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Hey there, welcome to Typewriter Talk!
To get your feet wet, how about a quick post introducing yourself and a brief description of your particular interest in typewriters?
My name is Uwe and I live in Toronto, Canada. Although most of the typers in my modest collection are portables, I like the big machines too. For some reason I seem to lean toward the "O" brands, and consequently own a number models from Olympia and Olivetti, and Optima. I'm also a big fan of Smith-Corona, especially their workhorse typewriters from the '40s and '50s.
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Greetings and Salutations
Call me Skywatcher as I love watching anything that flies in the sky, airplanes, kites, birds, skydivers and boomerangs to name a few. Living here on the Prairies of Southern Alberta, Canada, there's lots of sky to watch.
By trade I'm a journeyman heavy duty mechanic but have gone independent as a small engine specialist so have my own shop which comes in very useful when I want to service and repair my typewriters.
My main interest in typewriters seems to have gravitated to the portables and the travel typewriters, Skyriters, Rockets, Empire Aristocrats (licensed copy of the Hermes Rocket). For functionality, I find the 1950's Smith-Corona portables (Clipper, Sterling and Silent) to have the nicest overall feel.
My modest collection includes the usual North American brands (Royals, Underwoods , Remingtons etc.) and a few European models, Hermes, Olivetti, B.T. Empire Aristocrat, a Speedwriter (re-branded Consul 1511) and a 1935 Imperial Good Companion in near mint condition that I brought back from England in 2011.
As a mechanic, I find the internal workings of these machines interesting so enjoy servicing and tuning the machines almost as much as using them. If you ever have a mechanical or technical question on a typewriter and I have the same unit, I can usually come up with an answer. Sometimes it might take a day or four, but I can usually figure something out for you. Or, if you just want someone to type a letter to, I'll type one back to you.
Well, I'm going to stop talking and let some of our other friends introduce themselves. All the very best,
Sky
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Hi. Mark here. Like Uwe, I'm a typewriter enthusiast living in Toronto. Like Skywatcher, my main interest is in portables and travel typewriters. My collection is all 'portables', with a close to 50/50 split between those that are travel, and those that aren't. My favourites include an Olympia, Commodore, Olivetti, Silver-Reed... and a Brother Valiant ;-). My fix-it skills are limited and definitely challenged when I have a technical issue with a machine. I'm hopeful that I might find some technical support here when needed. Cheers!
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Hi,
I live in WA state's capitol of Olympia and have always loved "things mechanical". I've learned how to type in High School, 1968'ish, on a manual and now I've won an old Brother 100 Correction. I'll need to ask questions after it arrives.
Last edited by HaroldB (16-3-2013 00:16:18)
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Hi guys,
Some of you may know me as a minor contributor to the two Yahoo typewriter groups.
I joined here because I really don't like it at the groups.It has nothing to do with anything. I just don't like groups. I prefer forums. There are no typewriter forums online (believe me, I've looked...), so when this one made its presence known, I decided to join.
My Typewriter Story...
I was born in the late 80s and grew up in the early 90s. 'Cause my eyesight sucked, my teacher said I should learn how to touchtype. And my aide helped me to learn. That was great, but the problem was, she asked me to practice at home.
We had one computer at home and my brother and parents used it. I was six years old.
So I started my typing life using a Canon TypeStar electric portable. Butt-ugly, but it was my first typewriter. And ever since, I just fell in love with those qwerty little machines.
Fastforward twenty years, and I could take the strain of not using a typewriter no longer. Last year, I went bargain-hunting, and came home with a very nice late 20s Underwood Portable. It's on my desk as I type this, and I absolutely love it.
One day, I think I'd like to have a standard typewriter as well, but so far, I haven't found one which I can afford...
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Uwe, first of all, congratulations (and thank-you!) on setting up this great forum! This has the potential to be of great service to typewriter lovers the world over. Well done!
Sounds like my collection mimics yours, to some extent. A couple of Olivetti (both Lettera 32s), Olympia SM2, SM3 and Splendid 99, a Smith-Corona Standard from around 1937, a legendary Sterling from around 1946 (this one's virtually bullet-proof) and a mid-Fifties Silent Super, and I think about ten other machines. I very partial to my Royal Quiet De Luxe too.
My interest in typewriters stems from a romantic notion of writers like Hemingway, Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler hammering away at these glass-topped keys, and Hollywood screenwriters re-writing draft after draft of classic film noir throughout the '40s and '50s.
I use my typewriters for actual short story writing when the mood takes me. I love the immediacy of the writing, knowing that it's printing while I write, plus the fact that a typewriter forces you to think before you hit the keys. Requires a little more discipline, as far as I'm concerned. AND they don't chew up any electricity.
Once again, great forum.
Cheers from Melbourne, Australia,
teeritz
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I'm also from Melbourne. *wavy*
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Shangas wrote:
I'm also from Melbourne. *wavy*
Hey Shangas, I think we've met. Last year at the Pen Show at Malvern. I had a go at trying to fix the Shift Key on your Underwood. Have you had any luck with it since?
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Hey up, New member also of typewriter forum. Typewriter engineer for over 40 years (call it 50) but been out of trade for last 10 years as a train conductor. Now retired and returning to my fist love. Buildind vsry small but beautifully equipped workshop in my garage to renovate, rebuild machines for my collection and perhaps to send/sell on to anyone who wants a fully rebuilt machine at a sensible price. Especially here to help any enthusiasts who need technical advice/help. However cannot say I am all that familiar with Stateside machines - apart from Underwood 5 onwards and the later Royals etc. But will be willing to help with anything that types. Live in the U.K.
Last edited by halifaxlad (22-3-2013 07:17:44)
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Wow, I'd not heard of the Adler "The Writing Machine" book before. Looking on-line, the prices are over my pay grade.