I was contacted by a gentleman who had sought me out last fall to find a typewriter for his father. His father is ninety-five years old and wanted to have a typewriter for his writing. His family had first gotten him a Royal Epoch which worked for a while but soon failed him with its flimsy construction. The Epoch is clearly a machine not built to withstand the typing of a nonagenarian. His son found my blog while searching for a genuine typewriter and I hooked him up with a 1950's Smith-Corona Sterling, which his father loved. The only problem was the Sterling's elite type. Not the best for ninety-five year old eyes. He contacted me again to ask if I had a machine with pica type. Fortunately, I had just gotten a hold of this 1961 Olivetti Studio 44. After a bit of cleaning, it was on its way to the man's father who will use the machine to type stories from his lifetime. This has been such a lovely turn of events. As you can see from the service decal on the Olivetti, this typewriter has its own stories to tell as it traveled from the factory in Spain, to Berkeley, California in the 1960's (There have to be some stories there!) to an elderly man in New England writing his life stories. Who knows, perhaps he went to college in California!
An interesting story indeed... Although I prefer the elite type style instead of the Pica's type style. xD
ReplyDeleteI've often commented when in an old building -- if only this building could talk. Imagine if the typewriters that cross our path could talk.
ReplyDeleteNice history. I'm sure the fellow getting the typewriter will enjoy typing about his life.
I can attest to the superiority of Pica as your eyes get older...it makes a difference indeed. I'm slowly weeding Elite machines out of my collection.
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