Is a Typewriter the Best Tool?

Going my way?

3rd Annual Fall Type-In with the Burlington Book Festival

I am holding a Type-In with the Burlington Book Festival on September 17th from noon until 3PM at the Maglianero Cafe in Burlington, Vermont.  Come and explore typewriters and the written word.  I will have part of my collection at the cafe and I encourage typewriter fans to bring their own machines out to share.  There will be a typing contest and games for all ages.

This is the third year that I am partnering with the Burlington Book Festival who is also bringing the Boston Typewriter Orchestra on Saturday, September 16th at 7PM (Tickets Required).  Burlington is a beautiful city by the lake and is a fantastic place to visit on the cusp of fall.  Bring your typewriter and make a trip of it!

A Mountain of Dishes?

Take a Course and GET a typewriter

I love typewriters and I love teaching writing.  A big part of my collection lives in my office at school and I have long noticed how children are drawn to this writing tool.  

This revelation has inspired me to develop a graduate course for teachers that focuses on the best strategies for teaching young writers and includes a typewriter in the cost of tuition.  That's right, includes a typewriter.  While I am offering this course in a blended format in Vermont with one day in person and the balance of the course in an online format, I can offer a totally online version to anyone in the United States.  I will find a way to ship you a typewriter if you cannot find your own.  

This course will be a blast and I hope you can join me.

FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR REGISTRATION INFORMATION

The Man of the Kingdom

My sixth installment for Joe Van Cleave's typewritten story project.

WWII Corona

Yesterday I posted about what looked like an ordinary Smith-Corona Speedline from the late 30's to early 40's.  I already own a Silent and a Sterling from this era so I was not too excited about this Corona Standard until I took a close look at its keyboard.

If you look at the number zero on this keyboard you can see that it has a diagonal slash through it.  I looked at the type slugs and my hunch was correct, this machine was manufactured for the military during WWII.  

This kind of typewriter is known as a mill.  Each of its keys types only in capital letters so as to be easy to read.  The number zero has a slash through it so it would not be confused with the letter "O."

Looking up its serial number in the Typewriter Database, I believe this Corona was made in 1943, a time when typewriters were only available to the military.  Civilian production had stopped and would not pick up until after the war.

Believe it or not, I passed on this beauty.  I already have a mill from 1942 which was made for the US Navy.  So, there it sits at Sweeten Creek Antiques in Asheville, NC for anyone who wants to make the trip and pay just $75.

Typewriter Safari: Asheville, North Carolina

Once you start hunting for typewriters it's hard to stop, even when you are vacationing in Asheville, NC.  Asheville has a terrific arts scene with some typewriter images and typewriter theater!

Patricia's work can be found in an old Woolworth's store converted into an art gallery.

Walter's  work, The Art of Abandonment, had many cool images including  this Fox.

Hurry to Asheville to catch this musical theater adaptation of the children's book Click, Clack, Moo.  July 20-30.

Sweeten Creek Antiques had SO MANY typewriters!

Child's Sears Typewriter

Underwood 5 with some cool tab stops

I imagine these are accounting tab stops.

Hermes 2000 for $40 but, alas, no ribbon cover.

Here we have the common SC Sterling for about $45

A Royal Aristocrat barely hanging in there with a bent ribbon cover for about $40.  I couldn't help but unjam the keys before I walked on.

An accounting Underwood.

Remington 3 or 4, not quite sure.  Nice machine for $75.

An Underwood 3 which looks like the Underwood I just acquired for about $85.

Smith Corona Flat-Top for $85.

A Smith Corona Standard for $75

I noticed something different about this Speedline when I looked at the keyboard.  Do you see it too?  Post your guess about what made this Smith-Corona special in the comments below.

So, I ended up leaving all of these typewriters in North Carolina.  Which one might you have taken home?  Did you guess what made the Corona Speedline special?

Chloe and the Storm

Here is installment number 5 for Joe Van Cleave's "Typing Assignments" project based on "It was a dark and stormy night."

