Typed 4 x 6" index card in the carriage of a grey typewriter with black/red ribbon. The card reads: "Little known fact: Typewriter manufacturers didnt put an explicit exclamation key on their machines because they felt that anything worth of the expression ought to be truly created de novo and hand crafted.  Thus you're required to put the extra emphasis by typing out your period followed by the backspace and then an apostrophe!  Of course if you take the widdershins philosophy, for added emphasis you can first type out the apostrophe followed by the backspace and finally the period. This method provides a little bit more finality and emphasis for when you really mean it!!!

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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.

7 thoughts on “”

  1. I do not think it was for any reasons other than the fact that is was one less key to put in the machine. For the same reason my later Olympia does have a bang (!) key, but does not have a zero (0) key.

    It is a French model, and so among the keys it has as extras, are some very un-useful ones even for writing French. Notably the dedicated ù key… Which is used in a single word in the french language!!!

    (or should I finish: apostrophe apostrophe apostrophe backspace backspace backspace period period period)

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