Alba-Antares - Typewriter - 1960-1970

Alba – an ultra-compact portable typewriter with its original case, Italian production from the late 1960s / early 1970s. An object that belongs to that evolutionary phase when industrial design reduces, optimizes, and personalizes a device that until then was tied to fixed professional contexts.

This example stands out for a concrete, immediately perceptible feature: an almost perfectly square structure, about 25 x 25 x 11 cm, weighing around 3.2 kg. A rare configuration, especially when compared with contemporaneous portable models, generally wider and laid out horizontally. Here the design concentrates, compresses, and yields a dense, balanced, intelligently engineered object. It doesn’t take up space; it organizes it.

The mechanics are entirely traditional, with metallic hammers and inked ribbon. This means authentic operation, direct response to keystrokes, and, above all, maintainability over time—an element increasingly sought after in collecting contexts. The short carriage contributes to faster, more controlled, almost immediate typing, while the full keyboard with European characters guarantees full usability.

As indicated in the original materials, the model is also born for didactic and domestic use, but with technical foundations derived from office machinery, thus with real build standards. This dual nature makes it particularly interesting today: accessible in design, yet solid in construction.

A distinctive feature is the original rigid case with a tartan covering, designed as an integral part of the system. Not a container, but a functional extension of the object. The inner structure is calibrated to hold the machine precisely, protecting it and making it truly portable.

Also present is original multilingual documentation. In particular, there is a reference to Antares S.p.A. – Milan, Via Serbelloni 14, an Italian industrial entity active in the production and distribution of typewriters and mechanical office systems in the postwar period. Antares represents a less-known but significant piece of the Italian mechanical writing supply chain, alongside the big names, contributing to the spread of compact, accessible solutions without sacrificing build quality.

Original manual included inside.