The Amery - And 100 Other Typewriters

Still recovering from being awash in that sea of red-white-and-blue flags at the London Olympic Games (US of A, Britain, and, to their eternal shame, Australia and New Zealand) a battered old Imperial arrived at my doorstep.

Yes, it was the same old story: it had been put away in a shed many years ago, after long and loyal service to its owner, and had been very seriously neglected during all that time. Sadly, it showed all the signs of that neglect.

Of course, for me, Imperial = Richard Amery. So, with Richard in mind, I took the old Imperial apart, cleaned it up, repainted it red, white and blue, and put it back together as the “Amery typewriter” – all the while working on the FuNkOMaTiC.

And this morning, when a consoling email arrived from Richard, along with other kind, uplifting comments, from Mark Petersen, Bill MacLane, Michael Höhne and Ted Munk, I decided to show my handiwork and post on the “Amery”.

I am hoping to receive a visit from Richard and Terry Cooksley soon and not just to collect the “Amery”. I am keen for them to come down to Canberra from Sydney and arrive in a little white van, not to take me away in a straitjacket, but the load it up typewriters to take home and list on eBay.

One of the many things which have occupied most of my time in the past three weeks has been moving typewriters out of storage and bringing them over to my home.

With redundancy from work looming, I will no longer be in a position to afford $380 a month to store typewriters elsewhere and will need to have them all in the house.

A week or two earlier, I had moved more than 200 typewriters from upstairs to downstairs. See. 

Comments on this post ranged from "Christmas" to "orgy" to "typewriter porn"! Yes, Blossom Inch, your dream shall come true and you will own a glass-keytopped typewriter from this collection. And, yes, Jasper, it is a warning to a young collector such as yourself. And yes, Ken, there is a "My First Typewriter" in there somewhere. And yes, Florian, please come soon ...
The 200-odd typewriters that were moved downstairs joined there at least another 150-200 typewriters.

Now those 200 plus typewriters have been replaced upstairs by more than 100 from storage. I am still faced with the problem of where to put the 100 typewriters which are currently on display in the exhibition which ends three weeks from today. All up, that will mean 550-600 typewriters in the house!

Before Richard and Terry arrive, however, I hope to be able photograph and post on many of these typewriters which have come over here from storage.

At least one is already being put to good use. As I write this further upstairs, I can hear from son Danny, 23, typing merrily on a Corona, beavering away on his novel.

Ah, the joys of collecting typewriters!

Typewriter Books Winging Their Way – And Why PayPal Sucks

I have had some messages asking about the typewriter booklets which have been bought through this blog. I can assure buyers the booklets, all of them personally signed, are on their way, to places from Australia’s Top End to Singapore to Estonia and the US of A in between.

A big thank you to those who bought them:

Ching Caroline

Mark Petersen

Bill MacLane

Ken Coghlan

Frank Notten

Michael Höhne

Raivo Oravas

Kane Horni (Nat)

Antonio Sison (Ton)

After some confusion at my end over an extra payment, Tori has set me straight and another copy will be on its way to Ted Munk on Monday.

I apologise profusely for a short delay. It has been a week from hell. Freezing weather, illness - both physical and mental - and certain life-changing matters (dealing with my impending redundancy at my workplace) have all got in the way.

Such things have conspired to divert me from more important matters: typewriters. But typewriter-wise, it has been a memorable week. More on that later.

Has anyone else noticed that when Murphy’s Law applies, and everything that can go wrong does go wrong, one pines to take solace and seek solitude in one’s typewriters? I was acutely aware of it all week.

Don’t Pay

Isn’t a Pal

One of the problems I have had concerns PayPal. Perhaps naively I decided to set a new PayPal account just for booklet payments, thinking it was safer when putting an email address on my blog. Of course, the gmail inbox still soon got cluttered with spam.

PayPal wouldn’t let me link my bank account or Visa account to the new typewriter booklets account, saying these were already being used with my original PayPal account. Fair enough, I suppose; I assumed the new PayPal account would only be used for incoming payments.

However, when the booklet payments started to flood in, and I tried to send money to my original PayPal account, PayPal blocked me. So then I sent a request for money from the original account to the booklet account, and that has been marked as “pending” for more than a week now.

