- Last 7 days
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munk.org munk.org
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1964 NOMDA Blue Book: Olympia Font Styles
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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How to test a typewriter before buying by [[Retrotype]]
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finelineribbon.net finelineribbon.net
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FINE LINE RIBBON MANUFACTURER OF INKED RIBBONS FOR TYPEWRITERS, CALCULATORS, CASH REGISTERS, POS , ATM AND TIME CLOCKS. CONTACT: 972-875-8681 800-527-0354 theresa@finelineribbon.net 2405 N. PRESTON ST. ENNIS, TX 75119
Found via https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-faq.html#q1
Fine Line Ribbon in Ennis, TX, (972) 878-8683,
Ruben Flores likes them for his bulk ribbon
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I tested more than 300 typewriter models & here're the TOP 10. by [[Mr & Mrs Vintage Typewriters]]
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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SHOP TALK!! adjusting type alignment for Torpedo portable typewriters by [[Typewriter Justice]]
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- Jun 2024
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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site.xavier.edu site.xavier.edu
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https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/nabokov.jpeg via https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/typers.html
This photo, similar to others in the Carl Mydans series for LIFE Magazine is surely from his September 1958 photo series, though I couldn't find an original from the LIFE archive.
Nabokov, reading off of index cards in his zettelkasten, dictates to his wife Vera who is typing on what appears to be a 1949 or 1950 Henry Dreyfuss Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter.
Notice metal strip on the back of the typewriter with small rectangular blocks. This is the Royal's tabulator set up which distinguishes the Quiet De Luxe model from the Arrow model.
The body styling of this typewriter changed in 1950 from Dreyfuss' original 1948 design. Because it's light gray it has to be from '49 or '50 as the '48 original was a black body with dark gray highlights and didn't have chrome across the front as this one does in an alternate angle.
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images.google.com images.google.com
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https://images.google.com/hosted/life/2bff56953d14c9d9.html
Nabokov, reflected in a mirror off camera, dictating his writing from index cards to his wife Vera who is typing on what appears to be a 1949 or 1950 Henry Dreyfuss Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter.
Notice the chrome on the front of the machine which is sitting in its bottom case shell.
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images.google.com images.google.com
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https://images.google.com/hosted/life/c835f121c2b6ce79.html
Nabokov dictating his writing from index cards to his wife Vera who is typing on what appears to be a 1949 or 1950 Henry Dreyfuss Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter.
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images.google.com images.google.com
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https://images.google.com/hosted/life/8d0b2f02ac27973e.html
Nabokov dictating his writing from index cards to his wife Vera who is typing on what appears to be a 1949 or 1950 Henry Dreyfuss Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter.
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americanhistory.si.edu americanhistory.si.edu
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https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_1335701
The typewriter used on Murder, She Wrote, starring Angela Landsbury, was a black Royal standard, probably a 1940s KMM.
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The benefits of using a typewriter to write novels and poetry. by [[Classic Typewriter]]
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oztypewriter.blogspot.com oztypewriter.blogspot.com
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Carl Sundberg’s European-made Remington Portable Typewriters by [[Robert Messenger]]
Tags
- Tom Tjaarda
- typewriters of authors
- Powel Crosley
- Cycolac
- Alfons Boothby
- read
- Ray Dietrich
- Henry Dreyfuss
- Laird Fortune Covey
- New South Wales Rail Authority
- Maya Stein
- Crosley Hotshot
- Sundberg-Ferar
- Ed Johnson
- Anton Demmel
- John Steinbeck
- Southfield, Michigan
- Ettore Sottsass
- Remington typewriters
- Remington Ten Forty
- Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART)
- Karl Baughman
- Charles Jaworski
- Detroit, Michigan
- industrial design
- Montgomery Ferar
- typewriter design
- Barbie typewriter
- Carl Sundberg
- Philip Stevens
- Royal Oak, Michigan
- Eliot Noyes
- John Tjaarda
- David Chase
- Richard Penney
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tsesaraheverett3.wixsite.com tsesaraheverett3.wixsite.com
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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A Tale of Two Toy Typewriters..... by [[Just My Typewriter]]
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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The Marx Dial Typewriter (and the Trouble with Patents) by Our Own Devices
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munk.org munk.org
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munk.org munk.org
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Smith-Corona (SCM) Font Styles – To Type, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth… by [[Theodore Munk]]
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astrohaus.com astrohaus.com
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David McCullough’s ode to slow (and a tribute to the typewriter) by [[Steve Leveen]] on 2009-12-03
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writingball.blogspot.com writingball.blogspot.com
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One to get rid of<br /> by [[Richard Polt]]
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www.usbtypewriter.com www.usbtypewriter.com
- May 2024
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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Removing the Platen on Mid-Century Olivetti Typewriters. by [[Dr. Typewriter - Venneburg Typewriters]]
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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The MASSIVE Olivetti Linea 98 (1972) by [[Just My Typewriter]]
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typewriterdatabase.com typewriterdatabase.com
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A really nice example of a model from the birth of Remington's Quiet-Riter line. The bulbous styling bears some resemblance to Henry Dreyfuss' Mercury steam locomotive engine from 1938, but the typewriter itself includes modern conveniences such as segment shift and tab set and clear at the keyboard.
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www.midcenturychap.com www.midcenturychap.com
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However, the two additions I’ve made to the collection (what is the collective noun? A carriage of typewriters, perhaps?), have both been a bit special in their own way and both have taught me something new.
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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Typewriter Backing Sheets by [[Joe Van Cleave]]
Backing sheets for typewriters on Meade standard typing paper.
- Construction paper - Joe's favorite
- 4 mil thick polyethylene film
- Thin typing paper
- 20lb resume paper
- 1/64" synthetic rubber sheet
- 168gsm Evolon (polyester and nylon) paper
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munk.org munk.org
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Taming The Tinny Typing Sound of a Brother JP-1 Typewriter (Part 3 – the Finale?) by [[Theodore Munk]]
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munk.org munk.org
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Adjusting Ring & Cylinder on a Brother JP-1 by [[Theodore Munk]]
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I’m certainly happy they decided to trust us to service this delightful QDL. According to the serial number RA-2961306 this machine is from the year 1954.
