Sabb
1926 - 1931
S.A Brevetta Brassa
Crema, Italy
The name, Sabb, is an acronym for its Italian manufacturer, S.A. Brevetta Brassa. It was the successor to the Juventa, which was produced by S.A. Industria Dattilografia in 1922, also an Italian maker. My personal opinion is that Sabbs are obvious copies of the Corona No.3 but without the folding mechanism. It wouldn't be unfathomable since several other manufacturers have also tried to copy the Corona, like The Fox No.1 Portable and Uarda. In fact, when I had the typewriter in front of me for the first time I tried to see if the carriage would fold... it didn't.
S.A. Industria Dattilografia changed its name to S.A. Brevetta Brassa in 1926 and that's when the Juventa morphed into the Sabb. Sales offices for the Sabb were in Milan while all of the manufacturing was completed out a huge factory located in Crema, Italy between Santa Maria Avenue and Mulini Street.
The Sabb was a frontstrike typewriter with a double-shift, three-row keyboard that typed a total of 84 characters. It was very lightweight and very portable. Though it was a nice machine aesthetically, some books have rightfully labeled it as a "cheapie" primarily because the type segment was constructed of a very soft, fragile metal which is often found with missing pieces today.
While the Juventa was rebranded for various markets under a slew of names, such as the Ardita, Fidat, Merkur, Agar, Agar-Baby, Sabaudia, Portia, Stafford Portable and Diadema, the Sabb was rebranded with just one, the Mercurcy. I should note that there may be one or two names variants that are yet unknown to me.
In 1931 the Sabb company would reorganize into the Everest typewriter company. The old Juventa/Sabb design was discontinued and replaced by a more traditional portable typewriter. Everest stayed in business until 1962 when it was fully absorbed by the Olivetti Typewriter Company. Olivetti would opt to terminate production of the Everest brand immediately and use the factory to produce Olivetti brand products. Olivetti kept that factory operating for 30 more years. Then, in 1992, despite large protests from its 1,200 employees, the factory closed permanently. The vast walled complex that once was the factory stands to this day.
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