Typewriter Giveaway

I am excited to announce that I will be giving two typewriters away at the September 27th Type-In in Burlington, VT.  As luck would have it, Steven Herbert read about the spring type-in through Vermont's Seven Days newspaper and contacted me about finding a good home for his father's two typewriters.

Since Steven heard about me through the spring type-in, I thought it would be perfect turn to give his donated typewriters away at the fall type-in.  I will need to work on the Royal as it is suffering from a bit of rust.  But, as you can see by the type sample below, the Remington Super-Riter is in fine shape even after years of sitting in storage!  Make your plans to come up to Burlington on September 27th so you can win one of these beauties!

Typewriter Safari: Royal Flatbed

I have been continuing my search for typewriters in "the wild." I just came back from a fantastic trip with my family to New Mexico and the southern tip of Utah (Arches & Canyonlands National Parks). My wife and daughter were tolerant enough to let me stop at the GoodWill in Santa Fe with the promise that I would take charge of bringing a typewriter back on the plane as carry on luggage. I never found a portable but did find a Royal FP in Santa Fe that looked to be in great shape but it was way too heavy to carry on a plane. It's a shame because I had fantasies of re-painting a Smith Corona Super 5 in southwestern colors. Back at home, I did come across a very interesting Royal Flatbed in Heidi Harvey's shop Seasoned Antiques. She was nice enough to let me take a picture which I took home to do a bit of typewriter research. The machine turns out to be either a Royal 1 or a Royal 5 - one of the earliest of the Royal line. I wish I had gotten a shot of its front so I could have identified it by its label. The machine needed work but was in pretty good shape with the carriage sluggishly moving as I typed on the space bar. I'll leave this machine for you to find in Waterbury, Vermont as the price was higher than my $5 - $10 target and the machine would need more caring than I knew I could provide. Still, pretty nice example of a very early Royal!

Richard Polt Live-Web Interview at the Type-In

Richard Polt

Responding to a comment on this blog, I asked Richard Polt if we would live-stream his presentation at the September 27th Type-In and he agreed.  The interview will be live streamed on YouTube and will be preserved on this site.  Thanks Richard for agreeing to this!  For those of you who do not know Richard Polt's work, you can check out his recent interview on the Antiques and the Arts Weekly web site.  You should also check out one of Richard's typewriter blogs.  With this interview, the Type-In will be a blast.  If you can make the trip to Burlington, Vermont on September 27th you should!  You can bring a typewriter or use one of the many that will be at the type-in.  I have been receiving many gift typewriters lately and I have a 1970's Smith-Corona in mind as a door prize.  Make your travel plans and hotel reservations now as this is also the height of fall foliage, a beautiful time to visit Vermont.

Fall Type-In Announced

I am excited to announce that Vermont's second type-in will be held on September 27th from 1-5PM at the Maglianero Cafe on Maple Street in Burlington, VT.  This type-in will be part of the Burlington Book Festival and will feature typewriter expert Richard Polt who will join us via video conference to discuss his forthcoming book The Typewriter Revolution.  I encourage you to put a new ribbon in your old typewriter and bring it down to this fun event!