The anniversary gold plated Royal QDLs included gold plated type points, levers, and even set screws on the platens.
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www.typewriter.wiki www.typewriter.wiki
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https://www.typewriter.wiki/index.php/Main_Page
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www.swintec.com www.swintec.com
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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My first "ultra-portable" (Skyriter 1955) by [[Just My Typewriter]]
55 had an integral cover versus later versions which had bags.
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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Typewriter Video Series - Episode 121: SCM Skyriter by [[Joe Van Cleave]]
Joe likes this better than the Hermes Rocket. Solid ultra portable.
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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Joe Van Cleave has used an index card with his typewriter to hold up the back of his typewriter paper on machines (the Ten Forty, for example) which lack a metal support on the back of the paper table.
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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offountainpenstypewriters.blogspot.com offountainpenstypewriters.blogspot.com
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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Congratulations on that beautiful machine!
Don't listen to the nay-sayers who likely have very different priorities and esthetics. If this is your machine, and you love it, then "own it".
It does look like a standard (as opposed to portable) typewriter. (Standards are often better and more robust typers due to their size and design.) Likely a Model 1 or Model 2, but I don't have specific knowledge beyond a cursory glance at the typewriter database. You can start by looking at examples of machine types and bodies at https://typewriterdatabase.com/smithcorona.86.typewriter-serial-number-database.
From there, the Model 1 says "Electric Serial Numbers Concurrent with Standard", so scroll down the page and see if you can identify a year based on a serial number you should be able to find underneath the hood. You can try https://typewriterdatabase.com/Smith+Corona.Standard.86.bmys, but I don't see any later models there, so perhaps no one has documented one before and you could be the first.
Then start with Richard Polt's site https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/ where you may likely find a manual and if you're lucky a repair manual. Surely there will be a few manuals for similar 50s standard S-C manual typewriters which should at least get you started. His site has a wealth of other information to give you pointers. His book The Typewriter Revolution (2015) has good intro chapters on cleaning, basic repair, and restoration. YouTube may have some useful videos as well. The typewriter database will have some later model S-C electric machines which you might try searching for on YouTube as well and it's highly likely that the design changes weren't so drastic that those may help you significantly.
For basic cleaning, try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjumGF9NFE8 which has some solid advice. Obviously take care with respect to getting the electrical portion of your machine wet.
I've not done any electric machines before, but if I recall, I seem to have read/heard (maybe from Tom Hanks who I know has a 50s electric Smith-Corona) that the early electrics only went as far as doing power for the keys, so it should be reasonably repairable if it doesn't work out of the box.
I'm sure you'll love it. With any luck, you'll also get some serious enjoyment and sense of accomplishment out of cleaning it up. If nothing else, it'll give you a wealth of experience in making the attempt and you can apply that to other machines if you continue collecting and typing. Some of my first machines weren't immediate "successes" until after I'd been able to tinker with others and was able to come back to them with a more experienced hand.
Have fun with it!
reply to https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1cuzy04/please_can_someone_identify_this/
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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Typewriter 101: THE CLEANING GUIDE! by [[Just My Typewriter]]
A solid primer for cleaning typewriters
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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Toaster-Typewriter – An investigation of humor in design by [[CreativeApplications.Net]]
A cross between a typewriter and a toaster that writes by toasting bread.
The toaster-typewriter is the work of [Ritika Kedia], and it forms part of her thesis in product design at the Parsons School of Design, New York. It’s written up very much from an artistic rather than a tech perspective, but it’s no less ingenious for that in the way it uses letters formed from hot wire on a clay substrate, mounted on the end of the typewriter arms in front of a toaster.<br /> —This Typewriter Types Toast by Jenny List
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www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
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“I’m actually not surprised,” Mr. Caro said, when told of the typewriter renaissance. The tangible pleasures of typewriters are something he’s known about for decades. “One reason I type is it simply makes me feel closer to my words,” Mr. Caro said. “It’s like being a cabinetmaker. It’s like laying down the planks. This is the way it’s supposed to feel.”
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What do literary stalwarts of the original typewriter era make of all this? “We old typists, it makes us feel young again to think there’s a new generation catching on,” said Gay Talese, 79. He still uses a typewriter, albeit electric, as does his friend, Robert A. Caro, 75, the Pulitzer-winning biographer of Robert Moses and President Lyndon B. Johnson. They discussed Mr. Caro’s Smith Corona while watching the Super Bowl.
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phillytyper.com phillytyper.com
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quoteinvestigator.com quoteinvestigator.com
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Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith used a version of this quote by 1949. In April of that year the influential and widely syndicated newspaper columnist Walter Winchell wrote. Boldface has been added to excerpts:[1]1949 April 06, Naugatuck Daily News, Walter Winchell In New York, Page 4, Column 5, Naugatuck, Connecticut. (NewspaperArchive) Red Smith was asked if turning out a daily column wasn’t quite a chore. …”Why, no,” dead-panned Red. “You simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed.”
via 1949 April 06, Naugatuck Daily News, Walter Winchell In New York, Page 4, Column 5, Naugatuck, Connecticut. (NewspaperArchive)
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cambridgetypewriter.blogspot.com cambridgetypewriter.blogspot.com
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https://cambridgetypewriter.blogspot.com/2019/03/some-stories-from-2018.htmlk
Includes some images of interchangeable platens for typewriters including some for index cards, library work, and labels.
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oztypewriter.blogspot.com oztypewriter.blogspot.com
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Vale Paul Auster (1947-2024) by [[Robert Messenger]]
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writingball.blogspot.com writingball.blogspot.com
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typewriterdatabase.com typewriterdatabase.com
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New 1964 Sears Cutlass Model advertised in February 1965. The faceplate of existing examples exactly matches other machines only offered between 1964-65 (Citation, Constellation), so it is presumed to be exactly contemporary. Manufactured by Smith-Corona and similar to Smith-Corona "New 5-Series", with custom shell.