So the situation is, I have money in the booklet account which I cannot access, except to pay for eBay items. I keep telling PayPal that this is MY money, not theirs, but PayPal refuses to let me have it. PayPal also refuses to communicate with me to tell me why.

Anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get at my money?

PS: I can’t seem to get rid of this damned mysmart.incredibar from my Google Chrome, so that’s not working properly for me either. Oh, dear ... back to the typewriters!

PPS: The FuNkOMaTiC has 25 watchers but only one bid so far. There are still almost six days to go.

FuNkY Atomic Retro Typewriter For Sale!

Check it out! See the FuNkY Atomic Retro typewriter eBay listing here
One response from an eBayer already:
"Hi. I love this computer and hope it really is nuclear. My cat has cancer and needs this with his chemo. Will you accept offers?
"I am currently vacationing in Nepal. Can you arrange overland yak carriage? This is a pretty common service from freight forwarders in Brisbane.
"Does this run on Windows or Linux? Do you have the backup disc? - Coyotesareus1
My response:
"Hi Coyotesareus1. Yes, I will most certainly CONSIDER any offers. And yes, yak carriage is possible. With this typewriter, anything's possible, as they say in the classics. The backup disc has milk in it, sorry. Elbow grease is definitely required to operate. RM"

Typewriter Gifts for Departing Friends

As a once fine daily newspaper serving Australia's capital city slowly and torturously disintegrates, an increasing number of smart young journalists are making the wise choice to jump ship. These are, in many cases, people with young families, mortgages, and mouths to feed (not to mention backs to clothe and roofs to provide). They are doing the wise thing by finding work elsewhere.

One such is Californian-born night sub-editor Michael Pittman, who left The Canberra Times for more secure pastures on Sunday night.
Michael is already being missed. He was a calm and conscientious colleague, a skilled sub-editor who got on with the job and was openly willing to learn a lot as he went.

He and I got along well and I wanted to give him a parting gift, something to remember me by. He was one of those people who gently tolerated - indeed fostered - my passion for typewriters. Michael used to act as my timekeeper when, deep in concentration, I needed an alert, as a eBay typewriter auction was about to end during working hours.

This refurbished old Remington portable will hopefully do the trick.

Feel for a Typewriter: Joe Strummer at 60

This cover shot of Joe Strummer typing was taken in late 1980 for the New Musical Express (NME) edition of January 3, 1981.

The image was also used on the cover of an album of music from Julien Temple's 2007 documentary Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten:

Typewriting British punk rock icon Joe Strummer would have turned 60 today. Sadly, Strummer has been dead almost 10 years now. He died suddenly on December 22, 2002, in his home at Broomfield, Somerset, of an undiagnosed congenital heart defect. See my post on Strummer and his typewriting from March last year here.

Strummer with William S.Burroughs in Burroughs' apartment in a converted New York City YMCA building. The photo was taken in 1980

Strummer was born John Graham Mellor on August 21, 1952, in Ankara, Turkey, the son of a Scottish-born nurse and a British foreign service diplomat.

Strummer was co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the band The Clash. Strummer and The Clash were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January 2003.

 

Talking About ... What Else? Typewriters!

All typewriter images by Ginger Gorman

ABC Radio’s Emporium program yesterday ran an interview with me regarding the Typewriter Exhibition at the Canberra Museum and Gallery (the exhibition still has a month to run, so take it in while you can!).

The segment was put together by ABC Radio presenter Claire (“Ginger”) Gorman (below).

The audio of Ginger’s interview can be heard here. 

(But be warned, it goes on for almost 14 minutes! You may also need to turn the volume up on the bottom right underneath the image.)

There are also images on ABC Radio’s Facebook page here. 

See the webpage on the story here.

