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Newspaper piece on collecting typewriters
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Post# 1000580   7/17/2018 at 19:23 (2,081 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)        

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I found this local newspaper piece on typewriter collecting interesting.

 

Quote:

 

I had no intention of becoming a typewriter collector. None. Yes I wanted one, but collecting them? That’s crazy. The portable models are 10-15 pounds, desktops over 30—who collects something like that?

 

Another quote:

 

In less than three months I had gone from laughing at crazy typewriter collectors to being one, and I had to ask myself why.

 

www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/e...





Post# 1000590 , Reply# 1   7/17/2018 at 21:11 (2,081 days old) by IowaBear (Cedar Rapids, IA)        

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I'm of the age (50) where I remember typewriters going out and PCs and word processors coming in.

 

I got a dot-matrix printer for my Atari 800 in 1983.  It wasn't great quality but I did all my school papers on it.  We still took a typing class in high-school (on IBM Selectric models with the rotating element.)  But at the same time, the school was just starting to offer word processing classes on the first IBM PCs with WordStar software.  (Forget that WYSIWYG nonsense, it was control-characters all the way.)

 

We also had a typewriter in the house, an Olivetti model.  I just looked it up, I had no idea it was from the late 1960s.  My mother must have gotten it used from someone, there's no way we would have had a new one that nice.  I remember using it to type labels for diskettes and cassette tapes when I wanted them to look neat.  It struck me as a quiet, high-quality machine.

 

I still keep a small mono laser printer ready to go, although it get used less and less these days.  Once every couple months if it's lucky.

 


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Post# 1000597 , Reply# 2   7/17/2018 at 21:55 (2,081 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

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We had a few typewriters that I can recall but the details are hazy.  I think there was a Remington that dad may have gotten from home.  It may be the one I saw at my aunt's house recently when she asked me to change the ribbon on a SC (she has three typewriters in her office room, one is a more modern "word processor" type of unit).

I recall dad buying one at a parish picnic auction many years ago, maybe a Royal?

He bought an Adler manual when I took typing in HS.  Not sure if they still have it.

I had two years of typing in HS.  Placed either 1st or 3rd (sad that I don't recall, LOL) at UIL district, then not so well at the regional meet.  Used a Selectric for competition.

I had both the Atari 1025 dot-matrix printer and the 1027 letter-quality model (which was very slow and clunky).  The 1025 was also slow in that it was uni-directional.


Post# 1000598 , Reply# 3   7/17/2018 at 21:57 (2,081 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)        

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I was a teenager in the 80s. I first encountered word processing in 8th grade, and I was interested in reading an article about how to get started with word processing for $500 IIRC (using a Commodore C64 as an example) when I was in 11th grade. I was able to use an Apple IIe at school to word process stuff starting in 12th grade. But I was stuck with typewriters at home. My parents had a Smith-Corona electric (bought new in the 70s), but, by 10th grade, I'd acquired a couple of manual typewriters at yard sales (a Jessica Fletcher-style Royal and an even older Underwood).

 

Then I got my first computer...and pretty much lost interest in anything but word processing...

 


Post# 1000600 , Reply# 4   7/17/2018 at 22:02 (2,081 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)        

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I remember using it to type labels for diskettes and cassette tapes when I wanted them to look neat.

 

I also remember liking the neatness of a typewritten label.

 

I still keep a small mono laser printer ready to go, although it get used less and less these days.

 

I mostly use a cheap, ancient Canon inkjet at the moment that must be 20+ years old... Most printing isn't that important. I sometimes use an old Apple LaserWriter (early/mid 1990s IIRC)...but I only use it when quality matters. I only have cables to support it on an older Macintosh. It's a pain printing--partly because the file needs to be moved over on a floppy disk, and partly because the files need to a format that works for an old OS running on old hardware.

 


Post# 1000603 , Reply# 5   7/17/2018 at 22:34 (2,081 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

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I’ve owned many typewriters over the years, beginning with the Underwood #5 that my aunt, who was a HS typing teacher, gave me for my 11th birthday. From as early as I can remember I loved typewriters. My father was an attorney, and every Saturday he would take one of us kids with him to his office while he caught up on work. We were given free reign and could play with all the office machines. It was great fun.

I was given a new Royal Safari portable for my 13th birthday, but it was nowhere as good a typewriter as the old Underwood.

I haven’t owned a typewriter now since 2005, when I got rid of an Underwood Portable that was about a 1950-51 model.