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Polt, Richard. The Typewriter Revolution: A Typist’s Companion for the 21st Century. 1st ed. Woodstock, VT: Countryman Press, 2015.
annotation URL: urn:x-pdf:65fe580cf845ed035c4e57ad02a987cf
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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Most Smith-Coronas in the 40s and 50s have similar ribbon set ups. Hopefully this photo and description will help:
(Alt Text) Smith-Corona typewriter ribbon thread sample. A view into the type basket with the hood of the typewriter raised showing the ribbon coming out of a spool on the left, through a black ribbon guide (which actuates the autoswitch when the eyelet at the end of a spool gets stuck between it and the spool) next to the spool cup, and then into the two metal guides of the ribbon vibrator on either side of the the typing point. A silver pen's tip is pointing to the ribbon guide next to the spool cup at about the point where an eyelet clipped onto the middle of the end of a length of a ribbon would trip the ribbon auto switch.
If your ribbon auto-switch isn't working one can usually switch the direction manually with the ribbon reverse lever usually found on the front left side of most machines.
To speed up changing the ribbon on many machines, it can often help to switch the color selector to the red setting and then simultaneously press the G and H keys gently so that they're stuck together almost at the typing point which will raise the ribbon vibrator and make accessing the slots for threading the ribbon easier. Once the ribbon is installed, release the G and H typebars and select the correct color setting for the portion of the ribbon you want to use.
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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reply to u/FriendlyAd4234 at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1cn004l/olympia_sg1_dust_cover/
Other than the traditional fabric-like dust covers, you might consider doing a thicker plastic/acrylic cover, particularly if you've got several machines and are using them for display purposes. I live in Los Angeles and there are half a dozen places that do this sort of custom work all the time for very reasonable rates. Searching for "plastic fabricator memoriabilia case" along with variations of plastics (acrylic, lucite, plexiglass) should get you what you want locally. (Here's a few examples I've used in Los Angeles before to give you an idea: https://solterplastics.com/, https://www.plasticfactoryinc.com/, https://www.customacrylicproducts.com/, https://plexidisplays.com/). Search for something similar in your area for easier communication and pick up/shipping.
If you search around for companies that make plastic displays, particularly for memorabilia (baseball bats, baseball cards, etc.), you can have them design and make a custom sized clear plastic box/enclosure that will keep the dust and dirt out, but still allow you to see the machine inside.
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www.showbiz411.com www.showbiz411.com
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Woody Allen Has Used the Same Typewriter for 50 Years! by [[Roger Friedman]] in Showbiz411
Referenced documentary is from PBS: American Masters Woody Allen: A Documentary (2011)
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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He wrote everything with his Olympia SM3 typewriter. He lost the hood "30 years ago".
He literally cuts and staples pieces of typescripts together.
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typosphere.blogspot.com typosphere.blogspot.com
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He eschewed computers, often writing by fountain pen in his beloved notebooks.“Keyboards have always intimidated me,” he told The Paris Review in 2003.“A pen is a much more primitive instrument,” he said. “You feel that the words are coming out of your body, and then you dig the words into the page. Writing has always had that tactile quality for me. It’s a physical experience.”He would then turn to his vintage Olympia typewriter to type his handwritten manuscripts. He immortalized the trusty machine in his 2002 book “The Story of My Typewriter,” with illustrations by the painter Sam Messer.
digging the words into the page sounds adjacent to Seamus Heaney's "Digging" which analogizes writing to digging: https://hypothes.is/a/J-z8OgfQEe-0adtJyXyb3g
There's something here which suggests pens, typewriters, keyboards, etc. as direct extended mind objects as tools for thought. A sense of rumination and expulsion simultaneously.
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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Cop-E-Eez Metal Typists Copy Holder by [[Analogue Papa]]
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- Apr 2024
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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A 'typewriter rebellion' is underway. Here's what that means and why it's attracting kids from 2024-04-15 from Joe Dana / 12 News / Phoenix, AZ
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typewriterreview.com typewriterreview.com
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Top 10 Typewriters for Writers by [[Daniel Marleau]] (created One Typed Page)
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en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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Bette Nesmith Graham (March 23, 1924 – May 12, 1980) was an American typist, commercial artist, and the inventor of the correction fluid Liquid Paper. She was the mother of musician and producer Michael Nesmith of The Monkees.
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www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
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https://www.instagram.com/onetypedquote/
An Instagram account that aggregates photos of typed quotes, usually including a part of the typewriter it was written on. It amounts to a group manufactured commonplace book.
Found via https://onetypedpage.com/otq/
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typepals.com typepals.com
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Pen pals with typewriters. Pre-Twitter/Facebook social media modality.
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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“The thing with typewriters and writing, putting pen to paper, there’s kind of an element of commitment that goes with the ceremony of it.”
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site.xavier.edu site.xavier.edu
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Patti Smith: 1960s/'70s Smith-Corona portable
Patti Smith used a late 60s or early 70s Smith-Corona (SCM) portable typewriter.
Source: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/typers.html
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Harry RansomCenter at the University of Texas, which houses Sexton’sletters and memorabilia. And her typewriter.
Anne Sexton used a Royal Quiet De Luxe (beige)
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Solan, Matthew. “Tracking Down Typewriters: Those Trusty Tools of Days Gone By.” Poets & Writers Magazine, August 19, 2009. p 31-33.
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David McCullough, the noted histo-rian and Pulitzer Prize winner, haswritten everything he’s ever publishedsince 1965 on his sixty-nine-year-oldRoyal KMM standard desktop.
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LarryMcMurtry thanked his Swiss-madeHermes while accepting the 2006Golden Globe Award for the screen-play of Brokeback Mountain.
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TomWolfe still uses his 1966 Underwood.
