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Monday, 19 December 2011

But be wary: Typewriter Vandals are at large this Christmas


Can you believe it? Someone has actually chopped the keys off one of those exceedingly rare Smith-Corona music sheet writing portable typewriters, to make pendant necklaces.
And for what gain? On my eBay typewriter alert this morning, the above item came up with a “Buy it Now” price of $24.95!
The item is advertised as the “quaver or eighth note, musical note typewriter key with the number 6. This key is from a very RARE and hard to find antique Smith Corona Typewriter that was made for writing music as well and regular typing.”
This seller is proud to say, “All of my typewriter creations are made with authentic, vintage typewriter and cash register keys from the 1900s-1940s."
Yes, you will find the Typewriter Vandals will be out in force this Christmas, as shoppers go hunting for gifts for the “people who have everything”.
These keychoppers have even finally penetrated my own outer defences, around fortress Canberra, and this advertisement appeared locally on the weekend:
Let me give fellow collector and historian Alan Seaver the final word on this subject:
“Today, keychoppers (those who remove the keys for jewelry and other crafts) are diminishing the number of surviving typewriters at an alarming rate. Someday, machines that have been preserved by collectors may be the only ones left.”







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6 comments:

  1. Richard P19 December 2011 at 14:53

    #$@&*(* barbarians!

    When will this scourge come to an end?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cameron19 December 2011 at 14:57

    OUCH!

    This is especially painful to me as a professional musician and typewriter collector.

    Yet, I console myself with the fact that you, Robert, and other typewriter collectors around the world such as Richard Polt and many others, are preserving these incredible machines. Thank you all!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Robert Messenger19 December 2011 at 15:34

    Thanks, Cameron. We do our best ...

    Richard, surely cutting keytops off one of these music writers has got to be the very last straw! There should be a law against such a thing. Anything that ETCetera rates on its rarity and desirability lists cannot be touched. I'm utterly horrified by this latest development.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bill M19 December 2011 at 22:06

    I cringe each time I see this kind of jewelery. Then this is for a music writer yet!! I hate seeing machines ruined for so-called art, but what is one to do when shipping costs on many machines outweighs the cost of the machine and breaks ones budget? I do like the engraving. It looks like luddites out to get the typewriters instead of the mill machinery.

    ReplyDelete
  5. maschinengeschrieben19 December 2011 at 22:53

    Yelp. These people are mad. They're proud that they chopped the keys off from rare machines.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Machines of Loving Grace20 December 2011 at 09:42

    That steadily rising, shrill sound you hear drifting across the Pacific is my shriek at having seen that.

    ReplyDelete

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