Mr. Rogers wearing a yellow sweater sits in front of a gray Royal Futura 800 typewriter. He's holding up a blue sheet of paper with a picture of a cartoon typewriter on it and pointing towards the right side of the carriage.

Typewriter 101 on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

If you’re working at getting the little ones started into typewriters (or just starting out yourself), Mr. Rogers covers some of the basics in episode 1083 of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood from February 25, 1970.

You can see Mister Rogers demonstrate the use of what appears to be a Royal Futura 800 in the full episode here: https://misterrogers.org/episodes/typewriters/

“I was very much interested in letters.”
—Fred Rogers

While he used a Futura in the show, his personal typewriters included a 1930’s Royal portable (possibly a Model O?) and a Royal KMG, which can be visited at the Fred Rogers Institute by joining the 143 Club.

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And if you’re a serious fan, you’ll potentially have a Royal KMG and Futura of your own.

A gray Royal KMG standard next to a blue Royal Futura 800 on a wooden table. In the background is a wooden library card catalog with a 1930s black enamel typewriter and various decorations. — My mini facsimile Fred Rogers typewriter collection.

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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. View all posts by Chris Aldrich