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Typewriters make me a more fo-cused and disciplined writer. Theydon’t forgive. It’s like fi ring a gunwith every stroke. You can’t retractthe bullet. If you misspell, the type-writer won’t correct it for you. Youhave to plow on.
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Pearl S. Buck and the 1930s RoyalStandard (with white keys) she used towrite The Good Earth, Jack Kerouac’sroad-weary Underwood Standard S,George Orwell’s Remington No. 2,Patricia Highsmith’s Olympia, Marga-ret Mitchell’s Remington No. 3 (whichher husband bought secondhand andshe relied on to type Gone With theWind and countless pieces of corre-spondence with fans).
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Laptops are ideal forwhen I research and write at the sametime, or when I work on several storiesat once, going back and forth amongwindows. But for everything else, Iseek a departure from my primaryworld. It’s a different type of writing,so I need a different tool.
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I have my work cut out for me withHemingway, since he used many type-writers: a gigantic Royal No. 10 desk-top with glass side panels from his earlyKey West days, an Underwood Noise-less that helped him fi nish For Whomthe Bell Tolls and fi le dispatches fromhotel rooms while he was a World WarII correspondent, and black matte Roy-als from the early 1940s—especiallythe Quiet DeLuxe and Arrow—he fa-vored while at Finca Vigía in Cuba.
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Deluxe Noiseless on display at MarjorieK innan Rawlings’s screened frontporch at Cross Creek, Florida; Flan-nery O’Connor’s 1930s Royal Stan-dard; Faulkner’s famed UnderwoodUniversal; Hemingway’s 1940 RoyalArrow; and the tiny, folding CoronaNo. 3 favored by both Ernie Pyle andIsak Dinesen.
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Beside her on the desk, between acoffee cup and an open book, was her typewriter. Herinstrument.
Analogizing typewriters with musical instruments.
Tags
- Underwood Standard S
- Underwood Noiseless
- Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
- Royal Arrow
- typewriters of authors
- Margaret Mitchell
- read
- Royal Quiet De Luxe
- mistakes
- Underwood typwriters
- writing tools
- Isak Dinesen
- Olympia typewriters
- Anne Sexton
- quote
- Royal KMM
- Royal Standard
- typewriters
- analogies
- Tom Wolfe
- Patricia Highsmith
- tools for thought
- 2006
- Larry McMurtry
- analog vs. digital
- Remington No. 2
- References
- Ernie Pyle
- Ernest Hemingway
- Flannery O'Connor
- Remington No. 3
- guns
- George Orwell
- 1966
- David McCullough
- Golden Globes
- Jack Kerouac
- Matthew Solan
- Royal No. 10
- typewriter collecting
- Hermes typewriters
- typers
- quotes
- Awards acceptance speeches
- William Faulkner
- Pearl S. Buck
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americanwritersmuseum.org americanwritersmuseum.org
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Q&A with Typewriter Collector Steve Soboroff by [[American Writers Museum]]
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They also last so long. Andy Rooney, whose typewriter I have, wrote a piece about his typewriter. He said he had six computers, and they’re obsolete on purpose. He said, “I’ve had one typewriter and I put another ribbon in and it’s good for another 25 years.”
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laviegraphite.blogspot.com laviegraphite.blogspot.com
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https://laviegraphite.blogspot.com/2012/07/good-companion.html
Dylan Thomas used a black Imperial Good Companion typewriter.
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genius.com genius.com
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I laughed in your face and said"You're not Dylan Thomas, I'm not Patti Smith
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You left your typewriter at my apartmentStraight from the tortured poets departmentI think some things I never sayLike, "Who uses typewriters anyway?"
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www.inquirer.com www.inquirer.com
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Swifties thought that the lack of a "1" key on her typewriter was an Easter egg hiding in the video... ha!
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Because of aging, the rubber feet of many typewriters can harden thereby reducing their friction against the table on which they sit. As a result, this can cause one's typewriter to "walk" across the table as they type for extended periods necessitating their recentering from time to time. To remedy this, one could use custom made typewriter mats with rubber bottoms to prevent this walking as well as to protect the table underneath. Other options which may also work are either wool or felt pads from fabric stores or from Chinese/Japanese calligraphy stationers. In Japanese these mats are called shitajiki.
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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reply to u/bastugubbar at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1ca8nwk/i_for_one_welcome_our_new_taylor_swift_overlords/
Let's be honest here, the most recent typewriter reference (presumably to that of an ex-boyfriend) is certainly not her first. I'm a modest Swiftie at best (from a trivia perspective), preferring to think of her work as poetry rather than musical pop-culture, so I imagine her more as a quill pen sort of writer, though my notes indicate she does take some of her notes for composition using her cell phone.
This being said, a few years back she did feature a red Sears Cutlass in All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) at the 8:28 mark, which hasn't driven the cost of these through the roof, though I have seen one listed for $1,000 (it unsurprisingly didn't sell for that.) For more here see Robert Messenger at OzTypewriter and Ryan Schocket for Buzzfeed. It's not listed anymore, but this past Christmas, she also had a red typewriter Christmas tree ornament in her online store.
Those who were privileged to attend the recent Eras Tour (or see it on Disney+) saw groups of typewriters in the background during several songs.
She's been featuring typewriters for a bit now and it hasn't driven prices through the roof any more than the typewriter renaissance that's been going on for the last few years or so. I suspect that this new round of references isn't going to shift things significantly.
If she does go full-typewriter, which model(s) do you suspect she'd be using amidst the pantheon of other writers? I'd suggest she may be romantic enough to do a late 40's Smith-Corona Clipper... or perhaps while jet-setting a Skyriter?
Type on!
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shopgoodwill.com shopgoodwill.com
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www.typewriterconnection.com www.typewriterconnection.com
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Local file Local file
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Yet it is doubtful whether since theintroduction of the typewriter there has been an invention so beneficialto modern business as the card-index system.
