Very Rare And Neat Vintage Empire Aristocrat Portable Typewriter In Original Case

Very rare and neat vintage Empire Aristocrat portable typewriter in original carry case                               By British Typewriters Ltd.  West Bromwich, England                          Approx 1950's                                    In a well cared for condition though it needs a good service.                         Untested but seems it is working order ??

Empire Aristocrat portables are Hermes Baby clones, made in England under licence agreement agreement. The manufacturer was British Typewriters Ltd in West Bromwich, England.

The first version of the Hermes Baby was produced as Empire portable from 1936 to 1948, with a hiatus between 1940 and 1945. When bombing of the factory and the subsequent war effort of British Typewriters Ltd stalled production. Name variants are The Baby Empire, Empire Service Model, Baby Empire de lux.  production resumed in 1946.

Only in 1948 British Typewriters Ltd started to produce the second Hermes Baby model with it's characteristic gull-wings and which had been in production in Switzerland since 1940. (Jubilee model) The post war production would be marketed under the name of Empire Aristocrat.

In 1958 British Typewriters Ltd was taken over by Smith-Corona Marchant.  Production of the Empire portables continued for some time under the new owners but was phased out in 1960, thus ending the production of the Hermes Baby in England in it's 25th year.

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