Cambridge Typewriter does Chronicle (Finally!)



Chronicle co-host Shayna Seymour and myself



     Xtra exciting news this week. The television show Chronicle, a New England institution for over twenty-five years, called Tuesday and wanted to include me in a upcoming show. The show is about (get ready for this)professions that will be extinct in the near future. Now I know that I'm a dinosaur but I plan on sticking around for awhile. Co-host Shayna Seymour said on the phone that they could come over Thursday morning and film a interview in the shop. They also wanted to interview a customer who's a writer and a office that I service. I gave her the name of a writer in the Harvard Square area that I know and the Cambridge City Clerk's office that I service. Shayna booked them both and they will appear in the story. There will be several other professions featured in the story but we don't know what they are yet. Thursday morning Ms. Seymour and a camera woman showed up at 10:20. After introductions the camera woman worked on setting up the interview location, camera angles and lighting. I was fitted with a wireless mike and we were ready to roll. Shayna asked me many questions, like how did I get into this business and how has the typewriter business changed through the years and who are my customers today. I told her a number of typewriters stories and especially how younger people are picking up typewriters and using them. She had a hard time understanding this and asked several more questions about this phenomenon. I hope that part makes the final cut. After thirty minutes of questions and answers, we walked around the shop filming different machines. Then they filmed me typing on several machines, I believe a 1930 green Royal portable and a Olympia SM3 in script. Then they filmed a few minutes of me repairing a Smith Corona Super 12 at my workbench. After an hour they realized that they were done so they packed up and headed over to Cambridge City Hall.

     They think that the show will air later in January. I'll give a shout out in the blog when I find out. Chronicle has been one of my favorite shows because its about New England. They go to beautiful locations and destinations and introduce us to interesting and fascinating people. For many years I've always said that Chronicle should come in here and do a show. Our actual part in the half hour show will be six or seven minutes. It will be interesting to see how the story comes out.

     On Wednesday a women came in a rented a Blickensderfer No.5 for a movie shoot. I actually had a Blick 5 that works with its wooden box case, extra typewheel and box of spare ink rollers. The movie is for the American Experience on PBS. The movie is about Helen Keller. In the book that the movie is based on, someone types on a Blick 5 several times throughout the story. When I get the machine back in three weeks I'll asked when the show will be on. 

     I get asked a lot what my favorite typewriter is and what do I have in my collection. I always say that I don't have any one favorite but six or seven favorite machines. Also, I'm not a big collector at all. I have to make money to stay in business and many times that means selling machines that I would rather keep for my collection. There has always been one machine that was my absolute favorite, and I sold it. It was a burgandy Corona flattop from 1940 and was brand new. I don't think it was ever used more than once or twice. My friend John aquired it on Ebay for me and I flipped when I saw it. This one was a keeper for sure. I kept it under a table and only showed it to a select few people. About four or five months later just as I came in the shop at 9AM, my immediate thought was that I had to recondition this machine because someone was going to come in and buy it. I hesitated for a minute but also knew that there was a reason for this. So I took that machine apart, moaning and groaning the whole time about how brand new this thing was. Even though the machine was spotless, it was dry and needed a thorough cleaning. As fate would have it, a lady walked in mid-afternoon looking to buy a vintage typewriter to write with. She was local and wrote children's books. I knew right away that this was the person who wanted my beautiful Corona. At first I showed her some Royals and Remingtons. Then I bust out the burgandy Corona and she gasped. "I love that machine. That looks like the perfect machine for me." I quoted her a fairly high price and she said she had to sleep on it but if I could hold it for a day, she'd call me tomorrow. Well, she called me first thing the next morning saying that she had a vivid dream about the Corona and she was coming right up to buy it. She knew that this was the machine for her , and so did I. I never regreted selling that machine because I believe that it went to the right person. But that will also be my favorite typewriter anyway.

Thats it for this week. Thanks for checking it out. Everyone have a happy and safe NEW YEAR! See you in 2011.

    

Quack, Quack



anyone understand duck talk?



"Any of you guys know how to type."



Merry day after Christmas. I hope everyone had an joyous holiday. I know I did. My friend Abraham sent me the first two pictures in this blog. I like old pictures with typewriters in them. Its always fun to try to identify the machines in them. Easy enough in these two pictures, but the reporter interviewing the duck intrigued me. Why was the duck being interviewed and what did it say? After much investigating I found that the duck was trying to tell us that all allusive meaning of life. In a cruel twist of fate, there was nobody in the room that could interpret duck. So once again mankind misses another chance at enlightenment. No wonder the newspaper swept this story under the rug. Oh, the typewriter that the reporter is leaning on is a Smith Corona Eighty-eight Secretarial. The picture was published in 1959.