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- Mar 2024
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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My quick typewriter purchasing crash course: <br /> Most typewriters are solid beasts and can take a serious beating and still work really well. I've got 5 now that I bought for $10-50 and mostly really only needed small tweaks to work perfectly. One has an issue that will require some more heavy work, but having gotten it for $10, it's not really much of an issue. Several of them worked incredibly well right out of the box with no work at all. Occasionally kids will pound on the keys which can cause the linkages to come undone, but a pair of needle nose pliers and some patience to look at the mechanics of what's not working underneath can usually get them repaired without any real work. Beyond this there's a wealth of online videos and help that can get you pretty far without paying for a repair shop. Some are just old and dusty and need a quick cleaning with compressed air and/or a toothbrush.
Ebay can tend to have heavily overinflated prices because a lot of folks think that all typewriters are rare. A very small percentage of some of the oldest are, but generally as a group they're not. If you don't want to fool around with repair issues you can purchase machines from repair shops serviced in full working condition from $75-200, but at least you can expect that they're nearly perfect beyond some small blemishes due to age. Sadly, a lot of places will list broken machines in questionable shape for this much because they see others listing (great machines) for the same amount. Don't fall prey to this. Some of the best places to look for functional machines are donation shops (Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.) as well as yard sales or estate sales. Online sites like Facebook marketplace, https://shopgoodwill.com, or https://offerup.com can have inexpensive listings, but most are listed as untested because most folks don't know how to test them fully and are scared of them, but this is usually where you can find some great deals. You can also ask for typewriters on https://buynothingproject.org/ or a Facebook group for your particular area.
If you're able to test things in person, it can help to have some blank paper or index cards and even a universal ribbon ($5-15, in case the old ribbon is missing or too old and dry to work) with you. Then you can put in paper, try out each key (with/without shift), and all the other buttons, knobs, and switches as well as the margin stops, and the bell. Most folks listing them are well aware they're not actually selling for prices over $50 and will be open for 10-25% discounts off of what they're listing them for. I will mention that I bought one machine as dirt cheap because someone had it on the stencil setting (rather than the usual black or red ribbon settings) and they didn't know that this meant it wouldn't type anything visible. A quick flip of the switch after purchase and I was on my way.
r/typewriters is a wealth of information as are https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/index.html and https://typewriterdatabase.com/. Usually, you can't go too far wrong with one of the most popular models which are generally ranked at https://typewriterdatabase.com/popular.0.typewriter-models.
Good luck!
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www.vaultofculture.com www.vaultofculture.com
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[[Shawn Gilmore]] in On the Page: Paul Sheldon's Typewriter in Misery (1987) — The Vault of Culture<br /> on 2022-06-15
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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KSMQ Public Television
"The Typist" follows the life and work of Larry Tillemans, believed to be the last living clerk-typist from the Nuremberg Trials. As a sergeant in the U.S. 3rd Army, it was Larry's duty to document the testimony of victims and perpetrators of the Holocaust -- information that deeply affected the young Minnesotan. After years of carrying this emotional burden, Larry decided to share his experiences with as many people as possible, a tireless effort that brought the value of first-person testimony to a world struggling to remember the lessons of Nuremberg.
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slate.com slate.com
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[[Mark Lawrence Schrad]] in Why the World of Typewriter Collectors Splits Down the Middle When These Machines Come Up for Sale<br /> at 2024-03-16 12:00 PM <br /> (accessed:: 2024-03-19 10:23:08)
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a typewriter with the “special key” is no more or less odious than one without; it is just a matter of the meanings we humans impart upon it.
- consider too that the originators don't benefit though compare this with the seller who may have that sentiment benefiting.
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some argue that the typewriter is just an inanimate object; a tool crafted for a specific purpose, which assumes neither the responsibility of the user nor his blame.
though what about when the creator is human and not inanimate?
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More frequent were machines built with the double-lightning-bolt SS Siegrune, usually above the No. 3 or 5 key. With sieg meaning “victory,” the runes became ubiquitous in Nazi Germany as a shorthand rallying cry for “victory, victory!” In their more sinister application, the SS runes became the logo for the Schutzstaffel—the notorious paramilitary units most responsible for the wanton slaughter of 6 million Jews across Europe.
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In very rare circumstances, a German typewriter would be made with a dedicated swastika key, like this one at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
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Larry McMurtry thanked his trusty Hermes 3000 typewriter while accepting his Golden Globe for Brokeback Mountain.
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As strange as it sounds today, German klein (“small” or portable) typewriters were among the most sought-after souvenirs for soldiers fighting in World War II. Think of it: Adjusted for inflation, top-of-the-line portable typewriters cost roughly the same as your MacBook Pro today, and their usable lives were measured not in months or years, but decades and generations. Consequently, thousands of Uranias, Gromas, Erikas, Rheinmetalls, Continentals, Olympias, and other high-quality, precision-made German machines were looted from Nazi military and government offices, businesses, and even from civilian homes, whether their owners were dead or alive. “War trophy” is of course a pleasant euphemism: It denotes a reward for heroism, bravery, and sacrifice, while simultaneously acknowledging that even the good guys steal, pillage, and destroy amid the haze of total war.
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- Nazi Germany
- cancel culture
- Larry McMurtry
- cui bono?
- archaeology
- Hermes 3000 typewriter
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- World War II
- Schutzstaffel (SS)
- war trophies
- Golden Globes
- Continental (typewriters)
- Olympia typewriters
- portable valuables
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- problematic
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- semantics
- SS Siegrune
- swastika key
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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Typewriter Typefaces: Pica vs Elite, an explainer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwCD69jUPps
Pica machines (12 characters per inch) will usually have a scale up to about 80-84.
Elite machines (10 characters per inch) will have a scale up to 100.
On Olympia machines, script only comes in Elite sizes (scale to 100 on platen).