Ginger’s story runs:

“Reminisce with me! What kind of typewriter did you use in your younger days? Did you love or hate it?
“When I was just six-years-old, my Dad bought me a brand new, heavy German typewriter. I loved it so much and wrote endless stories and 'articles' on it. Dad is sure this is why I later became a journalist. Even though I never use it now, I still can’t give it away.
“On the show tomorrow (Sunday) we meet the man who has the largest privately owned collection of typewriters in Australia. Pictured is a 1930s Bantam from this collection.
“With great humour, Robert Messenger shares his treasures and memories with us.
"Share your typewriter memories with me too by posting below or calling into the show on Sunday after 10am on 1300 681 666.
Ginger Gorman

Terrific Typewriters

By Jamie Cummins

The [ABC Radio program] Emporium was all about technology this week, and we were looking at a large collection of typewriters and the way they were used.
Think back to your early days of working in an office or studying at a university or technical college.
Did you use a typewriter?
Right now there’s a wonderful exhibition on at the Canberra Museum and Gallery which showcases the typewriter collection of journalist Robert Messenger.

While Robert first used an Underwood Universal typewriter when he was just nine-years-old, it wasn’t until he was 17 that he actually bought one for himself. 

Robert has a great fondness for the Olivetti Lettera 32.

One of the strangest in the collection is an American Oliver.
This photo is of Robert with his favourite model - the Blickensderfer 5, made in the late 1800s.

Comments on ABC Radio’s Facebook page about the story are interesting. Here are some of them:

Mark Scarborough: My mum taught me to touch type on her old typewriter. To be honest I am glad she did. There is so many people at work that can't touch type, people are always amazed when they see me type and also carry a conversation with them.

Hayley Jane Symons: Currently sitting on my bookcase is an old Olivetti Lettera 32 typewriter of my Grandfather's which came in a big blue suitcase. I fell in love with it when I was little and could have happily typed away for hours on end. When my Dad recently gave it to me it still had a letter stuck in it to my other Grandfather, which I was obviously midway through typing up. It's one of my favourite things :)

Michelle Preston: I have my grandfather's old typewriter so it would have to have been made in the 1920s it's in a heavy silver case!

Paul Rands: I first used a typewriter when I was visiting friends in Watson, on a trip from Sydney. From memory it was an Olympia. My friend Lee-Ann who is 3 years younger than I am called it her computer (we were 5 and 8 years old!). I can't remember what we typed, but spent most of the day there messing around on it. After that trip, I pestered my folks to get a typewriter for our home. They eventually relented and bought a Brother from Waltons. I think I was about 10 when we got it. I ended up using it all the time for my cassette covers and various other fun things. I don't ever remember using it for a school assignment though LOL

Prue Lloyd McCormack: I used my mum's Olivetti until I was 17 when my father bought me the first of the birthday presents to set me up for life. A Brother correctable typewriter was supposed to get me that first job! I remember typewriting classes at school during the 70s when we would sit at typewriters covered with cardboard boxes so we wouldn't look at the keys. When I joined the ABC in 1980 I had to sit a speed test. Nowadays I just type, it depends on what I'm doing as to the accuracy and speed I attain.

Jane Kim: I gave my old manual typewriter to my kids' high school. They used them to teach the kids to type in the days (only in the '90s) when schools could only afford to have a few computers! It was a mid 70s model but unfortunately I can't remember its make. It had a very modern (for its time) square-looking font. No doubt it ended up in a rubbish tip somewhere :-(

Tony Kennedy: Hi Ginger, I cannot remember the brand but at first I used a typewriter with a red and black ribbon, later it was an electric golfball type. I wrote many letters, especially to our political leaders at the time. Now it is e-mail, but I do long for the day of the written letter to return because of the delay between replies.

Gina Dow: My typewriter is a huge Hermes Ambassador - the colour of Palmolive green soap. I recommend a great "typecasting" blog with heaps of nostalgia and also contemporary typist-artists' work: strikethru.net

Jane Kim: Thanks Gina for the reminder - mine was a Hermes - a cute grey number.

The FuNkOMaTiC Typewriter is funkily Ready to Rock 'n' Roll

In between snow and all sorts of other winter weather, the sun has broken out for sufficiently long spells in Canberra during the past week for me to complete the FuNkOMaTiC paint job.