    This next picture I wanted to show because of all you Olympia SG-1 fans out there. I wanted to show the SG-1 in its natural enviroment. This picture was published in 1957 in a Portland, ME newspaper. Those machines look brand new.

     Last week was another very busy week in the shop. A bunch of people came in to buy vintage manuals for gifts, some at the last minute. Also many repairs in through the door. One nice thing I noticed is several people who bought a machine two weeks ago, brought in a friend to buy a portable manual for someone in their family last week. Two weeks ago, the nice women that bought the green Optima that I featured on my blog, came in with her girlfriend who bought a beautiful Corona Silent for her husband. That was probably the prettiest machine that I had in the store then. Also a women from New Hampshire came in a got a Royal KMM for her husband and also bought three KMM ads to go with it. I recently got a whole bunch of Royal KMM ads from 1940 and 1941. They were all really neat and a few were funny. A nice dad came in a got a Royal Custom II in metalic red for his six year old daughter. I know some people think that is too young but I think its a perfect age to start typing. Kids that age are facsinated with machines and learn to type rather quickly. Plus, they're going to grow up with a typewriter in the house which many kids today are not.

     I only had a few service calls last week because its like a vacation week at offices in town. But I had more than the usual amount of repairs come in for the week. That means I'll be chained to my bench all this week. And thats a good thing. I think that I'll use my Christmas money to but a scanner for the computer so I start typecasting and post better quality pictures. I've got tons of machines around here with lots of interesting typestyles. This should be interesting because I'm really not that good of a typist. Also, starting in the new year, I promise to start writing stories to help you out. Like what to look for when buying a used machine, helpful repair tips to common problems, those kind of stories. Friends and follows have been very heplful with ideas and stories they would like to see. Thanks for all the help. 

     Thats it for this week. Thanks for checking it out. I would like to wish everyone out there and around the world a happy and safe New Year. 

   

  

The Christmas Rush



on its way to San Francisco



     Well, the Christmas rush is going full steam ahead around here. The shop in hopping to be sure. Lots of repairs are coming through the door. Tons of people coming in to buy ribbons and supplies or ordering over the phone or emailing orders. I still can't get over how people from all over the country can order a vintage typewriter or ribbons over the computer from me. For the thirty years that I've been here, this has always been a small neighborhood typewriter shop. Now I'm the only typewriter shop around and my customers are from all across the country. Earlier this week a man from San Francisco bought a 1956 Royal Quiet de Luxe with red accents as a Christmas gift for his wife. Hope it arrives in time for Christmas. Today I shipped Matt's Hermes Ambassador down to New Jersey. Anyone who follows his blog knows he's been drooling for weeks over getting this machine. Matt thinks he'll have it Monday but the UPS driver said more like Tuesday because of the volume of packages right now. 



a 15 year old girl will be very happy next Saturday.

     I've sold alot of machines so far this week. Not surprisingly, most of them are for teenagers. Most of them, are for girls by a 5 to 1 ratio this year. So far its mostly dads coming in to pick out the machines for their daughters. I'm impressed that the dads are into it this year. In years past they didn't understand why their kid wanted an old typewriter. This year I'm getting dads in here saying that they are happy their kid wants a low tech present. I think they sounded alittle proud about it. Also finding new homes this week are a 1936 Royal Touch Control , a 1940 Royal Companion, 2- Olympia portable lightweights, a Olympia SM-3, a SM-5, a Smith Corona Galaxie 12, a Smith Corona Sterling, a Corona Silent and several IBM Wheelwriters, going to Boston area companies. I'm very happy that the vintage ads are starting to sell more and more. Remember that Olympia SM-5 in caramel from last weeks blog, well it sold in less than a week, as predicted. Ta-dah! A man bought it for his girlfriend, who is a writer, for Christmas. He originally came in with a Olympia repair that he bought on Ebay. It was unrepairable, so he was looking at some machines and was seduced by the SM-5. Can't blame him, it was a real beauty. 

     Yesterday I sold a Olympia SM-3 to a television show that films in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its a two tone model that appeared the t.v show Fringe



a future television star



on Fox television, during the first show of the first season. They don't have that machine anymore and needed it for a show in the upcoming season. So I got the call from the prop master to duplicate the machine for a scene to be shot in a typewriter shop. Sounds pretty cool to me. When this show originally aired two years ago, the day after the first episode, two different customers called me up all excited saying, " Did you watch that new show Fringe last night. They did a scene in a typewriter shop and I'd swear it was your shop. It looked exactly the same. Are you sure nobody took a picture of the inside of the store."  

