Typewriter Exhibition Opens: Record Crowd

Canberra went typewriter crazy yesterday when the From A to Z: Robert Messenger's Typewriters two-month-long exhibition opened before a record crowd for such an event at the Canberra Museum and Gallery.
The Honourable Richard Amery, Member of the New South Wales Parliament and himself an avid typewriter collector, officially opened the event at 3 o'clock on Saturday afternoon.
But unofficially the exhibition's doors had opened two-and-a-half days earlier, at 9 o'clock on Thursday morning, after massive publicity for the event appeared in The Canberra Times and drew crowds flocking to the display.
Yesterday, however, the doors were closed once more as Shane Breynard,  Director of Australian Capital Territory Museums and Galleries, performed the introductions and Mr Amery declared the exhibition open.
There were amazing scenes at the museum as people swarmed around the exhibits and many tried their hand at typing - some for the first time, many after a number of years of not having used a typewriter. It certainly was a great start to the event:

Richard Amery, left, opens the event while Robert Messenger, foreground, waits to give away some typewriters: An Alpina for Mr Amery and a Royal DeLuxe for exhibition curator, Rowan Henderson. A video of the presentations will follow.

One section of the crowd which filled the museum's main foyer for the opening. Neil Lade, the original driving force behind the exhibition, can be seen standing below the round, maroon wall plaque

Shane Breynard makes the introductions while the crowd bows in deference to typewriters!

14-year-old typewriter enthusiast Jasper Lindell (red jacket) and his father John watch as Terry Cooksley does an on-the-spot, no tools servicing of young Jasper's Imperial Good Companion. As Richard Amery said, it's a very special skill.

Shane Breynard, left and Richard Amery.

In the background, Peter  and Deborah Brill, who drove 3723 kilometres (2327 miles) across the Nullarbor Plain (it's Latin for "no trees") to be at the opening, can be seen signing in and buying a copy of Robert Messenger's new book, 101 Great Typewriters. Peter Brill built the exhibition's public-use IBM Selectric with the Blick keyboard.

Robert Messenger and Richard Amery. Mr Amery later wrote, "What a great day ...  What a great tribute to your place in the typewriter world."

The young and the old try out new and old skills

John McNamara and Wendy Hansen know how to type - 

but they haven't tried it for some time!

Emily Hansen, who did much to encourage and assist with the event,

tries out an Olivetti Lettera 32

Terry Cooksley (back to camera) explains the mystery of typewriters to Lothan Gerhardt and his wife, who drove 432km (270 miles) down from Newcastle for the opening,  as well as, right, an intrigued Robert Messenger and Richard Amery.

From Valencia to Cincinnati to Canberra: The much-travelled little Winsor snuggles down in its new home between a Gossen Tippa, right, which once served an architect on Canberra's building sites, and a Groma Kolibri which, who knows? Maybe it served a dissident writer in East Germany?

Everyone LOVED the Blick! But Peter Brill's jocular assessment: "Not enough Blicks!"