I purchased it for Amber, as she has taken an interest in all things vintage. She fell in love with an old typewriter at a flea market a few weeks ago, however we were not able to make the purchase. Today, while I stopped at a local church thrift store to check out some skirts (didn't find anything suitable) I happened upon this prize, and picked it up for Amber on the condition that if she get's tired of it, she will return it to me, in other words, she is not to sell it, or give it away. If she don't want it... I DO!
Ahhh... when I plugged it in and switched it on, I heard the motor start spinning, I fed some paper through it, and began to type. Despite the ribbon cartridge being dried out, it was feeding, all of the hammers worked, and it just made sounds that were music to my ears. To me, the sound of a typewriter going at full speed is like the snaps and pops of a vinyl record. Music, sweet music. I could go to sleep to it. Amber can't wait for me to get a ribbon in so she can start typing out her stories. I may use it myself a time or two.
I took great pleasure in teaching her how to load the paper, set the margins, and what all the little levers and switches were for. When I was a kid, mom gave me an old business IBM selectric III typewriter, and I used to use it all of the time. It was really heavy, and sadly, I can not remember what I did with it. I think something broke on it, and it found it's way to a thrift store. Dad got me a modern typewriter one year for Christmas, around 2000. It was okay, but it was plastic, made in China, and you know... all that. I left it at the old house when we moved because it wasn't working right anyway. And to think, the typewriter we picked up today had 30 years on the one I got for Christmas and it's still chugging along! Of course I don't think there's a plastic component in it....
And I think this might have something to do with it's longevity....
WHAT??? You mean the U.S. used to actually PRODUCE THINGS? You mean there was a time when there was more to our economy than doing each others laundry, stocking shelves, and flipping burgers? So that's what all those big empty abandoned buildings I see in every town were used for.... MAKING THINGS! How 'bout that....
Yeah... I was a weird kid. I loved to type on typewriters and listen to LP records. Son... what do you want for Christmas? A foot ball? A BB gun? A bike? No Dad, I'd like a typewriter and some CSN records please....
Our joke was to use the key combination that changed the character set to one that was made up of various combinations of lines.
