Comments on: Groma Kolibri

By: Daniel Marleau

Daniel Marleau — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 14:44:42 +0000

In reply to Gromco.

Q1! Thanks for adding the allure of this magnificent wonder.

And perhaps my tone wasn’t clear, I agree, it was no “masterpiece of the socialist system,” but a “resistance ahead of its time.” As if to say, see what we Germans can make! And wow, when you get your hands on one, you marvel even to this day.

By: Gromco

Gromco — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 18:28:07 +0000

Groma Kolibri is a unique typewriter. The author writes that this is a masterpiece of the socialist system, but in fact this is not at all the case – it is a masterpiece of German engineering, which has nothing to do with socialism. In the Soviet Union, this was an unattainable dream; many did not even know about its existence. In 1959, its price was 1,500 rubles, for comparison at a time when the monthly salary of a young engineer was 120 rubles, and the price of a premium class «Volga 21» passenger car was 6,800 rubles. Each Kolibri typewriter that has survived to this day is a unique specimen with an interesting fate. And she is over 68 years old, but who dares to call her grandmother? As always, young and intriguing. Lightweight, just right for creating essays and stories. I have owned it for more than a year, born in 1955, s/n 6802ХХ with Cyrillic font. Workmanship – premium, blued steel, stainless steel, chrome, nickel, varnish. By the way, not many German-made typewriters of those years had the “Q1” mark, that is, the highest quality – as far as I know, they were “Erika-10” and “Kolibri”, but the rest were marked with the signs “S”, “1”, “2” as quality decreases.

By: Ron Davis

Ron Davis — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 18:54:52 +0000

I was the caretaker of a Kolibri for only a short while. Avocaddo-green, American keyboard. I absolutely loved the delicate precision of the machine, but had to pass it on to another owner.
It was too attuned to European use, with a non-Pica and non-Elite typeface, and a platen that is a smidge too narrow for a standard American #10 envelope. :- (

By: J Hardy Carroll

J Hardy Carroll — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 15:51:50 +0000

I have a Hermes Baby Rocket that I love, but I couldn’t resist picking up a Kolibri from Etsy. I just dig the small typewriters.

By: J Hardy Carroll

J Hardy Carroll — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 15:50:33 +0000

In reply to Simon Green. It is indeed, though with red ink!

By: J Hardy Carroll

J Hardy Carroll — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 15:49:04 +0000

In reply to Simon Green. It is indeed the typewriter he used, but with red ink.

By: Daniel Marleau

Daniel Marleau — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 14:06:19 +0000

In reply to Jack Bloom. Gotta hand it to you, wow, that's quite a rummaging operation.

By: Jack Bloom

Jack Bloom — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 17:48:59 +0000

I have two Kolibri’s, built one day apart from one another. Found on opposites sides of the Earth from one another. Both the ‘maroon red’, if you will. One was found uncovered in a burnt out building in St. Petersburg Russia, 1997. The other, in its case, in a bedroom closet of an abandoned home in St. Johnsbury Vermont, 2018.
I’ve been (with permission) rummaging through burnt out or degraded industrial/office buildings and abandoned homes for 35 years now. I spent two years refurbishing the Kolibri found in Russia and the one from Vermont is pristine.
I still have them both, still use them both. One is at my cabin, the other, sitting right here next to my MacBook.
They’re both Qwerty’s and absolutely delicious.

By: Jack bloom

Jack bloom — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 17:41:34 +0000

In reply to Jim. That is a coding typewriter for various European countries, in their libraries.

By: Typewritings 06: The Art of Showing Up - Andrea Hunter Studio

Typewritings 06: The Art of Showing Up - Andrea Hunter Studio — Wed, 18 May 2022 20:12:31 +0000

[…] Typed on DIY coffee-dyed grid refill paper with my 1950’s Groma Kolibri. […]