For some time now I have been thinking about writing a post as to why I have never succumbed to the temptation of electric typewriters. (A big part of the answer lies in the fact that I have never experienced a strong temptation when it comes to electrics.) However, a recent conversation with a fellow type pal has led to a different thought knocking around in my head for the past few days. Out of a much larger conversation about the importance that society places on sports these days evolved into a discussion about the “magic” of television back in the old days I am guessing that a majority of the five people who read my blog are old enough to relate.
My friend was pointing out how such magic played out in the world of sports before there was an ESPN and long before you could stream sports on demand like you can today. For him a big part of such magic took place on Monday nights, thanks to the joys of ABC’s Monday Night Football. Even though I ‘ve never been much of a football guy myself, even I can still remember what the 2nd theme song used by ABC for MNF sounds like. ABC used Johnny Pearson’s “Heavy Action” for 14 consecutive seasons. Hard core football fans of a certain age might still remember the original MNF theme song “Score”, a funky little tune composed by Charles Fox. For my friend, those Monday night games took on an air of greater importance back when there were far fewer such games to watch on television. That was part of the magic.
Of course we also talked about how back in the day we would wait an entire week to find out what would happen on any given show that we were following at the time. Again, all part of the magic. I will admit that even today I do not tend to binge-watch shows the way that so many others do, likely due to my old viewing habits. Instead I like to stretch a series out over the course of many nights or likely weeks when there are 6 or more episodes involved. (On a related note, I also still tend to listen to entire albums as a habit and rarely create playlists when it comes to my consumption of music.)
Before anyone gets upset, I should point out that I do not have a problem with others binge-watching shows or listening to music by way of streaming playlists. It is evident to me that my habits are a bit out of the norm these days. I am often the first person to admit as much. It was likely just such a realization that led to the lengthy conversation that took place between my friend and me in the first place, and in turn is what has led me to writing this blog posts
Much like I can look back fondly at the magic of television when I was young, I still get that same sort of feeling whenever I receive a letter in the mail from friends and f amity today. While I do not necessarily wish to go back to the days before things like email, text messaging, and many other technological advancements, I can say that I tend to look upon a letter showing up at my house just as fondly now as I did when I was young (though this might have something to do with my lot in life as of late).
Regardless, there is no denying that a handwritten (or hand-typed as is more likely the case) letter continues to carry a certain amount of magic with it. Whether this is due to, or in spite of advancements in technology over the course of the past few decades is up for debate.
AFTERTHOUGHTS: I’ve never dedicated a blog post to anyone before (not that I can remember, I’m too lazy to go back and check). But this one goes out to my high school buddy Dan. Dan and I put up with each other even though we had very little in common. While I cared little at all about football, Dan was a big football fan. We were friends despite the fact that I would never go to see a Bears game at Soldier Field with him. His dad had season tickets, but I never wanted to freeze my ass off at Soldier field watching a football game. (To be fair, I don’t know that I can think of anything that I would have been willing to freeze my ass off for at Soldier Field during a Chicago winter.) I also drove Dan crazy whenever he would ask me to pick the winners of the upcoming NFL games for the weekend, as I would make my selections based upon which team logos I liked the best — occasionally my picks bettered his.
Among other mistakes, I realize that I really butchered the fourth sentence in the first paragraph of this post. But as with my lack of research when it comes to whether or not I have ever dedicated a blog post before, I’m just not feeling up to going back to retype and then rescan that paragraph. My apologies.
Heh, all I remember about sports on TV is a bit about “The agony of defeat” with a skier flipping through the sky off a ramp headed to what I can only assume was a good 6 months in traction. That may have been Olympics coverage.
I suppose the closest thing to sports I really watched much on TV was Marlin Perkins in “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom”. 😀
Ah yes, ABC’s Wide World of Sports. A show that I actually did watch often, in large part because all of the crazy off-the-wall events they featured like the guys in ice skates competing at barrel jumping. As for the crashing ski jumper featured at the beginning of each episode, he wound up with a concussion and a broken ankle.
I too remember Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. If I recal things correctly, Marlin typically watched the action from the comfort of a helicopter while some guy named Jim wrestled with all manner of wild creatures down on the ground below. Good times.
Awesome post Bill.
My dad was more PBS than NFL, so we watched a LOT of Marlin Perkins. In fact, my sister used to call me “Marlin” when I would come home after a day of exploring the woods, or fishing in the creak near our house. That said, Monday Night Football was huge at my friend’s house down the street. I would rush through my homework and run down there each Monday night to catch the game. They had their TV out on an enclosed porch that had Astroturf for carpet, and let me tell you, there is nothing like watching MNF in front of a console t.v. while laying on Astroturf!
I miss the raw camera footage we had back in the day; that old technology was just fine with me… and it was still magic. The best games were the ones in the rain or snow, especially when I got to see my beloved Dolphins play in the snow. Those links to the theme songs with the old logos and pictures really took me back. Thanks for the memories.
Wide World of Sports was my favorite. That is where I got to see Evel Knievel many times… plus the Harlem Globe Trotters, soap box derby racing, wrist wrestling, and a wide variety of auto racing. I even had WWoS bathing trunks one summer… good times!
It’s interesting to look back on WWoS. I believe that a show like that existed and thrived for as long as it did precisely because so many of the events that they featured would otherwise not be seen back then. Any of Evel’s performances were Gold. But for me perhaps the event that I looked forward to most each year was their coverage of the US Grand Prix of Motocross held in Carlsbad, California. Events like that were something I could otherwise only read about in magazines.
