Total Pageviews

Tuesday 7 May 2013

Mr Strangetype or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and (re)Love the Typewriter

"Mr President, it is not only possible, it is essential. That is the whole idea of this machine, you know."
There's Slim Pickings of 19th century typewriters, so a 1959 one will do just fine!
Typed on my 1959 Olympia SM3 (Schreibmaschine Mittelgroß Modell 3) portable typewriter, serial number 1132235.


8 comments:

Ray said...

I think your approach to collecting (and using the machines in your collection) is fantastic. As a recent typewriter collector (and with only a small amount to spend on the passion at present) I'm always looking for a functional machine that I don't have and will be able to use and enjoy. Maybe one day I'll have more to invest in more 'unique' machines, but I don't know that I will be any happier than I am when using the more 'common' typewriters I already have. They're (mostly) all beautiful and fascinating. Thanks for the insightful post, Robert.

Scott K said...

I was just thinking to myself this morning that you were more typosphere than 'old school' collector. Mainly because you are so dynamic with your blogging.

Richard P said...

Well said and well typed. I have had much the same experience since starting my blog: I appreciate and understand my typewriters more because I use them more; they are allowed to fulfill their purpose; and by using them, I have developed some distance from the 21st century digital paradigm, a distance that many people today are feeling that they need.

Richard P said...

PS: I love the "Mr. Strangetype" theme, and the story about Wussow is very nice.

TonysVision said...

What a treat to see this great post combine celebration of Olympia typewriters with the concept of actually using the machines in one's collection. Using typewriters for letter-writing is what triggered my current, apparently unstoppable, obsession to acquire them. At the beginning of this year there were just two, and they had been locked away for decades among our other stored rubble. One, a Royal No. 10, was pulled out of a neighbor's garbage can in the 1960's just because I like to fix up and use fine vintage objects. The other, an Olympia Portable Delux, was given to me by my folks as I was finishing high school, and I enjoyed using it all the way through grad school and into the age of the dot matrix printer. They both got extracted from storage at the beginning of this year, given a bit of TLC, and put to use on my project of writing letters to my many children and grandchildren. I'm pleased to have resisted the occasional temptation to clear the rubble a bit by putting them into the donation pile. And hugely pleased to see you celebrating the Olympia, a very finely made machine that has always been a pleasure to use. In a few months the two have grown to about a dozen, and the collection continues to grow.

I'm not sure where this puts me in the Insurgency vs. Old School Collector realm. I suppose, though, that there is a bit of gentle insurgency, in that I have inspired several of my grandchildren to take time off from screens to write some real letters, one of whom has even taken up use of a typewriter!

Ted said...

Ooh, mentioned me in the blog, does that mean I might be seeing some of your collection appearing in the Database? (:

(yes, I did bump you and a few other gentlemen I recognized up to Typewriter Hunter status without you asking) :D

Ryan Adney said...

I agree with you. The days of free Lamberts is long gone. I like my collection of "between-the-wars" portables and desktops. It's a collection I like and they are still usable. They have brought me great joy and I have become a better typist as a result of using them. A typewriter is a tool and tools should be used!

Vikram said...

I wholeheartedly agree with you! Though I haven't really used my typewriters all that much since the second semester kicked into full gear, I follow this ideal whenever I collect things: If I won't use it, what's the real purpose of owning it? I especially enjoyed the Olympia ad at the end.

ceremonial chiptu