I have to admit, using the computer has spoiled me! If I make and error, the correction is SO MUCH easier! Back when I took typing in 1966 we only had erasers, and it was a real hassle. Then we got white out, and next the corrrection tape, which was really a boon!

I was still using carbon paper until about 2003 when we got our first iMac and a Canon printer. I’ll bet most people now wouldn’t even know what to do with carbon paper! Or that cc, stands for “carbon copy”,LOL. I told a young women this once, and her eyes got so wide as she said, “really!”

Back in the old days, before computers, and even photo copiers, a good typist was worth their weight in gold. It wasn’t uncommon for a pool typist to have to make 5 carbon copies at a time. You damn well had better have been very accurate, because making a correction to an original and 5 cc’s with an eraser was an onerous process!

My Mom worked for a country doctor in the 60’s after my Dad died. She was his office and clerical assistant. The doctor dictated his patient notes on a dictaphone and Mom would sit at the typewriter, first an Adler manual, and later one of the first IBM Selectrics, wearing headphones with her cigerette in the ashtray next to the typewriter and transcribe all the days patient notes. She was very fast and efficient. She did this, ran the front office, answered the phone, assisted the doctor with minor procedures, took the xrays and did the ekg’s, kind of a “Jackie of all trades”. I was very proud of her, she had a great work ethic, never missed a day of work, and loved what she did.

Eddie


Post# 1000609 , Reply# 6   7/17/2018 at 23:06 (2,081 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)        

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I have to admit, using the computer has spoiled me! If I make and error, the correction is SO MUCH easier!

 

I know that feeling...

 

When I got my first computer, I thought I'd continue using the typewriter for some things. I suppose I did...but those some things ended up being trivial (e.g., typing the address on an envelope). The convenience of word processing quickly spoiled me, even for very short/non-critical writing.

 

I even have to wonder if I could even use a typewriter (as I once did) to write something from scratch (apart from things like envelopes). I'm so used to being able to quickly edit/change.

 

Back when I took typing in 1966 we only had erasers, and it was a real hassle. Then we got white out, and next the corrrection tape, which was really a boon!

 

I remember my HS typing teacher claiming that erasers were the only correct way of fixing mistakes. This was in the 1980s. I got an eraser...but quickly got lured over to the dark side of correction strips, which were so much easier.

 

My parents loved Liquid Paper, but one problem with the stuff was that it could end up on the typewriter itself if one wasn't careful 100% of the time.

 

You damn well had better have been very accurate, because making a correction to an original and 5 cc’s with an eraser was an onerous process!

 

Or worse yet there were times when apparently mistakes were unacceptable. I was told of a situation where a dissertation needed to be 100% perfect--and if there were typos, the page had to be completely retyped from scratch.


Post# 1000613 , Reply# 7   7/18/2018 at 00:18 (2,081 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O )        

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I have about 30 typewriters.. They've become quite collectible and prices have skyrocketed online and in antique stores but there are still plenty of decent machines to be had for next to nothing or really cheap. This Tom Hanks movie documentary sort of started it all . He's a typewriter collector .




CLICK HERE TO GO TO petek's LINK


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Post# 1000614 , Reply# 8   7/18/2018 at 00:23 (2,081 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O )        

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darn I had pictures of all of them but when I did a puter reboot a couple of weeks ago they must have got deleted

Post# 1000618 , Reply# 9   7/18/2018 at 01:32 (2,080 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)        

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I've picked up a few typewriters over the past few years.  One was a barely used Corona portable from about 1940, found at the Salvation Army for $10 before prices for these machines began to spike.  I gave that one to a friend who actually uses it.

 

Then I found a nice Smith Corona portable that typed in script.  I had an aunt who typed all of her recipes on cards in script.  That one was cheap too, so I grabbed it.

 

I stopped after I brought an Olivetti home.  It's a low use portable, but it's big.  It includes a soft pad to place under it, two covers, and a cleaning/tool kit.  Its case is a lot bigger than the SCM that sits next to it.  I was hoping it would have the big schoolbook type in pica, but alas, it's elite, with some sort of pedestrian "courier" type.   Regardless, I agree with Jim that Olivetti put out some quality machines.

 

I brought both of those machines with me in our recent move.  Why I don't know.  I'm so spoiled by a keyboard that I'd never go back to typing.  Just the key travel on a manual typewriter is enough to make one tired, and I don't think they even make erasable bond typing paper anymore.