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fontmeme.com fontmeme.com
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https://fontmeme.com/fonts/special-elite-font/<br /> Special Elite
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www.texasstandard.org www.texasstandard.org
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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Facebook marketplace, set location in various regions. (Ymmv)Ebay (flooded with junk, diamonds in the rough are either overpriced or seller wants high shipping)Auctionninja.com (like shopgoodwill, but higher quality items on average and higher final bids on interesting items)Hibid.com (I've gotten a thing or two here)Estatesales.net (I've gotten good deals here)Estatesales.org (usually redirects to respective company sites to bid there)Shopgoodwill.com (hard to win bids on interesting items)Goodwillfinds.com (the higher end/rarer items they receive go here, so higher prices)Craigslist (usually baren of typewriters)Kijiji (I don't find much that's both interesting and feasible to ship)Etsy (meh, overpriced)
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- Feb 2024
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SUNY Brockport’s Drake Memorial Library greets its userswith a typographically generated image of a card catalog:Your automated catalog, by DYNIX.Copyright (c) 1992 by DYNIX, Incorporated.
A library card catalog drawn using ASCII art. :)
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www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
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h/t Eric Sinclair, whose wife went to Indiana University
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Arber also suggests to Murray in this letter that he should use atypewriter. ‘I am quite certain’, he wrote, ‘that the only way to keep down thecost of corrections is to type-write the copy’, suggesting a model called theIdeal Caligraph, no. 2 price £18. Murray did read The Snake Dance of theMoquis of Arizona but he did not buy a typewriter.
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- Jan 2024
- Dec 2023
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www.etconline.org www.etconline.org
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.comYouTube1
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writingball.blogspot.com writingball.blogspot.com
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Maiden typecast by Richard Polt on 2010-08-21
Richard Polk's first typecast.
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www.sgvtribune.com www.sgvtribune.com
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Anderson Business Technology celebrates 100 years by Jim McConnell, Staff Writer
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typewriter.boardhost.com typewriter.boardhost.com
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Typewriter Talk<br /> https://typewriter.boardhost.com
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site.xavier.edu site.xavier.edu
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https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-lists.html<br /> Online Typewriter Groups
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handwiki.org handwiki.org
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www.typewriters.ch www.typewriters.ch
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Full alphabet sentences, also called pangrams, were used to check the function of all letters on the typewriter keyboard. They were also used in typing lessons.
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farbbanddosen.typewriters.ch farbbanddosen.typewriters.ch
- Nov 2023
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oztypewriter.blogspot.com oztypewriter.blogspot.com
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf1DfAXFpGE how to identify a typewriter
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.comYouTube1
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Red Typewriter at 8:28
Related: Holiday Ornament in Swift store: https://store.taylorswift.com/collections/holiday-collection/products/all-too-well-typewriter-ornament
Easter eggs: https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanschocket2/taylor-swift-all-too-well-typewriter-easter-egg
Typewriter identity: https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/17utzze/identity_of_the_red_typewriter_from_taylor_swifts/
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- Sep 2023
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henribergotte.wordpress.com henribergotte.wordpress.com
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https://henribergotte.wordpress.com/
WordPress.com blog with examples of typecasting (blogging).
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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“Typecasting” used to be a thing where people would type a post, scan/take a photo of it, and post it on a blog or social media
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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I wonder what you think of a distinction between the more traditional 'scholar's box', and the proto-databases that were used to write dictionaries and then for projects such as the Mundaneum. I can't help feeling there's a significant difference between a collection of notes meant for a single person, and a collection meant to be used collaboratively. But not sure exactly how to characterize this difference. Seems to me that there's a tradition that ended up with the word processor, and another one that ended up with the database. I feel that the word processor, unlike the database, was a dead end.
reply to u/atomicnotes at https://www.reddit.com/r/Zettelkasten/comments/16njtfx/comment/k1tuc9c/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
u/atomicnotes, this is an excellent question. (Though I'd still like to come to terms with people who don't think it acts as a knowledge management system, there's obviously something I'm missing.)
Some of your distinction comes down to how one is using their zettelkasten and what sorts of questions are being asked of it. One of the earliest descriptions I've seen that begins to get at the difference is the description by Beatrice Webb of her notes (appendix C) in My Apprenticeship. As she describes what she's doing, I get the feeling that she's taking the same broad sort of notes we're all used to, but it's obvious from her discussion that she's also using her slips as a traditional database, but is lacking modern vocabulary to describe it as such.
Early efforts like the OED, TLL, the Wb, and even Gertrud Bauer's Coptic linguistic zettelkasten of the late 1970s were narrow enough in scope and data collected to make them almost dead simple to define, organize and use as databases on paper. Of course how they were used to compile their ultimate reference books was a bit more complex in form than the basic data from which they stemmed.
The Mundaneum had a much more complex flavor because it required a standardized system for everyone to work in concert against much more freeform as well as more complex forms of collected data and still be able to search for the answers to specific questions. While still somewhat database flavored, it was dramatically different from the others because of it scope and the much broader sorts of questions one could ask of it. I think that if you ask yourself what sorts of affordances you get from the two different groups (databases and word processors (or even their typewriter precursors) you find even more answers.
Typewriters and word processors allowed one to get words down on paper quicker by a magnitude of order or two faster, and in combination with reproduction equipment, made it easier to spin off copies of the document for small scale and local mass distribution a lot easier. They do allow a few affordances like higher readability (compared with less standardized and slower handwriting), quick search (at least in the digital era), and moving pieces of text around (also in digital). Much beyond this, they aren't tremendously helpful as a composition tool. As a thinking tool, typewriters and word processors aren't significantly better than their analog predecessors, so you don't gain a huge amount of leverage by using them.
On the other hand, databases and their spreadsheet brethren offer a lot more, particularly in digital realms. Data collection and collation become much easier. One can also form a massive variety of queries on such collected data, not to mention making calculations on those data or subjecting them to statistical analyses. Searching, sorting, and making direct comparisons also become far easier and quicker to do once you've amassed the data you need. Here again, Beatrice Webb's early experience and descriptions are very helpful as are Hollerinth's early work with punch cards and census data and the speed with which the results could be used.
