l was recently asked if l was a typewriter collector, to which I replied “no”. This despite the fact that l had amassed a small collection of these machines in the few months that had passed since buying my first. I feel the same way when it comes to my vinyl records. Even though I own a couple thousand LP’s, representing more than four decades worth of activity spent buying and listening to them, l don’t view myself as a record collector. in my mind, l’m just a guy that likes to listen to music as well as a guy that likes to write from time to time. l’ve always enjoyed listening to music via vinyl records and l’dve learned that I enjoy writing via typewriters.
But to be honest, I would equate my typewriters more to the hand tools that l own than my LP’s. For one thing, like the typewriters, the hand tools play a very active role in the task at hand — these are very much “hands on” instruments and that’s what I truly appreciate and enjoy about them among other things. There are a lot of similarities between hand tools and typewriters as they exist in my life.
For another thing, just as I put my tools away in the toolbox when they’re not being used, my typewriters get tucked away in their cases when not being used to write with. l view this practice as doing the best that l can to take care of these things, a practice that was drilled into me early on by my
dad. If l wanted to borrow his tools, they had to be put back in the toolbox or else I would lose the privilege of using them. I would come to truly appreciate this approach later on when his tools became my own. l inherited my dad’s tools when he passed away far too early and I treasure them.
Were you to look through my toolbox, you would find a plethora of wrenches and screwdrivers among other things. l have a wide variety of each for a number of specific applications. The work that I do on cars and motorcycles alone creates such a need. While my needs when it comes to typewriters are not nearly as demanding, I do enjoy changing things up when l am cranking out letters for example. l tend to use different typefaces depending on who I am writing to and having a variety of typewriters allows me to do this. That’s part of the fun for me.
Some might feel it to be a shame that l keep my typewriters hidden away in their cases when I’m not using them. But trust me, l admire them greatly when l’m actually using them. For me, this is when these machines are at their best. A huge part of my attraction to these machines is how they feel when in use. Again, this is not all that different from my hand tools as there is something extremely satisfying about using a hand tool that was designed with great attention to detail and built from quality materials. Typewriters are the same way and each one lends its own unique feel to the writing process as a result. That is definitely part of the beauty of these awesome machines.
In reality, l’m no more of a master mechanic than I am a successful novelist or playwright. Whether it be using my hand tools or my typewriters, the things that l’ve managed to accomplish with them have been rather modest in nature. Out in the garage, the most involved things that I’ve taken on would be things like the rebuilding of carburetors or properly adjusting valves in order to keep engines running the way that they should. In the house, while sitting down with the typewriter, l’ve managed to do little more than to write a seemingly countless number of letters while also capturing some thoughts and ideas for the start of a book.
None of these things would count as being all that remarkable by the standards of just a few years ago. These were the sort of things that people used to do on a regular basis. But times change, as do the tools that people typically use, and these sorts of things aren’t really considered to be part of the norm any longer. l suppose that if l’m being totally honest, this tie-in with the pest is also part of the appeal of typewriters for me (just as it is with the hand tools). Each typewriter that I own serves to connect me with the past in a slightly different way, each one being unique. That too is something that l truly appreciate about these machines. For me, it’s all just part of having the right tool for the job when you get right down to it. This is something that makes total sense to me, I’m good with that.
AFTERTHOUGHTS: I really struggled with trying to capture my feelings on this topic as I didn’t want to offend anyone. Just because I don’t see myself as a collector it doesn’t mean that I’m trying to knock collectors in general. Once again I’ve come to realize the peril that one encounters when freely applying labels to things and/or people. Perhaps in instead of referring to the LP’s or typewriters that I own as collections, I should just say that I have an assemblage of these items or some such thing, lol. Peace… Bill
Great post and Allow me to add a twist to it. A huge factor that separates typewriters from any other interesting collectables, pick anything (cars, wearables, games, furniture, etc.) only the typewriter can be used to convey the story of itself and all of the other interests to boot.
Thanks John. That’s a good twist. Although I can think of at least one other thing that follows along in that same train of thought: in addition to typewriters I would add cameras (a picture being worth a thousand words and all that).
There’s also the little thrill you get everytime you open up a typewriter case that you haven’t opened in awhile. Keeping them in the cases when not in use fosters lots of that. (:
Excellent point!
I’ve just started on manual typewriters and agree with your ideas here. I refer to myself as an enthusiast not collector —hopefully as a way to not get too carried away. I am loving the type faces and the process of composing on a manual. I have a Selectric III but with that you can backspace and correct mistakes. A manual is a a different challenge, and one I enjoy.
To me, a collector is someone that places a certain level of importance on the collection itself, but I have no doubt that an enthusiast could get just as carried away when it comes to buying typewriters. As you’ve come to appreciate some of the same things about these machines that I do in terms of the typefaces and the process of typewriting itself, all I can say is that you best be careful, lol. Honestly, I figure that as long as I’m still putting every typewriter that I own to good use and doing so frequently enough to justify the space it consumes, then I’m good. I honestly won’t be able to purchase too many more typewriters and still adhere to this rule. But on the flip side, I’ve also started to look into giving a few typewriters away to friends so that will help to keep things in check.