Post# 1000619 , Reply# 10   7/18/2018 at 01:43 (2,080 days old) by robbinsandmyers (Conn)        

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I still have an Underwood Standard No 5 typewriter thats like new I found at the curb 30 years ago. It needs new feet.

Post# 1000632 , Reply# 11   7/18/2018 at 06:53 (2,080 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))        

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Like to find a home for my Smith Corona memory-correcting electric.  Shoot, I don't even own a printer and for the most part don't miss it, so never use the S-C again. 

 

Shame, not so much as a scuff on it except one case handle let go.  No sign of wear, not even dusty, whole life in the case.  Not sure who I'd trust to pack & ship it.  Weighs around 40#.


Post# 1000636 , Reply# 12   7/18/2018 at 07:19 (2,080 days old) by iej (.... )        

I learnt to type in school but with Mavis Beacon on a classic Mac.

The only typewriter I’ve ever seen in actual use was in a doctor’s office and not all that many years ago.
It was one of those big old electric IBM machines - an old secretary taking dictation on peddle operated dictaphone - half moon glasses, typing away at huge speed and pausing every so often when a patient approached her window to give them that kind of upidy, glaring response that only medical administrators know how to do!


Post# 1000668 , Reply# 13   7/18/2018 at 13:20 (2,080 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)        

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I love the sound of an IBM Selectric.  It was on a Selectric that I was introduced to the crisp copy of  disposable ribbons that a cloth ribbon could never achieve, and you can't beat the versatility of being able to change the typeface.  If I ever come across a correcting model in working order, I might grab it.  Much as I like the compact size of the early models, correcting would be a must.  I'm too spoiled by keyboarding to type with any level of accuracy anymore.

 

The last thing I ever used a typewriter for (a tiny Brother portable from the early '70s) was jukebox title strips.  I had to get perforated sheets of strips from Tower Records in San Francisco, and when I was down to the last strip, it was nearly impossible to keep it properly aligned to type on.  Some typewritten strips survive in my Rock-Ola, but these days I can pull up a web page, enter the title and artist, then hit "print" and I'm done.



CLICK HERE TO GO TO RP2813's LINK

Post# 1000679 , Reply# 14   7/18/2018 at 17:39 (2,080 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area)        

When I was a kid we had an old Underwood from the 40's that my mom had got from someplace she worked - I'm thinking the phone co. in MS. We had it until around 1991 when we sold it.

I got a SCM Smith-Corona manual portable for Christmas - I think it was '71. I still have it at storage.

For Christmas of '94, my parents bought me a Smith-Corona word processor, which was the last present I got from my mom, as she passed away the next May. I also have it in storage.

I took 2 years of typing in HS - had an excellent teacher for the first, and a terrible one for the second. Good thing I learned a lot from the first!


Post# 1000683 , Reply# 15   7/18/2018 at 18:30 (2,080 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)        

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I have an old Smith-Corona portable in the attic and took 2 years of typing in high school. Problem with newspapers now, since I worked for one for 25 years, is most got their paper now from Canadian mills, since all the US ones have closed. There is one newsprint tariff free in Washington still operating. But almost all of the dozens of paper mills in this state are gone. I remember every reporter banging out a story to be printed on cut up newsprint on their typewriter.

Post# 1000782 , Reply# 16   7/19/2018 at 20:12 (2,079 days old) by countryguy (Astorville, ON, Canada)        

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I got the Sears version of the Smith Corona portable when I was in grade 9 in 1973. I used it all through high school for all of my essays, etc. I still have it but have not used it in at least 35 years.

Gary


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Post# 1000783 , Reply# 17   7/19/2018 at 20:35 (2,079 days old) by IowaBear (Cedar Rapids, IA)        

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I just looked and found some ads for that typewriter from 1973.  $170 to $180.  Would be like $1000 today!

 

Darn nice gift I would say and awesome that you still have it.


Post# 1000786 , Reply# 18   7/19/2018 at 20:44 (2,079 days old) by countryguy (Astorville, ON, Canada)        

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That typewriter got a lot of use while I was in school and it never gave me any trouble. I think I may have changed the ribbon once.

Post# 1000807 , Reply# 19   7/20/2018 at 07:31 (2,078 days old) by Blackstone (Springfield, Massachusetts)        
Royal Typewriter

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Still have the Royal Typewriter that was used in our store. The BW picture is probably 1960. I cleaned it up; bought one part and a ribbon from Cambridge (Mass.) Typewriter; and lubricated the stuck keys with Kroil (from Kano Labs). Sure feels different typing on this, compared to a computer keyboard.

