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John Cameron Swayze and the COLE-STEEL
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by Will Davis
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Collectors of modern (ie post-war) portables have few machines in their realm which can be attributed conclusively to a famous author, newsman, screenwriter, et al. Here's one that is.
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At left is the machine in the condition in which it was received, namely worn looking and with some surface erosion, which would appear to have been due to a tobacco smoke environment. Difficult to see, but present, is the complete lack of paint on the carriage by the right platen knob, indicating very frequent and heavy use. Most important is the fact that although it's slightly rough looking, the machine is in fantastic mechanical condition, as one would also expect. Interesting too is the deliberate overriding of the ribbon selector to stay in the 'non stencil' position, as well as what is likely a non-original, newer replacement platen.
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The machine has three tags applied; two typewritten (one each on machine and on the case) and one handwritten luggage tag. These all contain the following: John Cameron Swayze 491 Riversville Rd. Greenwich, Conn. USA. Even with this, the seller couldn't absolutely confirm the history; the person from whom he'd gotten it had owned it for about ten years, and swore that it was. One thing I knew was that John Cameron Swayze owned one, as he appeared in magazine advertisements for the COLE-STEEL; a section of one is seen at right, advertising the '1958 COLE PORTABLE' as it was sometimes called.
In the ad, he says "My Cole Portable has travelled all around the world with me... In any language, Cole's the best."
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Naturally, for his statement to have been true, Mr. Swayze would have to have owned a very early COLE-STEEL; thus, I was looking to discover a very low serial number on the machine when it was received. This proved to be the case. The machine's serial number is 2-24954 which is not only the lowest known for a COLE-STEEL but also for any ABC-variant in the hands of a collector, making it the oldest known of its heritage.
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By the time this machine appeared in the mid-50's, Swayze was already a famous newsman and was also the best known television network news anchor, appearing on the Camel News Caravan show, among others. His was truly a household name; and although Kenneth Banghart and Quentin Reynolds also appeared in this ad, Swayze was by far the best known person to endorse the 'COLE PORTABLE.' His well-known Timex ads helped keep him familiar to millions into the 1970's.
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Inspecting the deteriorating leather case (more about which later) I discovered an item not mentioned in the auction; the original owner's manual was still in the case. Its front cover is pictured at left. It is further proof of the early age of this machine, as the rear simply says "Cole Steel Equipment Co. Inc." As we know, this company sold metal office desks, safes, and more, and set up a subsidiary company shortly after distribution began to handle the typewriters. This was "Cole Steel Office Machines Inc." and was in existence by the time of the ad from which the above picture of Mr. Swayze is taken; this name is also on the back of most COLE-STEEL manuals. Thus this machine predates setup of the subsidiary company.
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Above is the small code from the rear of the manual, reading "Printed in Western Germany SGA 8002 COLE mt 5.57." I assume this last part to indicate printing of May 1957, a good guess since the only known serial info about | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||