Typewriter Talk / What kind of paper are you using?

**Posted by Repartee** 07-5-2016 18:28:13

This does not seem have been asked in at least a year so I thought a survey might be in order.

If you use commercially available paper stock other than general office paper please mention the brand and what quality makes it worth bypassing the run of the mill. Thanks.

**Posted by KatLondon** 07-5-2016 20:12:14

I use different kinds of paper, including: standard printer paper, NOS, Lined notebook paper, and scrap. I made a load of rolls last summer for workshops, and they went down a storm with the kids - & I discovered I really like having an actual page...

**Posted by SoucekFan** 07-5-2016 22:23:05

I use multipurpose for general use and some letters, normally the least bright I can find, and Southworth ivory 100% cotton resume paper for fancier letters, especially when I am doing them with faux vintage Photoshoppped letterhead. It depends on my mood whether I get fancy with the paper. I space out the letters with the nicer paper so the people I write to don't expect it every time, as I am not always in the mood to mess with printing the letterhead, I get really picky about errors when I use the nicer paper, and it is not cheap; though Walmart sometimes has the resume paper for 8 bucks or so for 100 sheets, if I remember correctly. So it is not horribly expensive for letters, though I can kill off several sheets on one letter with printing errors and too many typos.

**Posted by Repartee** 11-5-2016 04:50:48

SoucekFan wrote:
I use multipurpose for general use and some letters, normally the least bright I can find, and Southworth ivory 100% cotton resume paper for fancier letters .... though I can kill off several sheets on one letter with printing errors and too many typos.

I just cast my own vote for multipurpose and the multipurpose has it. I have some nice letter writing paper in legal (of course) - two reams, in fact - but did not choose the mixed option because I have not actually written one letter on it. It just seems too fine for my error rate.

Least bright is interesting because in economy paper at least, brightness seems to correlate with overall quality. HP multipurpose is good for my purpose, decent quality and still inexpensive - as little as $7/ream by mail - but I may go a little further up the quality scale in the future if I can find the right small increment: not fancy but a notch more durable.

**Posted by SoucekFan** 11-5-2016 10:00:17

Repartee wrote:
Least bright is interesting because in economy paper at least, brightness seems to correlate with overall quality.

That may be true. I just like the look of duller paper. My multipurpose paper is by no means quality.

**Posted by JanetLand** 11-5-2016 10:39:26

For letters, I buy old blank business or hotel letterhead off ebay.

**Posted by Uwe** 11-5-2016 13:21:08

JanetLand wrote:
hotel letterhead off ebay.

Now that's interesting. It must confuse the heck out of those receiving your letters!

I just looked at some fantastic vintage hotel letterhead on eBay and it would be fun to go that route, but it's a little too pricey for me.

[img]http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTE5OVgxNjAw/z/V0IAAOSwInxXL7By/$_57.JPG[/img]

**Posted by Fleetwing** 11-5-2016 15:21:20

Wow! Nice stationery! Anybody know whether the Hotel Moore is still around? (Or where Ontario, Oregon is? And what's the deal with the Mongolian Pheasant?)

More practically, I'd say that letterhead takes up a lot of real estate on the page, but it would prompt conversation....

**Posted by TypewriterKing** 11-5-2016 16:54:59

Generally, for me, I've been using this old computer-type paper someone threw away. I've been using it for sometime for personal notes and stuff. I use newer all-purpose office paper for my love letters to my girlfriend. So far, she counts over 3000 such letters (musta been typing a long time). Anyway, I've used parchment-type paper for resumes (those are computer-generated though. You want everything to be just-so whenever you're looking for work). I once toyed with the idea of making my own letterhead. I typed out my name, went down to the local copy shop and enlarged that on three sheets of paper, took that home, and typed in regular size my address and other particulars. Drew a couple of lines under that and took it back to the shop to make copies. It worked pretty well, my own letterhead. But that was about fifteen years ago I did this, and my telephone number has changed several times since then what with the advent of cell phones. Was a day when you could have the same number for twenty years or longer, now, about every six months to a year, you gotta change your number because you dropped your cell phone or it just got old and quit working on you (unlike what typewriters do). Anyway, I have thought about making another letterhead when I get some more minutes and money to myself to do that. Wish me luck.

**Posted by JoeV** 11-5-2016 17:55:03

I've been typing exclusively on Mead "general purpose" paper since I discovered it's the same as their older typing paper that's been rebranded. It seems to take typewriter ribbon ink easier than inkjet printer paper, so I get a darker imprint on every machine in my collection. It is also crisp and thin, but not as thin as airmail paper of old.

I suspect the surface of the inkjet paper is engineered for less absorbency, so the liquid ink won't feather and spread as it dries. But typewriter ribbons have to transfer the ink imprint by brief contact pressure alone, so it needs to be more absorbent.

~Joe