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1936 Remington Model 5 Serial # V871122 1936 Remington Model 5 typewriter, Serial # V871122 Mark Schrad's 1936 Remington Model 5 typewriter. 2024-02-08 From the Virtual Typewriter Collection of Mark Schrad: 1936 Remington Model 5 Serial # V871122 I got this cream-colored Remington 5 with the color-coded learning keyboard in July of 2021 in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, but the backstory to it is even more intriguing.

The seller informed me that this machine originally belong to his father-in-law, Nick Obradovich, who was already in the US Army before WWII broke out. He was hastily dispatched to North Africa in 1940 (i.e. a year BEFORE Pearl Harbor), and took this machine with him. He fought valiantly in North Africa, and then in Sicily, and then to the Italian mainland.

But what makes this a truly unique story is that Obradovich was apparently present at the execution and subsequent public lynching of the fascist leader Benito Mussolini himself. Apparently it was Obradovich’s job to write-up a report on the horrific events of that day for the US Army, which in all likelihood he did on this machine.

I’d like to do some more sleuthing as to the report in order to help pin-down the provenance. Though the seller did include some military scrip: Italian Lira issued by the Allied military occupation, which his father-in-law subsequently kept with the machine.

On the back of the Lira are listed FDR’s 4 freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

1936 Remington Model 5 #V871122

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Mark Schrad (MLSchrad)
Created: 09-05-2021 at 05:17PM
Last Edit: 02-08-2024 at 08:07AM


Description:

I got this cream-colored Remington 5 with the color-coded learning keyboard in July of 2021 in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, but the backstory to it is even more intriguing.

The seller informed me that this machine originally belong to his father-in-law, Nick Obradovich, who was already in the US Army before WWII broke out. He was hastily dispatched to North Africa in 1940 (i.e. a year BEFORE Pearl Harbor), and took this machine with him. He fought valiantly in North Africa, and then in Sicily, and then to the Italian mainland.

But what makes this a truly unique story is that Obradovich was apparently present at the execution and subsequent public lynching of the fascist leader Benito Mussolini himself. Apparently it was Obradovich’s job to write-up a report on the horrific events of that day for the US Army, which in all likelihood he did on this machine.

I’d like to do some more sleuthing as to the report in order to help pin-down the provenance. Though the seller did include some military scrip: Italian Lira issued by the Allied military occupation, which his father-in-law subsequently kept with the machine.

On the back of the Lira are listed FDR’s 4 freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

Typeface Specimen:

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Hunter: Mark Schrad (MLSchrad)

Mark Schrad's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]

Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 25713

Professor of Political Science and Director of Russian Area Studies at Villanova University. Writes about alcohol politics, Russia, and international law when not refurbishing old typewriters.



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