1941 Royal Companion #CD-229582

Status: Sightings
Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)
Created: 10-01-2026 at 07:06PM
Last Edit: 10-01-2026 at 07:16PM

Description Hunter 18 Photos 0 Likes  Find on Ebay #AD  Find on Etsy #AD

Description:

2026-OCT-01, Gallery Creation.

This typewriter is from the Mike Meakin collection. Mike was the owner of Abacus Office Machines in Spokane, WA, which he started in 1961. Mike retired in 1992, leaving the operation of the business to his children. In addition to running a successful office machine business, Mike was an avid typewriter and adding machine collector, whose collection grew to over 450 machines over time. Mike passed away in 2025, and his children are now gradually selling off his collection. His daughter, Trudy, has graciously allowed me to create TWDB galleries for Mike's machines, to add to our knowledge base.

This is a nice-looking Royal Companion portable, listed on eBay today, 10-1-2026. The TWDB serial number list for Royal portables does not seem consistent, but looking at the galleries for other Royal Companions, it becomes pretty clear that the likely manufacture date for this one is 1941. This is the 63rd Meakin gallery that I have created for TWDB, and it comes with a surprise: an image of Mike Meakin himself, who collected all these machines, and for whom I am thankful for the opportunity to share these images with the TWDB community.

Typeface Specimen:

Links:

• Previous Meakin gallery, Underwood 4-Bank portable #4B73289 (1927)

Photos:

Front, low-angle view, out of case.

Front, low-angle view, in case.

Front close-up, raised cover.

Touch Control selector.

Typebars - pica typeface.

Paper table decal.

Right broadside view.

Aft view.

Left broadside view.

Forward left quadrant, out of case, higher-angle view.

Forward left quadrant, lower-angle view, out of case.

Forward left, in front of case.

Case front.

Case back.

Underside.

Serial number.

eBay main listing page.

Mike Meakin.

Hunter: Brian Decker (bkdecker66)

Brian Decker's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]

Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 6861

My interest in typewriters started in 1997, when I was in graduate school at the University of Georgia. I purchased and read Darryl Rehr's book, joined ETC, and started reaching out to known collectors. I had several email interchanges with Richard Polt dating from that period. I also bought some of my first machines from Bob Aubert, and visited him at his home twice. After marriage and relocation to New England, I continued visiting antique shops and eBay, until other priorities put my typewriter hobby on hiatus around 2008.

In late 2024, I started up again, working on my machines and having some of them serviced professionally by New England Typewriter (NET) LLC (Merrimack, NH), until they closed their doors in December of 2025. Since mid-2025, I have been adding to my collection again, first with a Hermes 3000 purchase from NET, then with various auctions and purchases on eBay, when I find something that catches my eye.