Thirty-Two Deep

I live in a desperate situation. In my single room, I am surrounded by everything I own, and that includes thirty-two typewriters. I won't lie to you: two more are on the way. But that's it for now. There simply isn't time, money, or space for more, when you take into account my laptop and other possessions. That being said, it's been quite a while since I made an accounting of all my children. There are some that have been well-documented here, but some have not been mentioned. Over the next few days/weeks I'll be taking some fresh pictures and type samples and posting them here. I must tell you that I haven't named any of them in quite a while, though. Sheer numbers have cut into personalization, it seems.

Largely non-functional 1950s Smith-Corona Secretarial 88. More about it later.

Lufkin: Broken Typewriter Capital of Texas

I live about ten miles from Lufkin, Texas. From time to time I go visit antique and thrift stores to see what's shaking. The other day I caught several old broken machines in their natural habitats.

Not for sale. Seen in the window of The Pink Leopard Boutique in downtown Lufkin. A rusty old Royal, probably a Quiet De Luxe (EDIT: Apparently not). There was a commotion and controversy when I tried to get this picture. I think the ladies inside were surprised to see such a straight, burly man in a store that sold frilly women's items. BUT YOU HAVE A TYPEWRITER IN YOUR WINDOW.

$49. An old Olympia. SG-2? I think so. What a beautiful machine. Flawless and strikingly beautiful. Too bad it didn't work. If it worked *poorly*, I could deal with that. But not at all. The carriage is where it is and will not move. A heartbreaker. If it functioned I would have bought it on the spot.

$65. Smith-Corona Silent Super. Worked, obviously. No apparent damage. And don't get me wrong, I love Smith-Coronas. That's why I have three very similar to this. But none of them cost me $65. I'm sure it will be fine for someone else. I'm also equally sure at this price it will still be there next time I drop by.

$75. Remington-Rand Bantam. A pre-WW2 typewriter used to teach typing. I know little about this model. It's not something I would buy, most likely. They seem to be popular on eBay, but I don't know if it would be worth re-selling. I didn't try it out, so it might work or not.

$55. Underwood Universal. Right carriage knob missing. Didn't seem to work...at least not $55 worth. I was surprised how light these things actually are. From my experience with Underwoods of the era I expected a much heavier machine. If it had worked I might have been interested.

$34. Montgomery-Ward Signature 300. Seemed to work but beaten up. These are fairly common Japanese typewriters more commonly sold as Brother and Webster models in the U.S. I have one already and rarely use it. I do like the green color, though.

$45. Olympia Socialite. Circa 1966. Probably the best-working machine of the day. Typed fine and did make good contact, though there was no ribbon present. $45 seemed a bit steep to me, though. I try not to spend that much unless it's something I'm really stoked about. Under different circumstances I would buy it.

$40. Smith-Corona Corsair. Good machine, but S-C was using cheap plastic cases for their typewriters by this point. This one looked great, typed okay, but had a broken return lever. Not worth it to me, I'm a fanboy, not a typewriter repairman.

$35. Royal Quiet De Luxe. This is an older model, and those could be glass keys. My main fault was that the bell didn't ring, and it didn't seem to properly grip and hold the paper when I inserted it. Also the case is incredibly flimsy, offering no real protection.

$45 "firm". Royal Heritage III. These were sold through Montgomery-Ward stores in the early 1960s. This one is really in good shape, very clean. It typed okay as far as I could see, everything worked. But I have an older Heritage model already, and it's just another typewriter when it comes down to it. I can and do discriminate at this point.

No price. Not for sale? Underwood Standard. Wouldn't type and carriage seemed rusted in place. I took two photos of this amazing old machine. I'd love to have one like it, but it would hurt me not to be able to use it. That upsets me greatly.

So, as you may gather I didn't buy anything on this trip. I'm not made of money and I can't buy every typewriter that I see, no matter how much I might want it. But it costs nothing to look, and I'll keep taking the pictures and posting them here.

