A reply to someone who was worried they overpaid for their typewriter.
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Chris Aldrich
I'm a biomedical and electrical engineer with interests in information theory, complexity, evolution, genetics, signal processing, IndieWeb, theoretical mathematics, and big history.
I'm also a talent manager-producer-publisher in the entertainment industry with expertise in representation, distribution, finance, production, content delivery, and new media.
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4 thoughts on “On the Value of Typewriters”
@chrisaldrich I had to rent a car to go pick up my typewriter, so I'm already sold.
But it's been sitting in its carry case since I got a day job. I thank you for the reminder.
I was inspired by Chris Aldrich’s post to purchase, clean, and repair an old typewriter. I never realized what marvels these things are. This instrument works just about as well as it did in the forties.
It makes me think about machines a bit differently.
$50 dollars! That’s uh… not that much. It’s less than parking at the Intuit Dome for game, which is admittedly, the sort of legacy, legalized larceny one has to deal with/manage living in Los Angeles.
But when it comes to manual portable typewriters and their gear, you can easily hurtle over the $50 dollar limit assembling the cleaning products and particular tools you’ll need just to maintain these machines, not including the typewriters themselves. I know on this blog you have a tools post — highly recommended, BTW — that features many of the fantastic products and handy tools you need to keep these treasures going.
But back to costs… my spouse recently had me do a fiscal rundown of the typewriters I’ve accumulated since I’ve gone headfirst down the typospherian rabbit hole this past year (which is how I found this blog) and I’m approaching 2K and counting and that’s with some really sweet thrifts and fortuitous finds along the way.
Even now I’m contemplating spending a king’s ransom on a refurbished Groma Kolibri because they’re such delicate, complex machines to work on, and I want something that works beautifully right out out the box. A machine that doesn’t need me to do a half-dozen things to it prior just to get it working. Sometimes, like with my Triumph Perfekt, the results of that work are sublime while others, like my Consul 232, are longer hauls… as it sits disassembled in the garage while I try and source/make a rare part it needs.
Maybe that’s just me… I’m really of that Joe Van Cleeve school of wanting typewriters to be used as working tools incorporated into my everyday work routines and life, not just display pieces on a shelf or hanging out in the garage, sealed in their cases with silica packets. For that, they have to be workable and ready to go with the caveat there will always need to be that periodic maintenance and a chance at an unexpected snag… that ribbon reversal that suddenly stops functioning or a tension control that starts sticking… any manner of emergencies.
That’s the idea anyway… although there’s no way I’d have a collection as large as Van Cleeves’s; the logistics of just maintaining such a prodigious lineup that large I can’t see not interfering with creative endeavors and time.
Many of the more visible longtime hobbyists on YouTube/FB groups bemoan the boom costs of acquiring typewriters these days in the post Tom Hanks/California Typewriter era, yet lovingly showing off that Hermes 3K they picked up at a yard sale for 15 bucks that only needed a ribbon. It’s not 2015 and such cases are rarer these days.
And despite the luck, Sarah Everett (@JustMyTypewriter) has had with her $25 limit mostly with the plentiful American models BTW, it’s not exactly a thrifty hobby, especially if you’re into certain makes and models, particularly the ones from Germany and the DDR… your Erikas, Torpedos, Voss, etc.
People should have some realistic expectations if they’re going to delve into it… but if they do, the rewards can be immense and immeasurable.
@chrisaldrich I had to rent a car to go pick up my typewriter, so I'm already sold.
But it's been sitting in its carry case since I got a day job. I thank you for the reminder.
I was inspired by Chris Aldrich’s post to purchase, clean, and repair an old typewriter. I never realized what marvels these things are. This instrument works just about as well as it did in the forties.
It makes me think about machines a bit differently.
Congratulations on your new treasure (and what I suspect is your first typecast.)
If you haven’t found it and need it, I have a list of typewriter resources and useful articles for cleaning and repair at https://boffosocko.com/research/typewriter-collection/#Typewriter%20Resources.
$50 dollars! That’s uh… not that much. It’s less than parking at the Intuit Dome for game, which is admittedly, the sort of legacy, legalized larceny one has to deal with/manage living in Los Angeles.
But when it comes to manual portable typewriters and their gear, you can easily hurtle over the $50 dollar limit assembling the cleaning products and particular tools you’ll need just to maintain these machines, not including the typewriters themselves. I know on this blog you have a tools post — highly recommended, BTW — that features many of the fantastic products and handy tools you need to keep these treasures going.
But back to costs… my spouse recently had me do a fiscal rundown of the typewriters I’ve accumulated since I’ve gone headfirst down the typospherian rabbit hole this past year (which is how I found this blog) and I’m approaching 2K and counting and that’s with some really sweet thrifts and fortuitous finds along the way.
Even now I’m contemplating spending a king’s ransom on a refurbished Groma Kolibri because they’re such delicate, complex machines to work on, and I want something that works beautifully right out out the box. A machine that doesn’t need me to do a half-dozen things to it prior just to get it working. Sometimes, like with my Triumph Perfekt, the results of that work are sublime while others, like my Consul 232, are longer hauls… as it sits disassembled in the garage while I try and source/make a rare part it needs.
Maybe that’s just me… I’m really of that Joe Van Cleeve school of wanting typewriters to be used as working tools incorporated into my everyday work routines and life, not just display pieces on a shelf or hanging out in the garage, sealed in their cases with silica packets. For that, they have to be workable and ready to go with the caveat there will always need to be that periodic maintenance and a chance at an unexpected snag… that ribbon reversal that suddenly stops functioning or a tension control that starts sticking… any manner of emergencies.
That’s the idea anyway… although there’s no way I’d have a collection as large as Van Cleeves’s; the logistics of just maintaining such a prodigious lineup that large I can’t see not interfering with creative endeavors and time.
Many of the more visible longtime hobbyists on YouTube/FB groups bemoan the boom costs of acquiring typewriters these days in the post Tom Hanks/California Typewriter era, yet lovingly showing off that Hermes 3K they picked up at a yard sale for 15 bucks that only needed a ribbon. It’s not 2015 and such cases are rarer these days.
And despite the luck, Sarah Everett (@JustMyTypewriter) has had with her $25 limit mostly with the plentiful American models BTW, it’s not exactly a thrifty hobby, especially if you’re into certain makes and models, particularly the ones from Germany and the DDR… your Erikas, Torpedos, Voss, etc.
People should have some realistic expectations if they’re going to delve into it… but if they do, the rewards can be immense and immeasurable.