Olivetti Valentine Typewriter • Red Portable w/Original Case, Manuals • Pica
$739.00
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The Typewriter Mechanic
OLIVETTI VALENTINE
Iconic Red Design • Standard Pica Typeface • Original Carrying Case
The Valentine was never especially interested in behaving like office equipment.
Bright red, unapologetically plastic, and designed to travel in a matching molded shell, it arrived at the end of the 1960s looking less like a piece of business machinery than something meant to be carried onto a train, dropped beside a stack of records, or left conspicuously on a very modern desk.
Designed for Olivetti by Ettore Sottsass and Perry A. King, the Valentine became one of the twentieth century’s most recognizable typewriters precisely because it refused the visual language of the office. The mechanical heart remained recognizably Olivetti. Everything surrounding it was treated as design.
This example retains the combination that makes the Valentine so satisfying as an object: the vivid red body, black keyboard, contrasting ribbon-spool covers, matching carrying case, and original paperwork. Better yet, it remains a typewriter rather than merely a design artifact. Put paper in it and the whole idea still works.
The Machine
THE VALENTINE
Introduced by Olivetti in 1969, the Valentine took the company’s long tradition of exceptionally considered industrial design and pushed it somewhere younger, louder, and less formal. Its exposed red shell, compact proportions, and distinctive carrying system made portability part of the machine’s personality rather than merely a practical requirement.
The result became a genuine design icon, represented in major museum and design collections and still immediately recognizable more than half a century later. Its reputation, however, can obscure an important fact: beneath all that red is a real manual typewriter, intended to be used.
More Than the Color
AN OLIVETTI DESIGN ICON
The brilliance of the Valentine is not simply that someone painted a typewriter red. Sottsass and King treated the entire object — machine, case, handle, controls, and color — as a single visual idea.
The black keyboard sits almost graphically against the bright shell. Small orange-red details appear beneath the ribbon cover. The carrying case completes the form rather than disguising it. Even packed away, the Valentine remains unmistakably itself.
It is difficult to separate the Valentine’s mechanical function from its place in design history, and there is no particular reason to try. This is a machine for someone who wants both.
PICA TYPEFACE
This example carries a traditional Pica-style typeface: clear, comfortably proportioned, and well suited to everyday writing. The Valentine hardly requires an exotic typeface to establish its identity; the restrained lettering provides a pleasing counterpoint to the extraordinary machine producing it.
From the Bench
BENCH NOTES
This machine has been prepared for sale and tested through normal typing, with its principal writing functions operating properly before shipment. The keyboard, carriage, paper feed, spacing, and ribbon system have been evaluated in ordinary use. A ribbon is included with purchase.
AT THE KEYBOARD
The Valentine retains the quick, compact character associated with Olivetti’s portable machines. The keyboard is light and responsive, the stroke comparatively short, and the carriage return pleasantly easy to move.
It is perfectly capable of letters, journaling, notes, and regular creative work. That may be the Valentine’s best trick: a machine famous enough to sit in a design collection remains entirely happy producing ordinary sentences at an ordinary desk.
COSMETIC CONDITION
The red body retains excellent visual presence, with rich color and a glossy surface that catches the light beautifully. The black keyboard provides strong contrast, the Olivetti and Valentine markings remain clear, and the machine presents exceptionally well as a complete object.
Small marks and signs of age or handling may be visible on close inspection, as expected of a vintage machine. The photographs are intentionally detailed and form an important part of the condition description, so please review them closely.
CASE & INCLUDED ITEMS
* Olivetti Valentine manual typewriter
* Matching molded "bucket" carrying case
* Olivetti paperwork / manuals shown in the photographs
* Cleaning brush shown in the photographs
* A ribbon is included with purchase
The carrying case is an especially important part of the Valentine’s original design and is included here with the machine. Please review the detailed photographs for its cosmetic condition, along with the included paperwork and accessories.
TYPED SAMPLE
Curious how this machine types? I’m happy to provide a short typed sample by request — a sentence or two of your choosing, within reason — so you can see the actual imprint, alignment, and ribbon performance before purchase.
SHIPPING
The machine will be immobilized, packed with serious care for modern parcel shipping, and fully insured. Shipping is buyer-paid via UPS.
A Note About Vintage Machines
PLEASE READ BEFORE PURCHASE
This is a vintage mechanical typewriter, carefully tested and described according to its condition before shipment. It will be packed with serious care and fully insured. Because these machines are often 50–100 years old, minor adjustment may occasionally be needed after transit, even when properly packed. Slight alignment variance, ribbon behavior, or small mechanical quirks can be part of vintage typewriter ownership. Please review the photos and condition notes closely, and feel free to ask questions before purchase.
The Typewriter Mechanic
Real machines. Real stories.