I like Dwayne's idea of an "Etsy-style description photo with it sitting out on a Starbucks' table next to an army surplus messenger bag and a Moleskin notebook. So fresh, funky and hipsterish!"
I'll give some thought to that presentation next.

In the meantime, I've started on a deliberately overblown description. It goes like this. Any suggestions, please pass them on:

At long, long last, here it is …

The world famous, the unique, the one and only, the fabulously FuNkY, Atomic, Retro 

FuNkOMaTiC TYPEWRITER

The funkiest, most atomic typewriter ever made!

What exactly is funky?

Well, Funky is Earthy, Original and Modish; Unconventional and Bizarre. It’s Outlandishly Vulgar and Eccentric, in a humorous or tongue-in-cheek way.

And Atomic in this context?: EXTREMELY cool, one step up from tubular  (look it up in the Urban Dictionary)

And retro? Folks, this is retro with an “r”, an “e”, a “t”, another “r” and an “o”: Yes, that’s right: R – e – t – r – o!

This is a one-of-a-kind FuNkY atomic typewriter, believe me

Just look at those colours –

Geiger counter Green!

Violent Violet!

Mushroom Cloud Orange!

Wow!!! These are such FuNkiLY strong colours they could blow a hole in the Ozone Layer

These FuNkY atomic colours are so strong they could withstand an A-Bomb blast!

No other FuNkY, atomic typewriter has this combination of colours! I can guarantee it.

And look at those FuNkY keys – ALL 49 OF THEM!!!
The wonderful Swiss and Italian style “bucket” concave keytops are designed to fit your fingertips like a hand in a glove. This typewriter is designed for ULTRA-COMFORT typing! Now that's Atomic!

And what about the FuNkY boots? Look at those beautiful, neat-fitting little funkerish bootees underneath the typewriter!

And the FuNkY case!!! A matching violet-coloured case!!! 

Wow upon wow! This is an incredible once-off offer! Grab it while you can! No other FuNkY atomic typewriter like this will ever be sold on eBay (or anywhere else for that matter)

See how well you can type with this FuNkY beauty

This FuNkY atomic typewriter is an absolutely prime example of the finest Japanese typewriter design work and manufacturing techniques: it originally came from the famous factory of Nakajima ALL. And so it's ALL FuNkY, ALL atomic ...

Beware of pale imitations: This isn’t a Craftomatic. Craftomatic typewriters, which have been selling on Australia eBay for as much as $165, are cheap relabellings by CFM of Melbourne of imported Japanese typewriters. They were no typewriter makers called Craftomatic or  CFM. No, this is not a Craftomatic, it’s a unique, one-of-a-kind

FuNkOMaTiC!

This FuNkY, atomic typewriter comes from a home with a cat in it. Live with it. We do.

IMPORTANT:

THIS TYPEWRITER HAS BEEN COMPLETELY REFURBISHED. It has been totally stripped apart, completely degreased, utterly re-lubricated, and has been thoroughly blown through with an air compressor. It has also been re-spray painted and re-labelled. It will leave the seller in perfect working condition. Plus:

IT HAS A BRAND NEW RIBBON.

You can't ask for better servicing than that!

This is the sort of complete pre-sale service you get from only two or three other typewriter sellers in Australia.

POSTAGE:

This FuNkY, atomic typewriter will be carefully wrapped in bubblewrap and packed in a box in such a way that only an A-bomb could damage it in transit. It will be couriered to and hand-delivered at the front doorstep of the auction winner at a cost of a mere $10, regardless of where you live in Australia. 

Note to Typospherians: This whole project is designed for amusement and to underline the ridiculousness of certain eBay typewriter sales in Australia. Nobody will be harmed, financially or in any other way, by the joke. The idea is not to play a prank at anyone's expense (except mine!). Once the eBay auction has run its course, the typewriter will be offered, as described, to the auction winner at a sensible, reasonable price. No profit-making will be involved.

Typewriter Booklet For Sale

Copies of the booklet published to coincide with the Typewriter Exhibition at the Canberra Museum and Gallery (July 14-September 16) are now available for sale online.