This piece was inspired, in part, by my recent acquisition of a Underwood 5 via Craigslist.  The sellers had just bought a camp on Lake Champlain and found this old Underwood in one of the closets.  Alas, the Underwood will not be ready for a typing assignment until I get it cleaned out and tuned up.  I typed this piece on an equally old Remington Portable from the 1920's.  The Remington was the only elite machine at my house and I needed every inch to get this story to fit on one page!

The Hound and the Fox

Here is my fourth post to Joe Van Cleave's typewriting project.  His prompt was to write about that old pangram: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.  Having two hound dogs myself, this was pretty fun!

Joe Van Cleave Writing Assignment #3: The Hangout

Joe Van Cleave's typewritten assignments continue to have great responses.  Here is my assignment number three describing my childhood hangout.  It was typed on my Olympia SM8. I think I am turning into an Olympia man!

As a technical aside, I am playing around with photographing my typed page.  I get excellent results when I scan my page with the photocopier at school but I have no scanner at home.  I have trouble with getting shadows in my image when I lay it down on a table to take a photo.  Today I taped my page to the wall so I could photograph it straight on.  Still not perfect but I like the results  a little more.

July 5th Typewriter Safari: Burlington, VT

I found myself with a little extra time in Burlington, one of my favorite Vermont cities so I set off for some typewriter hunting.  I came home empty handed but it was fun to check out my typewriter hunting ground. 

My first stop was at the Champlain Valley Antique Center which is actually down the road in Shelburne. I found a Smith-Corona Secretarial in excellent shape for $45.

I also found the book that would have taught anyone to be an excellent secretary.

Next it was down to Pine Street in the artistic South End of Burlington.  I found this Underwood (Remington) Noiseless in need of a full restoration for $45.

I also found this "last gasp" Smith-Corona electric for $59.

I rounded up my trip at Anjou, an upscale antique shop on Burlington's Main Street.  This was the first ABC 2000s I had ever seen. A little internet research tells me that it was probably made in the early 1070's in Portugal.  I think it is the same machine as the Sears Malibu. With an all plastic body and no cover, it was certainly not worth the $79 they were asking for it.  Just another example of how fickle typewriter prices can be.  This is the same shop where I purchased a gloss black Smith-Corona Speedliner a while back for $40.  It pays to know your machines and know where to hunt for them!

Typewriter Safari: Worcester, MA

I've made many trips to Worcester, MA to visit my recent college graduate daughter. We like to go to Birchtree Bread Company for lunch and visit the Crompton Collective vintage shops in the basement of an old mill building on Green Street.  I walked away with a brownie from the bakery but no typewriters that day.  Which one might you have taken home?

A fun little shop in Worcester.

Nice Galaxie Deluxe for $40

It didn't travel too far to get to Worcester.

Post-War Royal QDL without a case and loose felt under the type slugs for $45.

Brother aka Webster from the mid 1960's for $92

Pre-War Royal KMM for $110.

Olivetti-Underwood Lettera 22 for $75.

Think With a Typewriter - Joe Van Cleave Writing Post #2

Joe Van Cleave's second writing prompt asks us in the typosphere a familiar question. Why use a typewriter?Since I spoke about editing with a typewriter, I included a clip of my first draft below my "final copy."

First Draft

Typewriter Assignment #1 The Typewriter Speaks

Joe Van Cleave's Blog is a creative source of typewriter information and whimsy.  He is currently running a writing project for typewriter enthusiasts. Here is my first assignment from this project:

Typewriter Day Interview

I celebrated World Typewriter Day  being interviewed by Todd Moe at North Country Public Radio.  It was a lot of fun and he put together a nice little interview.  You can listen to the interview at THIS LINK.

That's me in my office at school with some of my collection.

Celebrate World Typewriter Day!

The Hunt

Postscript:

I did fix those key tops.  Turns out that the 30's and 40's Smith-Coronas did not have celluloid or glass on the key tops.  Instead, the letter for each key is printed on some sort of vinyl-like plastic.  Fortunately, the keys from the Speedline were a perfect match for the Standard.

Also, please excuse the typos in my typecast.  I guess that's what comes from excitedly typing on a park bench.  In any event, the image has been scanned and there's no going back.