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KatLondon wrote:
Love it! Retro, that 'carved in stone' thing was what put me off typing.
We were all being prepared for what 'they' thought our future roles should be then. However, my English teacher suggested I should go into journalism and submit a few short stories. My form mistress took us for shorthand and the girls, gym too. Shorthand and typing opened quite a few doors for me, so no regrets there. Aspirations were different then and the girls seemed to want to stay at school as long as Daddy would pay the fees before becoming secretaries for a few years.
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Here's a snyp't (hyp'd) of my typ'd and type-related story.
Dig it.
In awe of the 'relics ' from another era, as the shopkeeper himself described them. In awe of his prices too, was I, and mumbled something along those lines.
He squinted and frowned and all at once.
Deliberately ignored me when I asked the price of the stout, stylish machine ecris that sat still on the designer 50's workunit. It was sparkly in the rain-run-through light of the morning.
It was a 'Good Companion' Imperial.
I asked again.
"oh, it's expensive.. " He said, eyeing my worn shoes and crap hat
"How much?" I press on
"It needs some work, but it's a classic , the price is reasonable for what it is."
"What's the price?"
His phone rang and he moved into the partitioned off back office. A young girl appeared in his place. She smiled nervously.
"Do you need any help, sir?"
I smiled back. "You're friendlier than him" I ventured
"Oh he's alright. I think..."
she looked around "It's my first day to be honest"
I didn't flinch.
"Yeah, I thought you were new. I come in here all the time.." Didn't blink - like they say psychopaths don't -
"He said this was twenty quid, put it in a bag for me will you sweetheart?"
That was my first typewriter . I have since been back to the shop and made plump my collection. But only when he gets a new kid in.
Last edited by PeterD (26-2-2015 20:04:18)
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Hi, I'm 26, & from southern British Columbia. I was given my first typewriter, a blue Olivetti Underwood 378, when I was 9; this model had passed down two users in the family for about 20 years/ea before me. It was never named, but I miss it now that I gave it back to my aunt. I bought a duplicate, (dubbed it 'Baby Blue'), & have decided to remodel the case, shell and cover for a nephew's birthday. I can find a different duplicate, because this one lacks the 'magic' of the original to me.
I am a jack-of-some-trades and a jack-of-several-languages. I want to redo an Empire Aristocrat I have with zelcro rubber covers, so I can jet between all of my fonts and conlangs. Inspiration: the Enigma Machine (the famous WWII code machine), & the Sincerity Machine (Comic Sans font, Jesse England). I have never worked the same job twice. I have dreams of seeing South America to witness the written languages of the Mayans, Incans, etc, and the current verbal language of Latin America. I saw a 'How it's Done" ("How it's Made"?) episode on rubber tree harvesting, and I really want to see that happening, so I can invent things & make paintings of people peeling the line down the trees to seep the sap.
I am a new user to this site. I don't know why I never joined a typewriter forum before. I'm glad that I did, because BOY are the people I know kind of sick of me telling them stuff I know.
Empire Aristocrat in question also lacks a magic vibe, but I think customizing it would help. Piece in question is named "Eemar", & its keys are so sharp they eat the ribbon -- which is why Eemar never gets used, & needs rubber shoes for his keyheads.
My maternal side all seem to like the Empire Aristocrat and Underwood 378 models. My Grandma had the Original Olivetti I speak of, gave it to my aunt, who gave it to me; I gave it back, and haven't felt like typing since.
I have a lovely Typestar 220-II that requires ink. I love the font; I love the diacritics -- it's so hard to find a good diacritic typewriter in my local thrift shops. I would love a copy of this model myself, but I gave it to my roommate, who was also bewitched by the piece. I'm waiting on a man in America to find his box of CR-100 ribbon cassettes & give me an estimate on what he wants for 1, or the whole box, depending on how many he actually has.
I myself am female; I wanted to be a writer when I was a teenager, and that hasn't quite landed me the cushy house in the countryside yet. I am approaching 27 in November. I am a stationery hoarder. I am an amateur traditional bookbinder who has never used a spiral binder kit before; for 26 years, I have handsewn books. My first bound book was inspired by the "Book of Days" artwork from the Middle Ages; this was done with metalic gel pens.
I'm so glad to be on a typewriter forum. This is like heaven, just about.
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Hi TKT! No, you will not get rich from writing (probably; I guess you never know), but if you wanted to be a writer in your teens then you should definitely be writing now.
Your typewriters sound interesting. I also have an Empire Aristocrat that doesn't really work, but I love it anyway. I've never thought of doing any actual modifications - but of a purist I think! But it's like any other kind of restoration, it's going to be a call, and bringing the machine back into usabilty is a big part of my pleasure, I think.
Last edited by KatLondon (24-3-2015 06:04:30)
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Hello from Newcastle, United Kingdom!
I recently became fasinated with IBM Selectric typewriters. I bought a Selectric II and a Correcting III localy for a good price and I am really pleased with them.
My main focus is the Correcting Selectric III; It works fine apart from a damaged 'r' on the 96 charactor typing element and the left margin stop does not seem to stop the carrage, it goes straight past it.
Hopefully with help from this fourm I could restore the Selectric III to its former glory!
Selectric User '96
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Hello Selectric User! I'm in London. There are a couple of us here in the UK. I think we are MOSTLY just into the manual typewriters, but there does seem to be some recent activity on the electrics sub-forum...
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Hi, I just thought I'd introduce myself as I'm new round here. My name's Taheerah, I live in the UK and have just recently become the very proud owner of an Underwood #3 Standard typewriter! It's a pretty old one and not operational at this time but I plan to cut my teeth on restoring as much of it as possible myself, eek! Looking forward to learning from all you guys and getting involved in the topics here once I know a bit more myself.
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Hello! I'm Jore from México, I'm in the process of refinishing and tunning up an Olivetti lettera 25 that I got for my girlfriend. Fun fact, most public hospitals in Mexico still use typewriters for files and someother things, and since my gf is in med school, that's why I got her the lettera.
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Hello friends, excuse me for my absence. School got my whole time. I got really interesting machines lately such as Japy and Industria Meccanica Chiavenna (ICM). I'll try to write reviews for all of them. Trying to by an Arabic Olympia these days, if i get it there will be a long critic on the forum about it.
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Hello from the San Francisco Bay Area!
About a month ago my daughter and I found a broken 1948 Remington Rand KMC on the curb. We dragged it home and got it running again, in large part thanks to very helpful information I found in the Typewriter Talk forum.
I hadn't used a typewriter since college. I had a turquoise KMart Deluxe 100 on which I typed all my papers. I loved its little tinny clatter. I lent it to a friend and never saw it again. I think about that typewriter now and then with a pang.
As soon as the KMC was running well, I started looking for another broken typewriter and found a nonfunctional Oliver No. 9 on eBay which I am in the process of restoring.
And: though we really weren't looking, my daughter and I found a broken Corona 4 at the junk shop down the street that needed rescuing.
So: in one month I have acquired three typewriters, two currently nonfunctional. Obviously, it is time I become a member of Typewriter Talk.