Notes

Short content: a microblog of status updates or short notes
Typewritten index card in black elite typeface that reads: Hello! I'm a 1955 Royal HH. I'm what's known as a standard typewriter. Usually I would sit permanently on a desk in one space and rarely move, much like a desktop computer now. Smaller and lighter portable typewriters existed for easier use, but they didn't come close to my performance, particularly for long periods of typing. Of course this performance is the reason that writers and creators like Truman Capote, Sylvia Plath, Elia Kazan, Mario Puzo, Robert Penn Warren, Eudora Welty, Charles Bukowski, George Burns, Herb Coen, Bruce Catton, Paddy Chayefski, Don Dellilo, Alice Denham, Paul Russell, James T. Farrell, William F. Buckley, Sterling North, Robert B. Parker, William Zinzer and even Hugh Heffner used Royal HH typewriters just like this one. I've got the standard Royal elite typeface and I can lay down type at 12 characters per inch and 6 lines per vertical inch. This makes me an excellent candidate to write the next great American novel. Why don't you get some paper and give me a whirl?

I usually type up a short introduction card for the handful of typewriters sitting around the house so that visitors will have an idea of what they’re appreciating. It’s almost like having a museum card on a work of art, but usually mine have a call to type on them. Naturally there are either index cards or paper close at hand to encourage both touching and typing.

Above is the brief introduction to the 1955 Royal HH I finished repairing, cleaning out, and re-assembling today.

A large standard Royal HH typewriter on a side table next to an old fashioned glass with a Negroni in it.
Ready to type at the end of the day, a Royal HH sits next to a Negroni.
You see photos of standard typewriters, but you’re never ready for what shows up. To provide some scale, here are my 12.8 pound 1949 Royal Quiet De Luxe portable and my 29.8 pound 1955 Royal HH standard next to each other. The Royal HH is a substantial typewriter. (I think I’m in love. 😍)

A straight on view of a small gray Royal QDL typewriter next to a brown Royal HH which is almost 2 1/2 times the size of the first. Both sit on top of a wooden library card catalog.

View from the left of a small looking Royal QDL in the foreground with a larger Royal HH sitting behind it.

Angle from the right of a hulking Royal HH looming over a much smaller and delicate looking Royal QDL in the background.

 

I remember chuckling when I saw Tom Hanks’ tags on his typewriters. Now that I’m over 15 of my own which are constantly out and about the house, I realize the benefit of matching tags on machines and their cases. I don’t have an issue with identification and matching (yet), but if nothing else, less interested family members can properly store them out of the way if they need to without causing issues. Interested visitors can also get a quick précis of machines they run across.

Thank goodness I’ve got a card catalog big enough to log and cross-file a couple hundred models. I’m thinking of categorizing by manufacturer, by decade, and including typeface samples, which I’ve already been doing as I add them to the typewriter database.

If you’ve gotten a terribly dusty and dirty typewriter and don’t have an air compressor or canned air at home, a quick trip to the car wash might not only get your car clean, but allow you to blow out your typewriter too!

(They might not smile much on your use of mineral spirits while you’re there, so use caution.)

A typewriter with most of its body panels removed is being blown out with a handheld blue air gun at a carwash.
I used a hand towel underneath the typewriter to capture any springs, loose screws, or pieces that might pop out just in case. You don’t want to loose anything at the carwash.
A pillar behind a carwash with two vacuum hoses on each side for vacuuming out one's car. Also on the post is a coiled hose attached to a handheld air gun. Between the two vacuum hoses is an angled metal platform with a large clip for attaching a floor mat for vacuuming it out.
If only the car mat platform was horizontal for typewriter cleaning…
I just downloaded my copy of Bob Doto’s book A System for Writing which was released for purchase this morning. I read an early draft in April and know it’s excellent. If knowledge management, zettelkasten, or writing are of interest to you, this is one of the best books on these topics. If you’re just getting into these areas, it’s required reading and will advance your practice more quickly than any four other books you’ll find.

Dark blue book cover of Bob Doto's A System of Writing featuring a network-like snowflake image.