Now if you compare the affordances by each of these in the digital era and plot their shifts against increasing computer processing power, you'll see that the value of the word processor stays relatively flat while the database shows much more significant movement.
Surely there is a lot more at play, particularly at scale and when taking network effects into account, but perhaps this quick sketch may explain to you a bit of the difference you've described.
Another difference you may be seeing/feeling is that of contextualization. Databases usually have much smaller and more discrete amounts of data cross-indexed (for example: a subject's name versus weight with a value in pounds or kilograms.) As a result the amount of context required to use them is dramatically lower compared to the sorts of data you might keep in an average atomic/evergreen note, which may need to be more heavily recontextualized for you when you need to use it in conjunction with other similar notes which may also need you to recontextualize them and then use them against or with one another.
Some of this is why the cards in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae are easier to use and understand out of the box (presuming you know Latin) than those you might find in the Mundaneum. They'll also be far easier to use than a stranger's notes which will require even larger contextualization for you, especially when you haven't spent the time scaffolding the related and often unstated knowledge around them. This is why others' zettelkasten will be more difficult (but not wholly impossible) for a stranger to use. You might apply the analogy of context gaps between children and adults for a typical Disney animated movie to the situation. If you're using someone else's zettelkasten, you'll potentially be able to follow a base level story the way a child would view a Disney cartoon. Compare this to the zettelkasten's creator who will not only see that same story, but will have a much higher level of associative memory at play to see and understand a huge level of in-jokes, cultural references, and other associations that an adult watching the Disney movie will understand that the child would completely miss.
I'm curious to hear your thoughts on how this all plays out for your way of conceptualizing it.
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facilitated by having selected passages typewritten anddistributed to the class in mimeographed sheets.
Not sure I knew that typewritters and mimeograph machines were so prevalent by 1910. (typewriters yes, but mimeo?)
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shifthappens.backerkit.com shifthappens.backerkit.com
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https://shifthappens.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
Ordered 2023-09-02 for delivery in 2023-10.
$150 + $25 for shipping
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- Aug 2023
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www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
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At what point do we have the computing power to create the machine of "Shakespearean monkeys at typewriters" that generates all available combinations of text to end copyright of text? Compare with Melody/Music: https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/music-cop
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www.imdb.com www.imdb.com
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In the documentary California Typewriter (Gravitas Pictures, 2016) musician John Mayer mentions that he's never lost a typed version of his notes, while digital versions of his work essentially remain out of sight and thus out of mind or else they risk digital erasure by means of either data loss, formatting changes, or other damage.
Mayer also mentions that he loves typewriters for their ability to easily get out stream of consciousness thinking which is a mode of creativity he prefers for writing lyrics.
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Historian and author David McCullough prefers a manual typewriter over computers with keyboards specifically because it forces him to slow down and take his time.
Ref: @Nichol2016 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5966990/
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samplereality.com samplereality.com
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Carpentry aspires to build from scratch, whereas the Deformed Humanities tears apart existing structures and uses the scraps.
I'm reminded of Jeremy Mayer's work of deconstruction old, non-functioning typewriters to create sculptures.
Intriguing that he uses the word "scraps" here which plays directly into the practice of the zettelkasten within the ars excerpendi!
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- Jul 2023
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www.thetypewriterman.co.uk www.thetypewriterman.co.uk
- Jun 2023
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writingball.blogspot.com writingball.blogspot.com
- May 2023
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Local file Local file
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Commonly known was that using an apostrophe, the back space key and a period would allow one to type an exclamation point on a typewriter. Less common were some of these additional special characters:
- Division (÷): colon and hyphen
- Pound Sterling (£): Hyphen and small f
- Equation (=): Hyphens turning the variable slightly (unlocking the platen and moving it up)
- Cedilla (ç): small c, backspace and comma
- Paragraph mark )( parentheses
p. 16
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Card Grip. (Right and Left). Hold cards firmly against the platen.
p 5
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“The Remington Noiseless Way.” Remington Rand Inc., ca 1940. From the Peter Weil Typewriter Archives. https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/RemingtonNoiseless10.pdf.
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covell.ca covell.ca
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Typewriters, Stencils, and Carbon Copies by Tim Covell
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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www.ribbonsunlimited.com www.ribbonsunlimited.com
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archive.org archive.org
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Marcin Wichary Typewriting, Type, and Keyboard Collection<br /> https://archive.org/details/wicharytypewriter
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archive.org archive.org
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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I don't have any affiliation with the book (other than ordering a copy for myself), but thought I'd share the pre-order details for the forthcoming book Shift Happens: A book about keyboards by Marcin Wichary: https://shifthappens.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders The book, shipping in October 2023, was originally funded on Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mwichary/shift-happens. Even more details available at https://shifthappens.site/. The author Marcin Wichary compiled a huge list of typewriter/keyboard resources, books, and manuals at https://archive.org/details/wicharytypewriter which the hard core historians and type enthusiasts many may also appreciate. (h/t u/amidfallenleaves @ r/typewriters/#)
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbGUVjOF2uw
He still seems iffy about the value of using WD-40 on crinkle cut finish, primarily because of the smell.
Others use brass bristle brushes for applying the WD-40 instead of nylon brushes.
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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Hermes Rocket Typewriter Case Cleaning — Crazy Results, Simple Tools
A few hours with some mild soap and water and a toothbrush will clean up most of a plastic typewriter case.
A mild solvent like isopropyl alcohol can generally get the remainder of any tough spots or gummy spills.
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- Apr 2023
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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help with shadowed lettering
In using a typewriter, "shadowed" letters can be remedied by using quicker, short keystrokes. Or as William Forrester said, "Punch the keys for God's sake!"
Of course it also goes without saying that one should also use a backing sheet which will also help the longevity of the platen.
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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The rise in popularity of typewriters
Didn't do a good job tying typewriters into linotype and letterpress here.
anecdotal evidence for resurgence for love of typewriters....
