These discussions have overlapped in some recent typosphere events including Sarah Everett asking for photos of repair shop labels, Lucas Dul having printed some repair shop stickers for Typewriter Chicago, and Richard Polt announcing that he’s slimming down his typewriter collection. I’m also reminded of property tags that have popped up on some of my typewriters which came out of governmental entities, banks, and other businesses as well as the custom legends, often seen in the shift keys, of glass typewriter keys to advertise dealers and repair shops.
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It all prompts the question: Has anyone ever made their own permanent labels, stickers, or permanent property tags for their own typewriter collection? They could be both cool and decorative like bookplates, identify ownership, show provenance for future collectors. They could be simple like some of the old bank property numbers, or more ornate like the refurbishment water slide decals some rebuilders used in the mid-century [1]. They could also be as basic as some of the stickers typewriter repair and sales shops used to advertise their presence. In some sense, I’m also reminded of the inscriptions and seals seen on Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints.
One could include their name, acquisition date, model name (if it’s not obvious on the machine, I’m looking at you Olympia), decorative image, “ex collectione” (a la ex libris), and a personal serial number or collection number. What else might one include? Naturally one would like to have them be durable enough that they could withstand future cleanings, dips, or encounters with solvents and degreasers.
Obviously one would want these to be lovely and tasteful so as not to overwhelm a machine, potentially leave space for others in the future, and be somewhat more permanent than other tags one might have on their machines for identification. They could also be done and hidden inside body panels like some shops did for labels they used for dating clean, oil, and adjustments. Obviously one would like something better than messily hand-carving their name and social security number into the body of a machine like I’ve seen done with a variety of machines, or which Tom Hanks has done with sharpie on the hoods of typewriters he’s donated away from his collection.
One could fashion a simple metal plate to affix to their machines in the same way that Olympia added their own manufacturer’s plates? These machines also often have some blank space on them where collectors could add their own plates, stickers, or logos. Where would you have such a plate made?
Many collectors put a lot of work and time into maintaining or restoring typewriters in their collection. Why not show off some of this work and help to memorialize it for future generations? I recently came across a Marshall Plan sticker on a Royal KMG in the Typewriter Database that certainly helps to show it’s history, why not add others? A variety of tags, stickers, labels, and miscellanea have added to the patina and history of these machines, why not add your “stamp” as well?
How would you design a custom typewriter plate to represent yourself and your collection? What would you make it out of to give it some longevity? Would you put it on the outside to show it off or hide it inside?
How else might you create some more permanent provenance for the machines you care for to pass along to future generations?
As a collector, I would prefer that people not add more stickers. I’m ok with existing ones that were contemporary to the time as it reflects the typewriter’s era.
If you are using the machine in a working capacity and need a label for asset tracking, by all means. But for machines in my collection, I’m happy having the serial number in a spreadsheet.
I think I would lean towards a card that goes along with the machine that includes information and ownership history.
Typewriter Plates for Collectors? | Chris Aldrich – sh.itjust.works
I wouldn’t add sticker on the outside. If I like to use typewriters, it’s in part because they’re a part of an other time, relics from the past; even if they’re a part of my actual workflow in 2026, I tend to aesthetically conserve them, not unlike museum pieces.
But I would totally add something on the inside, and I think it’s a wonderful idea! I love to find ex libris in the old books I buy (but nobody put an ex libris on the cover), I think it would be cool to find an ex thesauro (I prefer this form over “ex collectione”, it feels more classic to me but I’m not a good Latin writer so I may be wrong). It’s like a little gift to the people who will own my machines after me, as they would know more about the history of the machine.
Thanks for the idea!
Yeah, a little asset label would be cute. I like knowing where my typewriters lived before they saw me.
I must admit that my gut reaction to this idea was “No, don’t stick anything to your typewriters!” But upon deeper reflection, I can see the value in having your name attached to the machine in some way. I say this due to a personal experience I had with mine. If you will indulge me a (fairly) brief anecdote…
I am a new arrival to the hobby after receiving some free typewriters at Christmas time. One of them, a 1947 Smith-Corona Clipper, had a label attached bearing a previous owner’s name and address. It was a very small piece of paper about the size of a fortune cookie slip, and barely still attached. In fact I forgot to remove it prior to my initial cleaning with an air compressor and blew it right off. I had to search my driveway afterwards and was fortunate to find it amongst the fallen leaves.
I looked up the name online and found the typewriter had belonged to a lady who lived from 1909 to 2002. All I know of her comes from a single Find-A-Grave page containing a very brief biography. She was a dedicated amateur genealogist who had never married nor had children. She was also an only child and is buried with her parents under a common headstone.
Given the years spanned by her life, I think it very possible this lady may have been the typewriter’s original owner. How it found its way from her home in Tennessee to mine in Maryland I may never know. There was a numbered sticker on the outside of the case indicating it may at some point have been part of an auction or estate sale.
So to get back to the point of your post, I very much appreciate knowing some of the history my typewriter went through in its nearly 80 years of existence. Though perhaps somewhat tenuous, I feel a bit of a connection to the typewriter’s previous owner, probably heightened by the fact that she did not appear to have many other people to remember her life. I am glad I found her name on the machine.
Typewriters in the hands of conscientious hobbyists should for the most part be well-maintained and prepared to last for many more decades, if not centuries. I see no downside in recording as much of their history as possible for the enlightenment of future owners. Of course we cannot guarantee they will be interested, but that is up to them.
As to how we pass the machine’s historical information along, that might require some thought. For the typewriters which have a case, if space allows, I like the idea of keeping an information packet in the case underneath the typewriter. My Clipper still had the original manual in its envelope which I have placed into a larger envelope to prevent further deterioration. I plan to eventually type up a sheet containing all I know about the typewriter’s history, including where and when I acquired it, what I have learned about the previous owner(s), and a list of any maintenance and/or repairs I have done to it. I may even include a photo or two of the machine in its present surroundings. And I have placed the original lady’s little address label in a smaller envelope and will keep that in there as well.
But for typewriters sans case, or without any extra room in the case, a label may be the best way to convey the fact of your ownership. I like the photo you posted of an Olympia with room on the back for multiple small labels, but I don’t know if most typewriters would be so accommodating. I don’t know what type of label would be best, but I would be averse to doing anything that a future owner would not be able to undo. Perhaps a thin metal plate attached via double-sided tape would be my initial idea. As to where you might have one made up, my first thought would be the kind of plaque you can get custom engraved at a trophy shop. I don’t know how small and thin of a plaque they can make but it is worth asking. Come to think of it, even the most snug typewriter case would likely have a spot somewhere on its interior where you could affix the label or plaque rather than to the typewriter itself.
I have to say here that while I am curious about the history of my typewriters, most of that curiosity comes from a desire to know the original owner who used it in a time when typewriters were the major way of recording information to paper. I like to imagine the genealogist compiling family trees for relatives and writing letters to churches and courthouses seeking information in a pre-Internet age. Or the college student taking class notes on her ultraportable while protests against the Vietnam war rage outside. Were I to own a typewriter one hundred years from now, I’m not sure I would be quite as interested in knowing the numerous collectors it had passed through on its way to me. Although they would all certainly deserve respect and appreciation as people who cherished and cared for the machine and helped shepherd it from one generation to the next.