One of my prized possessions is a 1959 Underwood typewriter. Built like a tank. I wrote all my university papers and a thousand letters on this gem. Kids these days dont know what they are missing. Anyone out there still use a classic typewriter? I understand Tom Hanks is a collector and afficianado of typewriters.
Classic typewriter fans?
- Thread starter Rusty Blade
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I used a typewriter when I was in the U. S . Army. I served at Ft. Hood in Texas. My typewriter had a spinning spindle. It was the latest model back in 1966.
I have a couple typewriters I picked up cheap at thrift stores. One I think is an Olivetti electric the other is a manual I don't remember the make or model. The cartridges for the Olivetti were difficult to find and expensive, IIRC making it basically useless. I'd like to get an IBM Selectric at some point. I've seen two in thrift stores, and I'm still kicking myself for not buying the first one. The second one was overpriced and broken. I think the recent hot trend at thrifts is to assume anything old and broken is a precious antique. Bonus points if it's filthy.
jackgoldman123
Boring and predictable
That's my last Smith Corona on the wall...
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- #5
When I think of classic typewriters I am thinking manual typewriters....the kind where you actually had to hit the keys with some pressure.
Can't say I have too many fond memories of using a typewriter. Manual or automatic. I've used them since middle school through my first few years in the workforce.
Ah the good ol days. Rented Seletric on a card table under a 150 watt lightbulb at 2:30AM re-typing pages of a paper for university. Yeah right . . .
I own two Smith Coronas. One is an electric with script lettering and the other is manual. I enjoy typing personal letters on them.
I’ve been hunting for a Hermès forever. One day!
I’ve been hunting for a Hermès forever. One day!
I recently bought an Olivetti Lettera 32 for myself and a Silver Reed for the wife.
There is a few other threads on the subject over the years.
www.badgerandblade.com
There is a few other threads on the subject over the years.
Search results for query: typewriter
www.badgerandblade.com
Got through junior high, high school and college with a Remington Quiet Writer Portable. Then in my first career job, I discovered IBM Selectrics and never looked back.
They're all gone now, and it's computers all the way. As someone who wrote for a living, I don't miss typewriters at all. After all, the term, "cut-and-paste" refers to actually cutting and pasting words, sentences and paragraphs together with scissors and tape. No thank you!
They're all gone now, and it's computers all the way. As someone who wrote for a living, I don't miss typewriters at all. After all, the term, "cut-and-paste" refers to actually cutting and pasting words, sentences and paragraphs together with scissors and tape. No thank you!
- Thread starter
- #11
Wow...those look wonderful!I recently bought an Olivetti Lettera 32 for myself and a Silver Reed for the wife.
There is a few other threads on the subject over the years.
Search results for query: typewriter
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I recently caught the typewriter bug thanks to a thread here a couple of weeks back. I got my Smith Corona Silent out of the attic and type on it a bit every day. I just picked up a Sears Portable, made by Brother. It’s a good lap typer.
I still have the Olivetti Lettera 36 electric that I bought for job hunting after college, plus a couple of real antiques. Those need some cleanup.
I still have the Olivetti Lettera 36 electric that I bought for job hunting after college, plus a couple of real antiques. Those need some cleanup.
That Smith Corona is nice. I like the look of that one.
simon1
Self Ignored by Vista
Here's a Royal Quiet De Luxe I picked up several years ago. Made in 1948.
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- #15
I recently picked up a Royal Quiet De Luxe. I think it is late 1950s. The carriage return lever was loose, so I did a bit of repair work and replaced a spring and now it works fine. Also replaced the ribbon. I love these old machines!
When I was a kid, Dad bought Mom an Olivetti like that light blue one. It looked like a lightweight toy, but Mom would knock out letters to all the relatives every week. And then there was the several hundred Christmas cards. It was built like a tank.I recently bought an Olivetti Lettera 32 for myself and a Silver Reed for the wife.
There is a few other threads on the subject over the years.
Search results for query: typewriter
View attachment 1241830View attachment 1241831
When I went away to college, I got a garage-sale 1929 Underwood - cast iron frame and barely portable. I used it for all my college papers. Before I finished college, I got one of the 1950's Royals (like one pictured above). It was still heavy but more "portable" than the ancient Underwood.
When he passed severaal years ago, I got Dad's electric typewriter - it has interchangable flat disks for character styles, a line or 2 of scrolling display, and a slot to put a diskette, although Dad never used disks. By the time I got it, word processor software and printers had been long in use.
Those Olivetti are truely bullet proof.
Probably the most famous example was the one owned by the author Cormac McCarthy, which he bought second hand nearly fifty years ago, and has about five million words on the clock.
Cormac McCarthy's Typewriter Dies After 50 Years and 5 Million Words
Cormac McCarthy, author of cheery favorites such as The Road and Blood Meridian, is about to trade in the typewriter he used to write them. The Olivetti Lettera 32 has been in his care for 46 years, since 1963, and it wasn’t even new then — McCarthy picked it up for $50 from a pawn […]
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- Thread starter
- #18
I also have an Olivetti Lettera 22. It is an engineering marvel. I believe it is the only typewriter to make it into the Museum of Art. Leonard Cohen also wrote much of his work on a Lettera 22. A fine machine.Those Olivetti are truely bullet proof.
Probably the most famous example was the one owned by the author Cormac McCarthy, which he bought second hand nearly fifty years ago, and has about eight million words on the clock.
Cormac McCarthy's Typewriter Dies After 50 Years and 5 Million Words
Cormac McCarthy, author of cheery favorites such as The Road and Blood Meridian, is about to trade in the typewriter he used to write them. The Olivetti Lettera 32 has been in his care for 46 years, since 1963, and it wasn’t even new then — McCarthy picked it up for $50 from a pawn […]www.wired.com
Used one in the military to write daily reports in my earliest years; hated it. More than three mistakes per page meant starting over from scratch…no white out allowed. The ribbons were another story in frustration since the military used the cheapest contractor. Never looked back when computers with black and green screens showed up on the desk.
That looks like an early 50s Quiet De Luxe to me. You can look it up on the Typewriter Database to find when it was made. I have a 1947 and a 54. I love them!
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