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TYPEWRITER TOUR: How I ended up with 17 typewriters (story time)
California Typewriter got Sara into collecting.
She names her typewriters.
She likes the consistency of the Corona Pacemaker, the IBM Selectric II, and the Olympia Electric.
- Smith-Corona Corsair Deluxe Aqua/Blue Travel
- Royal Futura 800
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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How to Write Using a Typewriter
Interesting example of an individual writer's process which includes a typewriter.
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URL
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typewriterdatabase.com typewriterdatabase.com
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typewriterdatabase.com typewriterdatabase.com
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www.typewriters101.com www.typewriters101.com
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Rubbing alcohol or WD-40 for cleaning out light rust, oil, dirt and grime.
Use Rem-Oil for oiling typewriters
Toothpaste and toothbrush is great for cleaning crinkle paint on typewriters.
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www.thedailybeast.com www.thedailybeast.com
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Why Tom Hanks Loves Typewriters—And You Should Too<br /> by Barbie Latza Nadeau
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And there are some useful bits of trivia, like how the letters for the word TYPEWRITER are all on the top row of a QWERTY layout, presumably to make it easier for typewriter salesmen in their day to impress potential clients with their mastery of the keyboard.
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Musician John Mayer, too, describes his typewriter as more of an emotional companion than a logistical tool. He laments writing lyrics with the judgemental “red squiggly line” of spell check, which he says stops the creative process because he feels compelled to fix the error, and turning to a typewriter which “doesn’t judge you, it just goes, ‘right away, sir, right away’.”
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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“Tom Hanks, Typewriter Enthusiast.” CBS News Sunday Morning. CBS, October 15, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTtDb73NkNM.
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https://youtu.be/UTtDb73NkNM?t=49
CBS has a card index with an index card indicating that Morley Safer brought an Olivetti typewriter to the office.
Whose card index was this? What other purpose did it serve?
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Friday<br /> 7 July <br /> 2017
Lee,
You are a wise and brave man. This 1930's era Smith- corona Clipper will last you for the ages..
Happy to have served you...<br /> /s<br /> Tom Hanks
Hanks wrote this letter to an interviewer who purchased one. Lost here on the viewer is the fact that the Clipper wasn't manufactured until 1946...
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This is what I would suggest: if you wanted the perfect typewriter that will last forever that would be a great conversation piece, I'd say get the Smith-Corona Clipper. That will be as satisfying a typing experience as you will ever have. —Tom Hanks on CBS Sunday Morning: "Tom Hanks, Typewriter Enthusiast" at 07:30
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archive.triblive.com archive.triblive.com
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My favorite is always changing. Any Smith-Corona Sterling or Silent is a gem. Any Hermes, either the green or tan, all work like lightning. I have a thing for my Olivetti Lettera 22’s, as they are masterpieces of design, the action is crazy fast and light, and the typewriter is in the Museum of Modern Art.
—Tom Hanks in TribLive 2020-05-22 at https://web.archive.org/web/20200522085215/https://archive.triblive.com/aande/books/tom-hanks-on-his-love-of-typewriters-and-the-free-press/
I've seen several sites and listings for Smith-Corona typewriters which mention this interview quote.
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www.typewriters101.com www.typewriters101.com
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The Clipper was named after Boeing's 314 Clipper- which although was retired by Pan-Am in 1946- still continued to represent a new era of elegant, luxurious travel, and which this typewriter is directly associated with.
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typewriterdatabase.com typewriterdatabase.com
- Mar 2023
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www.ebay.com www.ebay.com
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Antique Typewriter Cole Steel Made In West Germany 1960s Vintage w/ orig. case
Apparently Cole Steel manufactured typewriters in the 1960s.
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- Jan 2023
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shifthappens.site shifthappens.site
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https://shifthappens.site/
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- Sep 2022
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www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
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Here it is probably necessary to explain that lots of things were once typed — on machines called typewriters — during a period of human history after stone tablets and before laptops and cellphones. It is probably also necessary to explain that reference to a card catalog in the first paragraph. A card catalog was an inventory of what was in a library before all the holdings were listed, and maybe available, online.
A bit tongue-in-cheek, the New York Times describes for the technically inadept what a typewriter and a card catalog are.
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- May 2022
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www.theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com
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Sometime in 1882, Friedrich Nietzsche bought a typewriter—a Malling-Hansen Writing Ball, to be precise. His vision was failing, and keeping his eyes focused on a page had become exhausting and painful, often bringing on crushing headaches. He had been forced to curtail his writing, and he feared that he would soon have to give it up. The typewriter rescued him, at least for a time. Once he had mastered touch-typing, he was able to write with his eyes closed, using only the tips of his fingers. Words could once again flow from his mind to the page. But the machine had a subtler effect on his work. One of Nietzsche’s friends, a composer, noticed a change in the style of his writing. His already terse prose had become even tighter, more telegraphic. “Perhaps you will through this instrument even take to a new idiom,” the friend wrote in a letter, noting that, in his own work, his “‘thoughts’ in music and language often depend on the quality of pen and paper.”“You are right,” Nietzsche replied, “our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts.” Under the sway of the machine, writes the German media scholar Friedrich A. Kittler , Nietzsche’s prose “changed from arguments to aphorisms, from thoughts to puns, from rhetoric to telegram style.”
Saving the entire story for context, but primarily for this Marshall McLuhan-esque quote:
“You are right,” Nietzsche replied, “our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts.”
I want to know the source of the quote.
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- Dec 2021
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www.newyorker.com www.newyorker.com
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Pomera, a folding Japanese pocket writer
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Even so, new inventions have always influenced literary production, as Friedrich Nietzsche, who struggled with a semi-spherical typewriter, once lyrically observed: “The writing ball is a thing like me: made of / iron / yet easily twisted on journeys.”
Probably overbearing, but this is also the exact sort of thing a writer faced with a blank page is apt to focus on as they stare at the type ball in front of them. Their focus isn't on the work its on the thing immediately in front of them that isn't working for them.
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