My fascination with typewriters began about thirty years ago in the late-80s. A 1964 Olympia SM9 Portable sat on my grandparents’ desk and my little brother and I would play with it when we’d go for visits. I loved the feel of its sleek metal exterior, its responsiveness to my touch, the hammering and clicking sounds it made when I’d push the keys, and the cheerful ringing of the bell when the carriage reached the end of a row. We took much delight in using our small hands to mash all of the keys at once and watch the type bars all fly up and stick together then we’d carefully separate them one at a time. I didn’t understand what an unkind thing it was to do to such a lovely machine, I just liked the thrill I felt each time I did it!
By the mid-90s I was in junior high and feeling all those junior high feels. I had so many important things to say that were just bursting to get out of me! So I hauled my mom’s [very] heavy Smith-Corona Electra 220 back into my bedroom, locked myself in my bedroom, lugged the machine up onto my desk and proceeded to write my life story. Those documents were all mercifully burned by my mortified early twenty-something self, although my late thirty-something self feels more compassion towards my junior-high self and sure would like to see them again!
My high school papers in the late nineties were still written by hand. We didn’t get a family computer until my senior year of high school. High school isn’t really a time to appreciate the finer things or wax nostalgic or anything, and the excitement of computers eclipsed anything I might have ever felt for a typewriter anyway. Once I reemerged from the haze that was high school and college, I started thinking about typewriters again, but it was only in the last 10 years that I actively started looking for one. I’d browse online, become overwhelmed by too many options, and occasionally meet one in person that was either too dilapidated or not the right fit. Once, about six years ago, I brought one home, but it wasn’t the right fit for me and I put it back out into the world for someone else to find. Later, only 16 months ago, I eagerly brought home another typewriting friend only to discover it wasn’t a typewriter at all!
Unbeknownst to me, all would come together just two months later, and my typewriter education would begin with the surprising discovery of an old Underwood in my grandmother’s garage. Maggie Underwood is an extra special gal, not only for her sheer beauty and storied history, but because she was our first - the one who initiated me back into the joy of mechanically typewritten words and initiated Benjamin into the joy of restoring them. Just weeks later Ollie (the 1964 Olympia) showed up. As the first typewriter I acquainted myself with during my childhood, finding him tucked away in his forgotten spot was a joyful run-on for me.
Benjamin began refurbishing them, learning as he went, and gaining his own love for these well-crafted machines. Suddenly, typewriters were everywhere. Only a few weeks after I’d been typing away on Maggie we heard of an estate sale featuring more than thirty typewriters in Benjamin’s home town. They were all bought up by one buyer as soon as the doors opened, but that was no matter. We had an opportunity to walk around and see them in all their glorious diversity as the man collected their tags to check out. It was a feast for the eyes!
After that we continued to come across a few here and there during our Texas travels and acquired three more for Benjamin to refurbish and restore life to. While my passion lies in the use of the machines, his love is for the refurbishing.
Our powers combined, we began studying the typewriter market closely to learn more about the different brands, makes and models and the different features each could offer. He learned how to identify solid picks for refurbishment and I began to understand when and how I could use different models in my art practice. This learning’s been ongoing through the last fifteen months and we are both fueled by this shared adventure! We are just getting started and are so energized by our complimentary interests in these compelling machines.