Typewriters

[Poetman]

Does anyone use typewriters? I know of many professors and writers who will only work on a typewriter. In fact, many such individuals also only use fountain pens. In any case, I thought a thread devoted to typewriters would be fun. What do you have and how do you use it. Of course, pictures are a must. I use a 1940's Royal for letters and shorter documents. Although I have a goal to hand-write then type a future essay.

 

Here's a photo link:

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y2z0iizUE8Y/RbTTTkQD6WI/AAAAAAAAAJg/XzGLhiWnLxg/s400/RO_Port_Quiet_Delux_M.jpg

[JakobS]

ooo, a Royal Deluxe!

 

I have a 1928 Royal Model 10 Desktop and two portables, a 1930's woodgrain one, and a late 1940's forest green one. The Model ten is fully restored and is in working condition and I use it for short stories, and poems, and other creative writing, the portables need new rollers to be fully functional, which isn't too expensive to do, about $50 each, but haven't found time to do so yet. I love my Model 10, its the one with one solid window on each side, early models had two on each side. It is a workhorse and just like a fountain pen, helps me to slow down and think about what I am writing, and also improve my typing after having to redo pages because of a mistake, but after a short time you get really good at avoiding mistakes!! Because of all the color variations that exist in the portable models I was thinking of collecting as many as I had rooms in my house and then set the theme of the room around them. There are so many colors that you have to wonder if the painters at the Royal factory were given free reign on how they wanted to paint them!

 

A photo of my Royal Model 10 from the restorer I got it from [He is quite a character!]:

http://mrtypewriter.tripod.com/images/royal/royal1929model10/royalmodel10two/450royal1929model10a.jpg

Edited October 5, 2009 by JakobS

[macaddicted]

No. My vertigo problems throw my co-ordination off. I was never a great touch typist before. Now I tend to double key too often.

 

I came across this company which purchased the keyboard technology from Lexmark when they were spun off from IBM. May be of interest if you want a keyboard that has more feedback than the standard PC style keyboard but still want to use a PC.

[OtterNZ]

I have always wanted one to use, but never got around to actually getting one. I like the antique feel they have, and enjoyed using an old one that a teacher at school had in her class, but have found them hard to justify given how easy it is to edit a typed document on the PC.

[escribo]

No, I don't use one, but it might be cool to have an old Royal like I learned typing on in the '60s.

Learning on those manual typewriters is likely why I still slap the sh&t out of the keys on this laptop.

[BillTheEditor]

I've got two old Remington manual portables (a Quiet-Riter and a Travel-Riter), an old Sears electric (from when I was in grad school 35 years ago), and a Brother Word Processor (basically an electric typewriter with a memory and an LCD). The Quiet-Riter is just like the one I had in high school 46 years ago, and which I foolishly sold at a garage sale when we were moving from Virginia to Texas. I'm getting the Remingtons cleaned and adjusted when I have money again (maybe before I die), and probably should have the Sears electric looked at by the repairman, even though it still works ok. It's really not easy to find a good typewriter repair place these days, and ribbons are a challenge as well.

 

I always liked using a typewriter, the pace is much slower than with a computer and you actually have to think about what you're writing before you write it. No cut and paste, no fancy fonts, just ideas, thoughts, and glorious words.

[psfred]

IBM Selectric II, correcting.

 

Peter

[ToasterPastry]

While I'd like to say I love manual typewriters, I found them to be a bit of a hassle.

 

Nothing beats an old IBM Selectric---one of the coolest inventions of the 20th Century.

[WendyNC]

IBM Selectric II, correcting.

 

Peter

 

Mine's green. What color is yours?

[kps]

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/2784/typewriters.jpg

 

I have two, and they work, but I don't use them.

 

Actually, now that I think of it, I also have a Greek portable typewriter somewhere. I don't know Greek.

 

I have a few printing terminals, too: a DEC LA36, a TI Silent 700, a Qume-labelled Diablo, and a third-party Selectric III conversion.

[gross]

No, I don't use one, but it might be cool to have an old Royal like I learned typing on in the '60s.

Learning on those manual typewriters is likely why I still slap the sh&t out of the keys on this laptop.

 

I don't have a typewriter either. Like Escribo, I did learn on one in school. I have been told by several well meaning people who have seen me at work at a keyboard that I would type quite a bit faster and with less strain on my fingers and wrists if I would not pound the keys so hard. The typewriter I learned on had many other learners before I came along and after I was through, I am sure it went in to be serviced or remade. I bet I could have purchased it for less than the service bill. At any rate, you pounded on those keys or the machine just ignored you. And if you didn't slap the return bar like a senior cheerleader slapping a freshman flirt, it didn't return nor advance your paper. My typing teacher asked me once, "Who is in charge here - you or that typewriter?" To which I replied with all the honesty I could muster, "It is, sir."

 

When I was in college, I rented an electric typewriter. It was a monster and a real marvel. I took it back after a week or two and exchanged it for a manual. I wasted too much time and strained my left arm trying to slap the return bar.

[loweevan]

Ah, the Selectric. Unfortunately, the only memory I really have of it is from the introduction to Hard Copy, the hard-hitting, sensationalized, tabloid news show from the early '90s. (If you don't know what I mean, you can see it here, but I don't take any credit or blame for the content).

 

I used to have a standard electric typewriter at my old job (smith corona, I think). It was good because it had a correction ribbon, could do bold type, and could underline. I touch type, but because I learned on a computer, the delete key is a pretty big part of my typing. I'd love to write a paper by hand and then type it, but it's just not worth it to me -- not enough time. Maybe some day I'll get an old manual one to keep around for whatever reason.

[kernando]

Yep. There was a thread a little while ago, I think started by a type blogger. We had pictures of typewriters and scans of typed pages.

 

I like manual portables. I'm still hoping for an Olivetti Valentine in some color other than red, and something in Dvorak layout.

[aupoint]

I have three full-size manual typewriters that I rotate weekly: a 1917 Royal 10, a 1946 Smith-Corona Silent Secretarial, and

a 1958 Remington Standard Super Riter. I am amazed at the sturdiness and level of workmanship of all three. I prefer the

act of typing on a manual machine over an electric typewriter or computer keyboard; just as with a fountain pen- it's the way

it feels to me as I use them that compels me to continue using them.

[jgrasty]

We have a typewriter, somewhere in the attic. I don't think it has been used since my wife used it to fill out her applications for medical school in the early '90s.

[Gran]

Vintage Smith-Corona, portable, is my usual. Have a portable Royal as a back-up. Non-electric versions, both.

[Wolverine1]

These days, I ma down to a 1963 Olivetti Lettera 32 manual typewriter.

[Shangas]

I don't use a typewriter, but I wish I had one! Are mechanical typewriters hard to maintain? And for that matter...where the hell do you find ribbons these days? Does anyone still make them?

[Garageboy]

Last time we had this thread, we were listening to storied about them getting thrown out

[dogpoet]

I've got a couple of portables, a Cannon electric and a manual one.