matches that in the 1949 telephone directory.) 

I bought this typewriter in December, 2011 from Old Glory Antiques, in Vancouver, Washington. It amazes me how far this typewriter traveled in the last 63 years. (partly because the case only has a few minor scuffs) This is easily my favorite typewriter. Unlike my Silent-Super, the tab stops on this typewriter are set manually; the back panel gets moved backward, and the tab stops get taken off of the rack, and put in different places.

It is pretty quiet, but not completely Silent. Consumer Reports loved full-sized Smith-Corona portable typewriters well into the 1960s (they really hated most compact typewriters). Generally, I disagree with most of what Consumer Reports had to say about compact typewriters--in my personal experience, the Royal Royalite (one of the typewriters they hated the most) is much more durable than they gave it credit for. As Consumer Reports stated in their 1960 typewriter review: "Estimated durability, fair" However, most of the bad reviews Consumer Reports gave typewriters were based on convenience of use for long periods of time.  This is not to say that I look for typewriters that Consumer Reports hated: I own eight typewriters that were either  "Best Buys" or rated "Excellent" in their respective years:

• 1937: Royal Model 'O' Standard (My Model O is from 1934)
• 1941: Remington Remette (a Best Buy because of the number of features for its price)
• 1957: Olympia SM-3 (Very Good; only the Smith-Corona Electric Portable was "Excellent")
• 1957: Smith-Corona Silent-Super (Very Good; only the Smith-Corona Electric Portable was "Excellent")
• 1960: Olympia SM-4
• 1966: Smith-Corona Classic 12 (rated Excellent; 1960 was the last year for "best buy" in typewriters)
• 1972: Olympia SM-9 with 13 inch carriage
• 1972: Royal Custom III (I have a 1968 Custom II which is identical except for the front panel)

This generation of Smith-Corona portables were rated "excellent" in the 1950s. It probably would have been  a "Best Buy" if Smith-Corona hadn't launched its Electric Portable the same year.
While I disagree with many of Consumer Reports' findings on compact portable typewriters, they have an excellent track record of picking typewriters that I am incredibly fond of as their "Best Buys" I have ten typewriters that were rated "Fair" or "Poor" (I actually agree with one of their choices)

• 1946: Remington Deluxe Model 5 (they liked this in 1935, and rated it as "good" in 1941.)
• 1957: Royal Quiet Deluxe (they loved it in 1941, 1946, and 1948--these are mechanically identical to the 1957 model) 
• 1957: Olivetti Lettera 22 (This was rated "Good" in 1960--the only change was the addition of the "Underwood" name)
• 1957,1960: Smith-Corona Skyriter
• 1957, 1960: Royal Royalite
• 1960: Consul Deluxe Portable
• 1960: Cole-Steel
• 1966: Royal Skylark (this is a terrible machine!)
• 1966: Smith-Corona Corsair/Sears Tutor
• 1966: Olivetti Lettera 32 (marked as "Fair to Good"