The One That Got Away

If I ever buy one more typewriter, which is extremely unlikely given my present financial constraints, it will be an Underwood 5 standard in very good condition. And that will be the last typewriter I will probably ever buy. I got a bit excited some weeks back when Rowan Henderson, who curated my exhibition at the Canberra Museum and Gallery a few years ago, alerted me to some old government office equipment being auctioned online right here in Canberra. For one thing, winning a typewriter auction locally would have saved me a lot of worry, expense and hassle. Rohan, remembering that an Underwood 5 was the one remaining typewriter on my wish list, made particular mention of this item. So I went over to the auction house in Fyshwick and had a good close look at it. I thought it looked to be in reasonable condition. There were clear signs of rust, but it seemed worth bidding on if I could get it for the right price (though even then I'd be pushing the limits of my tight budget). The auction ended last night and the Underwood 5 went for a ridiculous $255, more than twice what I would have paid for it. The auction house also sold this super wide carriage Remington 12 and an L.C.Smith Super Speed with a 14-inch carriage.

The latter also went for a grossly over-inflated price, away above $100. Crazy! Yesterday I had a museum in Gippsland, Victoria, ask me what figure it should put on a Remington 7 for insurance purposes. They wanted to value it at $500!
Ah well, maybe another day for my Underwood 5 ... Meanwhile, my collection of "must keep" typewriters has come down to a much more manageable 53, of which 15 are Blickensderfers. But there's always room for just one more, one last "must have". I once owned more than 900 typewriters.