One Year In The Rearview Mirror

SUGGESTED READING TIME: One to two hours, depending on how many naps you take and how many cups of coffee you might need to get through it all. You’ve been warned!

It has been well over a year since I bought my first typewriter. It’s also been more than a year since I began to consider myself as a typewriter enthusiast. I had spent a f air amount of time researching these machines before deciding to buy one for myself. So making the leap to enthusiast status wasn’t much more than a step in my ease. At any rate, this seems like a good time to take a step back and contemplate how my typewriter experience thus far stands up against my initial expectations. Did things follow the path that I imagined they would, or did things veer off course (and by how much).

When I first took an interest in typewriters and began to research them, it was quite clear at the beginning that I was pretty much a mid century kind of guy. So how did that play out? Well, I pretty much nailed it. The oldest typewriter that I own was made in 1946, the newest in 1977, but the vast majority of machines I own were made in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

After quite a bit of reading and looking through what seemed like countless images online, the typewriter that appealed the most to me personally was the Olympia SM9. Either my instincts were good or I made a very lucky guess as I did indeed end up buying a SM9 for my first typewriter. I would note that I only bought the SM9 after trying it out in person and comparing it with about 10 different other makes/models (as well as another SM9 and a SM8, both of which I also liked more than the rest I tried). I now own a total of four SM9’s (all with different typefaces) and own more Olympia typewriters than any other brand.

When I showed up at home with that first SM9, my wife thought it was really cool. But as I’m one to dive head-first into my various hobbies/passions, she wanted to know just exactly how many I thought that I was planning on buying. Though I hadn’t actually planned to buy more than one (or even thought about it for that matter), I knew that this was a possibility given my past behavior. Thinking it over in my mind, I replied five or six. That sounded more than reasonable to me, though perhaps not to her at the time. Like so many others, I did end up with more than I had imagined. In large part this was driven by my desire to own a variety of different typefaces, though I have no desire to own any script typefaces unlike so many others. In total, I managed to accumulate 20 different typewriters in all. 19 that I bought (one of those for my wife) and one that was given to me.

On an interesting side note, my wife who was worried about how many of these machines I might end up with now owns four typewriters of her own (that includes the one that I bought for her). After watching California Typewriter with me, a switch inside of her was flipped on. Pretty cool!

When I first began researching typewriters, I was made aware of the typewriter community that is active out there in the world today. Over time, after becoming a typewriter owner myself, this community began playing a larger and larger role in my life. Not only did this lead to my own typecasting efforts and the creation of this blog, but there was so much more that I would go on to experience. This included meeting with other typewriter enthusiasts online on a weekly basis (or near-weekly basis anyway) via Typewriter Club Live that takes place via Zoom. It also involves participating on One Typed Page – though I certainly don’t do so on a daily basis, I still enjoy contributing and reading the contributions of others when I can. I’ve also met a number of people involved with these machines locally, despite being in the middle of a pandemic that will seemingly never end. As a rather introverted person, this all came out of deep left field. I never could have predicted such involvement when I bought that first Olympia SM9.

Recapping my typewriter experience wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the letter writing and the letters received. The primary reason that I made the decision to buy a typewriter in the first place is because I had decided that I wanted to start writing letters to others on a regular basis after the pandemic began. Just a few letters into that process, written by hand, it became obvious that my stamina when it came to my handwriting just wasn’t enough to keep up with all that I wanted to write. The use of a typewriter definitely changed this for me. For quite a while I was easily averaging one letter every day. I’ve only slowed down as I’ve been receiving far fewer letters than I was in the past. (It seems only natural that when the restrictions we were all f acing lightened up, people had the urge to get out more and spend less time writing to others as a result — life is all about balance, I get it.)

Still, the primary reason that I bought a typewriter in the first place remains the most enjoyable aspect of my involvement with these machines. That is really saying something as a person who has never been very good about staying in touch with others. I am now in communications with people all over the world. I have reached out to friends and family that I have not been in touch with for many years (not that I’m proud of not staying in touch previously). There are a large number of people out there who now know that I am thinking about them because I truly enjoy writing, and sometimes receiving, letters. I would have never Imagined just how far down this road I would end up traveling upon typing my first letter. I can even count a major celebrity among my “type pals” after receiving multiple pieces of correspondence from him this past year. How he finds the time to write is beyond me, but I’m grateful that he has, just as with anyone who has taken the time to do so.

