1 of 1- rdnzl
- Platen Punisher
Offline - Registered: 02-2-2020
- Posts: 80
New Baby
This little bundle of joy came today.
- treefaller
- Touch Typist
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- From: The Dalles, Oregon, USA
- Registered: 24-9-2015
- Posts: 153
Re: New Baby
It is interesting that the typing chart shows the left thumb being used (as well as the right) for the space bar. I don't recall exactly how I came to use the right thumb exclusively on the space bar (I taught myself by reading a short article) but I have heard it said as a piece of trivia that the only one of the ten digits that is not used in touch typing is the left thumb. To each his own I guess.
Bangin' around, this dirty old town, typin' for nickels and dimes...
- skywatcher
- Moderator
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 737
Re: New Baby
Hi Tree Faller
I brought a 1936 Imperial Good Companion back from England in 2013 and finally tracked down an owner's manual a few years later. I was amused by what the instructions said about using the space bar when practicing typing, then going on to do regular typing. I quote from page 13 of the Instruction book:
"Then do the whole line, and when using the space bar always do so with the thumb opposite the hand with which the preceding stroke was made."
I just found this interesting as so many typing instruction books say to only ever use your right thumb only. All the best,
Sky
We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
- M. Höhne
- Key Master
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- From: Maine
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 639
Re: New Baby
Re which thumb to use on the spacebar: Good Grief. I would not be surprised to learn that speed typing contestants used whichever their reaction times dictated rather than following a rule that said "keep your left thumb out of the way" or pausing to consider which hand made the preceding stroke. Would not be surprised to learn that whoever wrote to only ever use the right thumb was a right-handed person (not that we will ever find out that bit of info). And what about the poor unfortunates who manage with two-finger hunt and peck---they have to re-train themselves?
This re-enactment enthusiasm is getting out of hand! ;-)
- Fleetwing
- Typewriter Talk Vet
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- From: Hartford, CT USA
- Registered: 30-6-2015
- Posts: 1,011
Re: New Baby
I realize that I type with only my index and middle fingers, and usually only space with my left thumb, not the right. Never took a typing class. But it works for me.
- rdnzl
- Platen Punisher
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- Registered: 02-2-2020
- Posts: 80
Re: New Baby
I am a proponent of the "hunt and peck" method.
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