Merging Geekiness

As I mentioned in the previous post, I've been a typewriter enthusiast and collector for a few years now.  One of the first machines I added to my collection after my grandfather's Corona Standard is another one from Smith Corona, a Clipper model from 1947.  One of the reasons I was drawn to the machine was because it features a name and logo taken from the famous Pan American Clipper flying boats that were used before WWII in the early days of commercial aviation.  The most famous of those was the Boeing B314 Clipper, a truly amazing and beautiful airplane.

I first became aware of the Boeing B314 when I was a little kid and I ended up getting a collection of cards that featured historical aircraft, with a photo on the front and description and history on the back.  I thumbed through that stack of cards endlessly, to the point where I could cite much of the information from memory.  The Clipper was one of the planes featured, and between that card, and my dad talking about seeing the Clippers when he was a young man in NY, I've always been fascinated by them.  I didn't know until recently that those cards were from a boxed set put out by American Heritage and Milton Bradley, but now I know, and I managed to find a complete set in the original box.

Another part of my early interest in aviation included models, much like many other young people.  One particular series of models I really liked were Bachmann's Mini-Plane series, which were tiny, fully assembled and painted scale models with remarkable detail for their size.  I suppose part of my interest in them was because they didn't require hours of patience and dedication to build, as they were complete in the box.  I've picked up a few in recent years as a trip down memory lane sort of thing, and one of them is a Boeing B314.

So without further ado or rambling... here are my Clippers - typewriter, card, and model.  Kind of fun to have all three.

1947 Smith-Corona Clipper, Boeing B314 Clipper Mini-Plane, American Heritage cards.

Closeup view, Mini-Plane unboxed, Clipper Card from American Heritage.