I’ve also learned that I enjoy tinkering with these machines. Though I wouldn’t call myself a typewriter repairperson (to me that is someone who can completely disassemble and reassemble any random typewriter without fail if needed) , I have enjoyed addressing a number of issues that I’ve encountered along the way. Still, I’m one of the lucky few that has multiple typewriter repair shops nearby in my town should I find myself overwhelmed. That alone makes it all the easier to dig in and try to fix any issues I happen to encounter on my own as I know I always have a backup plan in place if needed. This did not come as a surprise as I’ve long enjoyed working on mechanical things — from motorcycles to cars and beyond. Still, it is yet one more aspect of typewriter ownership that actually benefits me in some small way.

Finally, I’ve enjoyed helping the typewriter community to grow. Whether it came from giving away a typewriter, to inspiring others to buy one of these machines for themselves simply because they picked up on my enthusiasm for these machines or really enjoyed receiving a hand-typed letter (or both), I can count myself among those who are evangelizing the use of typewriters with some degree of success. Of course I’m no Richard Polt, but the more that all of us who are into typewriters continue to reach out to others who are not, even by way as something as simple as a hand-typed letter, the more likely we will see others enjoying these machines in the future (at least in my opinion that is).

All in all, the typewriter has served to greatly enrich my life — this I can say without a doubt. I have gotten far more out of my involvement with these machines and the community that has grown up around them than I ever would have expected. This has been a great surprise. Though we all come at this “hobby” (?) for different reasons, I’m guessing that in the end we all end up benefiting in a number of different ways. Though in my heart I still don°t consider myself to be a collector (I’m much more of an accumulator), I’ve decided that this doesn’t really matter all that much. It seems inevitable that the number of machines that I now own will decrease at some point in time, yet my enthusiasm for typewriters is sure to remain as strong as ever. After all, it only takes but one typewriter to change your world as far as I’m concerned. The first typewriter that I bought remains the last one that I’ll part with. What a great journey it has been so far. I’m definitely looking forward to see what the future brings as far as my involvement with these machines is concerned. I have no doubt that most of you who might be reading this feel the same way when it comes to looking forward. Enjoy!

Though I have already gone on for longer than any other post I’ve created in the past, I would feel regretful if I did not take the time to thank those individuals who have given some of their own time to contribute to this blog. This includes Robert Messenger, Richard Polt, Joe Van Cleave, Ted Munk, and Daniel Marleau for their involvement in the Q&A series “A Typer’s Dozen”. This also includes anyone who has taken the time to comment on any of my posts here on The Typewritemosphere (spammers excluded of course). I’ve never entertained trying to monetize this site and don’t even track how many people visit this blog, so it’s nice to know that there are others out there who are reading what’s been written here from time to time. Lastly, a huge thanks to anyone who has taken the time to send me a letter. Receiving a letter in the mail remains a true highlight for me.

AFTERTHOUGHTS: Every time that I end up writing about the assemblage of typewriters I’ve put together, it leads to concerns that someone will take things the wrong way. From very early on, my goal has been to assemble a group of typewriters as tools, that I could choose from as it best suits me. I’ve never had a desire to own as many typewriters as possible and don’t wish to own so many of these machines that it will be a total pain to move them should the need ever arise. (I already go through enough such grief when it comes to the vinyl LP’s, CD’s and cassette tapes that I’ve owned for decades now.) In other words, when people utter “you can never own too many typewriters”, this definitely isn’t the case with me. I could own too many typewriters and I feel like I’m dangerously close to that point right now. Though I could thin the herd a bit if I needed to without too much problem, I’m in no hurry to do so. There’s always a chance that typewriters will come and go in the future just as they have thus far. Regardless of whether a person desires to own just one typewriter that is perfect for them, or a specific number of these machines that best fits their needs as in my case, or to own as many as they possibly can as in the case of others, it does seem that there is a large appeal in the searching involved. That’s undoubtedly a big part of the fun when it comes to typewriters for many of us that I didn’t even address in my post above.