Sitting at the same desk, too.

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.



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Post# 1000831 , Reply# 20   7/20/2018 at 15:00 (2,078 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)        
Typing Test

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Great Royal story!  Nice machine!

 

For a long time I thought the fox jumped, but then realized he jumps.

 

In my first typing class, it was "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country."  Over and over and over.  Not sure where that came from, as the whole alphabet isn't represented in that one.  Could be that it was so early in the course that we weren't reaching for the outer limits with  P, Q, Z, etc. yet.


Post# 1000892 , Reply# 21   7/21/2018 at 01:03 (2,077 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc)        

Used to use an IBM electri typewriter to type radio station AM transmitter logs in the WPGC days-in Wash DC.One day a mouse buiolt his nest over the night in the type basket--was startling to start the sign on log and a mouse jumping out at you!!!Cleaned out mouse nest and went on.For the FM logs used a Remeinging "ball" typewriter-forgot the model#.The Remington got moved to the studio-then FM logs kept by hand.IBM typewriter died-replaced with a White Royal manual-saw those at newspapers.Then at VOA's newsroom on the mid shift-watched a newsman type out his story on a typewriter just like what I used at WPGC.One other newsman was struggling with his computer.The newsman with his typewriter got his story on the air faster than the man fiddling with the computer.Talked to the typewriter guy-he did used to work in a newspaper newsroom.Hung out in one at one time so watched how those workedOh yes-would take a TYPEWRITER keyboard ANYDAY over this CRAPPY Dell computer keyboard!.

Post# 1001031 , Reply# 22   7/22/2018 at 12:49 (2,076 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O )        

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Remington Rand made a clone of the IBM Selectric ball typewriter under license iirc. It was made in Holland I believe, but memory is shaky.

Post# 1001151 , Reply# 23   7/23/2018 at 13:08 (2,075 days old) by kevin313 (Detroit, Michigan)        

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Typewriters can't be hacked!

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Post# 1001155 , Reply# 24   7/23/2018 at 13:28 (2,075 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)        

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I loved the way you used a typewriter to post on this, Kevin!


Post# 1001158 , Reply# 25   7/23/2018 at 13:41 (2,075 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)        

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As I mentioned above, I acquired and used manual typewriters in the 1980s, just as word processing was taking over, and manual typewriters mostly faded away. I can't remember all the whys and wherefores, but I'm sure one selling point was how cheap manual typewriters were at yard sales... For a few dollars, I was able to have my own typewriter, rather than using my parents'.

 

The funny thing, though, was that I liked the manual typewriters better. The manual typewriter required force to operate the key, and it seemed like that cut down dramatically on typos vs my parents' sensitive electric.

 

Of course, the fact that the manual typewriter was old, obsolete technology probably appealed, too...

 

Strangely, though, I've got an electric now like my parents had, and I find it less overly sensitive. Maybe it's sample to sample variation. Maybe it's just that my fingers have gotten too used to low effort computer keyboards. (Interestingly, I don't really like keyboards that take a lot of effort. IBM M series are popular in some circles--high precision, and built to last more or less forever--but they take more force than I like.) Maybe it's also a factor of getting older--I probably have less energy than I did when I was 15...


Post# 1001159 , Reply# 26   7/23/2018 at 13:58 (2,075 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)        
Distraction free writing

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Typewriters certainly can eliminate the distractions of the Internet!

 

There is actually writing software out there that is intended to create a distraction free environment. Software probably varies, but the programs often take the entire screen over. They also may have nothing but a blank screen covered with your words.

 

One such program that might be worth mentioning is FocusWriter. It includes an option that will apparently make typewriter sounds.

 

gottcode.org/focuswriter/...

 

Another approach is using an older computer that is too old for the Internet. With that approach, one has the plusses of word processing, without the problems of Internet distractions. With the right choice of software, a file can be easily moved to a newer system and put into a format for the modern world (e.g., Word compatible).


Post# 1001230 , Reply# 27   7/24/2018 at 00:23 (2,075 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc)        

To me the typewriter keyboard is better engineered than the flat computer keyboards of today.The Dell keyboard I use right now-the keys are too big,too closely spaced.The slant of the real typewriter keyboards makes it easier to type-and how many old time typists had carpel tunnel syndrome?Seems tha is a modern ailment that wasn't a problem in older days.


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