Alive Again

It's been quite a year. The old blog has just sat here, shunned and ignored, while I secretly have continued my typewriter-hoarding ways. In fact, I have so many now that there's no excuse not to press them back into service and get this blog going again.

In the next 2-3 days expect a full update, lots of photos, and some very sexy scans of black and white print. It's all too much.

And did someone say PODCAST? Wait, that was me. I brought the subject up on Reddit...and if I can get enough people who will listen, and a few who are willing to Skype with me and talk about the subject a couple of times a month, I am willing to produce and co-host such a show. Let me know, folks.

Banging on the Muse

This post comes from the Smith-Corona Skyriter. The early ones from 1949-52 or so had the racing stripes, so this one of those, and the green keys. It's really wonderful.

Meet the Family...Again.

Does all work and no play make Jack a dull boy? I don't know...let's ask Dr. Zaius, my 1949 Underwood and the wisest and greatest of all typewriters. It's my only one without a proper case or cover. Sometimes I just put an upside-down cardboard box over it. It's massive....30+ pounds.

Shameful typewriter hoarding, fig.1 (Wall of Typewriters). Clockwise, from bottom left: like-new Underwood Olivetti 21 (c. 1965), Singer Scholastic T-4 (aka Royal Dart, early '60s), Olivetti Lettera 22, a second Lettera 22 that was broken b ut mystically repaired itself (both early '60s), Hermes Rocket (mid-1950s), Smith-Corona Skyriter (first generation, between '49 and '52)), Royal Sprite (1969?), bright orange Sears Chevron (early '70s), letter-skipping, self-aware Hermes 3000 (mid-late '60s), Sears Citation 12 (aka Smith-Corona Sterling, mid-1960s).

Shameful typewriter hoarding, fig.2 (Floor of Typewriters). From bottom to top: 1948 Remington Rand Portable Deluxe, the typewriter with half of my name, 1955 Underwood Universal Quiet Tab, 1958 Royal Heritage (exclusive to Montgomery Ward) , Sperry-Rand Remington Personal Riter (with script typeface, c. 1968), Olivetti Lettera 35 (early '70s), and an empty case that once held a Royal typewriter during the 1950s. Not shown: 1968 Olivetti Lettera 32 with script typeface. It's in the storage locker, still. And don't think I didn't consider going back after it, either.

Shameful typewriter hoarding, fig.3 (Misfit Toys). Left to right: 1950s Olivetti Studio 44. Types nicely, but the return lever doesn't work...a heartbreaker that I keep around in the hope I can fix i someday or use it for parts. Beside it, the blackest of black sheep and the shame of my collection, my mid-'60s Remington Starfire. Broken bad. Can't type in a straight line because paper freely moves itself. Various other quirks too numerous to mention make it impossible to use. It seems to have given up. If anyone knows about Remington ribbon spools from this period, they are maddening. Based on my bad experience with this machine, I swore off Remingtons and plastic typewriters in general. Behind that is my iMac DV from the year 2000. Cost $1500 new, but I paid $15 in 2009. Supports Mac OSX 10.3.9, making it completely useless unless you want to create text files, which I sometimes do. Not shown here is my AlphaSmart 3000, which is technically a portable word processor, and the somewhat lethargic Walmart-purchased eMachine computer I'm writing these words on.

Back Again. No, Really.

My new baby, the late-'60s Sperry-Rand Remington Personal-Riter. I was just in the area to get the rest of my typewriters out of my storage building and happened by the Second Blessings Thrift Store. Apparently they've been trying to call me about it, but I no longer have a cell phone. This one ain't bad, especially for ten bucks. I've had my issues with Remington typewriters, but this one is solid. I don't think I've really discussed the Starfire here but I'll probably get into that tomorrow. Don't get me started.

And We're Back

Sorry. I meant to get back to this sooner.

Today I've made a YouTube video featuring all of my typewriters. It's current with everything I currently own. It's very simple so don't expect this to win anything at Sundance.