Olivetti Valentine Typewriter • Red Portable w/Original Case, Manuals • Pica
$739.00
OLIVETTI VALENTINE
Iconic Red Design • Standard Pica Typeface • Original Carrying Case
The Valentine was never especially interested in behaving like office equipment.
Bright red, unapologetically plastic, and designed to travel in a matching molded shell, it arrived at the end of the 1960s looking less like a piece of business machinery than something meant to be carried onto a train, dropped beside a stack of records, or left conspicuously on a very modern desk.
Designed for Olivetti by Ettore Sottsass and Perry A. King, the Valentine became one of the twentieth century’s most recognizable typewriters precisely because it refused the visual language of the office. The mechanical heart remained recognizably Olivetti. Everything surrounding it was treated as design.
This example retains the combination that makes the Valentine so satisfying as an object: the vivid red body, black keyboard, contrasting ribbon-spool covers, matching carrying case, and original paperwork. Better yet, it remains a typewriter rather than merely a design artifact. Put paper in it and the whole idea still works.
The Machine
THE VALENTINE
Introduced by Olivetti in 1969, the Valentine took the company’s long tradition of exceptionally considered industrial design and pushed it somewhere younger, louder, and less formal. Its exposed red shell, compact proportions, and distinctive carrying system made portability part of the machine’s personality rather than merely a practical requirement.
The result became a genuine design icon, represented in major museum and design collections and still immediately recognizable more than half a century later. Its reputation, however, can obscure an important fact: beneath all that red is a real manual typewriter, intended to be used.
More Than the Color
AN OLIVETTI DESIGN ICON
The brilliance of the Valentine is not simply that someone painted a typewriter red. Sottsass and King treated the entire object — machine, case, handle, controls, and color — as a single visual idea.
The black keyboard sits almost graphically against the bright shell. Small orange-red details appear beneath the ribbon cover. The carrying case completes the form rather than disguising it. Even packed away, the Valentine remains unmistakably itself.
It is difficult to separate the Valentine’s mechanical function from its place in design history, and there is no particular reason to try. This is a machine for someone who wants both.
PICA TYPEFACE
This example carries a traditional Pica-style typeface: clear, comfortably proportioned, and well suited to everyday writing. The Valentine hardly requires an exotic typeface to establish its identity; the restrained lettering provides a pleasing counterpoint to the extraordinary machine producing it.
From the Bench
BENCH NOTES
This machine has been prepared for sale and tested through normal typing, with its principal writing functions operating properly before shipment. The keyboard, carriage, paper feed, spacing, and ribbon system have been evaluated in ordinary use. A ribbon is included with purchase.
AT THE KEYBOARD
The Valentine retains the quick, compact character associated with Olivetti’s portable machines. The keyboard is light and responsive, the stroke comparatively short, and the carriage return pleasantly easy to move.
It is perfectly capable of letters, journaling, notes, and regular creative work. That may be the Valentine’s best trick: a machine famous enough to sit in a design collection remains entirely happy producing ordinary sentences at an ordinary desk.
COSMETIC CONDITION
The red body retains excellent visual presence, with rich color and a glossy surface that catches the light beautifully. The black keyboard provides strong contrast, the Olivetti and Valentine markings remain clear, and the machine presents exceptionally well as a complete object.
Small marks and signs of age or handling may be visible on close inspection, as expected of a vintage machine. The photographs are intentionally detailed and form an important part of the condition description, so please review them closely.
CASE & INCLUDED ITEMS
* Olivetti Valentine manual typewriter
* Matching molded "bucket" carrying case
* Olivetti paperwork / manuals shown in the photographs
* Cleaning brush shown in the photographs
* A ribbon is included with purchase
The carrying case is an especially important part of the Valentine’s original design and is included here with the machine. Please review the detailed photographs for its cosmetic condition, along with the included paperwork and accessories.
TYPED SAMPLE
Curious how this machine types? I’m happy to provide a short typed sample by request — a sentence or two of your choosing, within reason — so you can see the actual imprint, alignment, and ribbon performance before purchase.
SHIPPING
The machine will be immobilized, packed with serious care for modern parcel shipping, and fully insured. Shipping is buyer-paid via UPS.
A Note About Vintage Machines
PLEASE READ BEFORE PURCHASE
This is a vintage mechanical typewriter, carefully tested and described according to its condition before shipment. It will be packed with serious care and fully insured. Because these machines are often 50–100 years old, minor adjustment may occasionally be needed after transit, even when properly packed. Slight alignment variance, ribbon behavior, or small mechanical quirks can be part of vintage typewriter ownership. Please review the photos and condition notes closely, and feel free to ask questions before purchase.
The Typewriter Mechanic
Real machines. Real stories.