I also think back to shows like Burt Sugarman’s Midnight Special and Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. While I had no clue as to who Burt or Don were, as a kid growing up in a small rural town, those shows were special for bringing many of the bands I listened to to life for me back then. That was a big deal because popular bands of the day didn’t play shows anywhere near where I lived. While I went on to enjoy MTV, there was still something extra special about seeing the actual musicians in performance
WWoS also sparked my obsession with surfing which is something that I never did, being landlocked in Stone Mountain Georgia, but you’d never know it from the posters on my bedroom wall and my magazine subscriptions.
We had UHF channels that played music concerts and videos late at night, long before MTV. I used to watch them on an old b&w set that I had in my bedroom. I once saw Stanley Jordan with his funky guitar style and I was blown away. This led me down another memory of listening to the King Biscuit Flower Hour on the radio on Sunday nights. However, for my entire life, I thought it was Flour not Flower until I googled it just moments ago. I like Flour better because it reminds me of the Pappy O’Daniel Flour Hour from O’ Brother Where Art Thou.
p.s. That should have read *creek* in my post above.
Great read Bill!
Thanks Werner!
Great post, Bill! I’m looking forward to some serious catching up on your blog. A letter from me is on its way too, from TWO electric typewriters. Stop wondering why you haven’t and simply succumb to at least one. If you don’t like it, pass it onto someone who will. I prefer them for longer writings because I can type nearly twice as fast.
Back in the day, my sister and I religiously sat in front of a big floor-model TV with our eyes glued to Friday Night Videos, morning cartoons, and Saturday Night Live. Sundays we’d have the radio blasting with a finger on the trigger to hit “record” on the cassette player when our favorite songs came on Casey Kasem’s Top 40 Countdown. When Dad gathered his buddies over to watch the big games, we avoided the living room packed with annoyingly drunk adults cheering and screaming. Instead we hung around the delicious food in the kitchen, about the only thing we liked about watching sports on TV, ha!
Yours are some great memories Mei. Jeez, I forgot about Casey Kasem’s Top 40 Countdown. Though ours wasn’t much of a sports household, my dad and I would sometimes watch baseball games together on TV and most years we would often listen to the Indy 500 being broadcast over the radio. Some of my most precious memories are of listening to St. Louis Cardinals games on the radio with my grandmother (she was a big Cardinals fan and loved Jack Buck, who was the Cardinal’s announcer back then).
I’m on your blog! Woohoo! Great post, by the way. I lived in Peoria, Illinois for three years as an adult, and it was cold enough there. I can only imagine in the Windy City. (I’ve only visited Chicago in the summer.)
Hey Gregory, my apologies for the lengthy amount of time that it took for your comment to appear here. I scan all comments myself before they are posted. While I was previously notified via email every time a new comment was submitted, this is no longer the case. In other words, I have some troubleshooting to do. In the meantime I currently have to manually check for new comments, which I don’t tend to do all that often.
Yeah, Chicago in the middle of winter is not the most fun place to be — especially when you are stuck sitting outside for hours at a time.
There are definitely more than five people who read your blog, Bill! I have trouble figuring out what to post on my blog most of the time. But, decluttering seems to be my current thoughts on it. I will continue on that line for a while.
I noted that jokingly, though I do imagine that the number of people who actually read this blog is pretty small. On the bright side, the fewer people that read what I have to say, the less anxiety I experience.
Hi Bill,
Because I am 69 years old, now, and have more and more aches in my hands from years and years of gardening and DIY project work and even Trade work when I was younger…there are days and weeks when my hands need some help with typing.
I ventured out into some electric typewriters and ended up with 11 of them in my 62+ collection of machines.
My favourites are what are called “electric type-bar” machines. That is, they have electrics to drive the type-slugs…but have fully manual carriage assemblies including still retaining a manual CR lever.
I think it is the best of both worlds…since they do not have the “power return” of the 100% electrics that can be “battering rams” when you push the “return” key.
My 3 electric type-bar machines are : 1) a 1960 Smith-Corona 5TE, 2) a 1966 Smith-Corona Electra 120, and 3) a 1978 Olympia SEP (made in Japan). All three still have a manual CR lever.
I really enjoy being able to continue to type when my hands & finger joints are giving me fits for a few days or a week at a time.
Those are the days I reach for an electric typewriter.
As Mei Travis wrote…give yourself a chance to experience an electric.
If it does not work out, your local elderly assisted -living facility may love to get them for their clients in their social-rooms so they can easily writer letters to loved ones.
I have three (3) 100% electric machines gifted to my local care-facility and I even drop in once a month or so to check up on them to see if they need some attention. The nursing staff tells me my machines are quite popular and are used regularly by some of their clients.
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Hi Pete,
Thanks for your comments. Electric typewriters certainly have their place as you’ve pointed out. I actually used some electrics when I was much younger. I have also tried a few out since becoming reacquainted with typewriters a few years ago. But I simply find more enjoyment in using the manual machines.
While my hands have done plenty of work in my lifetime thus far (I’m 61), I’ve been fortunate in that any arthritis-like symptoms I’ve experienced thus far have been minor. Should this change, a typebar electric with a manual carriage return might be just the thing for me.