Copies can be obtained by sending money to

typewriter.booklets@gmail.com

through

PayPal

The cost for non-Australian buyers is:

$26.00 (Australian dollars)

For Australian buyers:

$15.00 (Australian dollars)

(Cheques will be accepted from Australian buyers)

PLEASE ENSURE YOU ATTACH YOUR NAME AND MAILING ADDRESS

The cost covers:
Cost of book $10.00.
Cost of air mailing anywhere in the world $14.10, mailing anywhere in Australia $3.00.
Cost of package and PayPal fee $1.90.

What you get for your money:

A 123-page booklet

Full-colour

Glossy pages

Images and a brief description (history, designer etc) of the

101 Typewriters in the Exhibition

Foreword by Richard Polt

Introduction by myself

There are only about 40 copies left for sale - SO first in, first served!

The 'Add Typosphere to the Dictionary' Campaign

Typosphere \ˈtī-(ˌ)pō-ˌsfir\ n, also adj typospherian [MA] (2008)  1: A mythical place where manual typewriter enthusiasts 'post' typecasts (qv) of scanned typewritten articles, statements, opinions etc.

(And not forgetting that this morning, Richard Polt used the word "typospherious")

(PS: Apologies for my attempt at a dictionary entry!)

POSTSCRIPT: Taking due note of Richard's comment to this post, the Urban Dictionary's entry, credited to the great if rather eccentric typewriter inventor Lucien Crandall, reads:

typosphere
	The realm of online typewriter fanatics. They blog about typewriters and even use them to create typecasts. Check out this awesome Olympia SM9 I found at the thrift store today. I just had to share it with the typosphere! buy typosphere mugs & shirts blogosphere typecasts typewriter typing podcasting blog broadcasting by Lucien Crandall

Well done, Richard!

POST-POSTSCRIPT: In response to another comment, here is Deek's fine piece of artwork:

As Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary announces its latest additions, it seems timely to start the campaign for the inclusion of Typosphere (and typospherian). Surely these words now have sufficient currency to warrant a dictionary entry.

Artwork by Michael Clemens

These are wholesome words. Today the  Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary  confirmed that F-bomb, sexting, flexitarian, obesogenic, energy drink and life coach had been given legitimacy by being officially embraced within its covers.

The term F-bomb first surfaced in newspapers more than 20 years ago, but is now to join the mainstream. F-bomb is defined as using the F-word at an inappropriate time or place. Like, "Why the f - isn't Typosphere in the latest Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary?!"

Merriam-Webster has chosen 100 additions for the 114-year-old dictionary’s annual update, gathering evidence of usage over several years in everything from media to the labels of beer bottles and boxes of frozen food.

Artwork by Tori Forte

The word ‘‘tweet’’ led last year’s new-word highlights from Merriam-Webster. This year’s additions are more eclectic, said Kory Stamper (below), an associate editor for Merriam-Webster.

‘‘This is a list of really descriptive and evocative, fun words. Some years, not so fun. Some years it’s a lot of science words. Some years it’s a lot of words around really heavy topics,’’ she said.

There are a few of those this time around: copernicium among them. It’s a short-lived, artificially produced radioactive element that has 112 protons and is the most recent addition to the Periodic Table of Elements. It was first created in a Germany in 1996 and named for the astronomer Copernicus.

The recession blues are represented with ‘‘toxic’’, as it relates to an ‘‘asset that has lost so much value that it cannot be sold on the market’’.

Flexitarian, traced to 1998, is defined as ‘‘one whose normally meatless diet occasionally includes meat or fish”, while obesogenic (dating to 1986) is an adjective for ‘‘promoting excessive weight gain: producing obesity’’.

 Merriam-Webster wouldn’t release a full list of new entries, in part to put off competitors.

“Let them find their own new words,” a spokesman joked. But a sneak peak at the Top 25 was rounded out by: Craft beer, e-reader, game changer, a new definition for ‘‘gassed’’ as slang for drained of energy, gastropub, geocaching, shovel-ready (a construction site ready for work) and tipping point.

Well, for any dictionary out there looking for its “own new words” – try these: TYPOSPHERE, TYPOSPHERIAN.

Artwork by Rob Bowker, who had a major role in what Professor Polt described as "a good typospherious story".