     So thats how my exciting, busy and fun week ended for Christmas rush. Hope you all had a good week too. Thanks for checking it out. See you next week. 

 

























Luddite Alert!

     Many customers that come in the shop tell me a familiar complaint. Their family, friends or co-workers make fun of them for using a typewriter. It can get pretty rude too. What made me think about this now was a conversation I had with a customer earlier in the week. He's a writer in the Harvard Square area who has written all his books on a Smith Corona typewriter. He happily calls himself a luddite and thinks that the people hooked on technology are the clueless ones. We have had lots of interesting conversations over the years usually along these lines. He calls up about a problem with one of the typewriters and soon starts to talk about how his sister is always teasing him about his always writing on a typewriter and not a computer. She says he should just throw away all his machines. He responds that he could no sooner throw out his typewriters than she could throw out her cats. To this she got very mad and slammed the phone down and hasn't talked to him in a week. "She just doesn't understand my relationship with my typewriter" he says. "Typewriters are like close friends to me. They are a part of me now." We talked for awhile about this, then I had to go because a customer came in. So he says, "I think I'll call up my sister now and mend fences."
     I'll bet I hear this kind of story at least once a day. I know that I get teased alot, especially on service calls when I'm in a office fixing a machine. People will walk by and make comments like OMG, whats that! The suits are the worst. "Don't you feel like a dinosaur" or " Boy, you're a dying breed." That doesn't bother me because they're walking back to their cubicle to stare at a computer screen for six more hours. Take that! I think that there's a lesson for tolerance in there somewhere.
     I happen to think that people who use typewriters are amoung the most interesting people I ever meet. They are creative people doing fun and interesting things in their lives. Its always fun to talk to people coming in the shop for the first time.
  

Shop news- I wanted to show this picture of a red Royal Quiet de Luxe because its just a knockout. A mom got it on Ebay and needed it cleaned up and repaired so she could give it to her daughter for Christmas. I wish I had a truck load of these machines.

     Super exciting news. Ames has typewriter oil again. The rumor was true. I got a package from Ames yesterday and when I opened it up, OIL! I'll try not to bum out so much next time something gets discontinued on me. Must remember to keep things in balance.

     Earlier in the week Matt sent me a link to Pimp My Typewriter. A site put up by mpclemens that features typewriters that people custom painted themselves. WOW. This was awesome. I had never thought about painting machines wild colors and combinations of colors. But it works and has given me lots of ideas. I've already picked out a handful of machines I'm going to experiment on this winter. I'll post the results. Matt's already come up with some color schemes for me. It might make for a neat contest. See who can come up with the most original creations. The link is http://www.flickr.com/photos/mpclemens/galleries/72157622673443179/

     I had a Dad come in this afternoon and buy a mid 1920's Remington Portable Manual typewriter today. He was pretty cool. He totally got the vintage typewriter thing and was going to give it to his daughter for Christmas. She just went off to college this year and wanted an old typewriter to write her poetry on. I would say that this fits the bill. Sorry about the poor quality of the picture. Where's Abraham when you need him. 

    Well, thats it from the shop this week. Thanks everyone for checking it out. Next few weeks should be very busy in here. Have a great weekend.

In the Zone



Early 1950's Optima



     Today was one of those days, you know, where everything clicks and your in that zone. It starts off I as walk through the front door today at 9am. My eyes immediately look at a green typewriter case sitting in the corner where its been for four months. Its a green Optima from East Germany in early 1950's. I hadn't thought much about it since I got it but just then a clear voice inside me said  you need to recondition this machine now. Somebody wants it today. No kidding. This happens from time to time. Your inner voice is always right as you shall see. So, after I settle in for the day, I stripped the machine and clean, oil and repaired it, replaced the platen and ribbon and thoroughly tested it out. As you can see, it looks great, hardly a blemish on it. It types great and in Congress elite too, one of my favorites. When I was finished I set it on the table in the front of the shop, intending to take a picture of it to put on the blog tonite. A half hour later, a women walks into the shop and says "My ten year old son has suddenly announced that he wants a manual typewriter for Christmas and I have no idea why." She sees the green Optima on the table and says " I love that typewriter. I want that. Is it for sale." With a big smile I say that it sure is. And I'm thinking, boy the universe sure does work fast. 

     This kind of thing happens alot to me in here. It just reminds me of how tuned in I am to the energy of this place. As anyone whose been in the shop will tell you, this place has an aura, a energy that you can feel. I mean you've got hundreds of old typewriters here with all their history and stored energy in them. Its no wonder that people react so strongly when they come in here. I wish I could record the reactions of people when they first walk in the door. Lots of OMG's and this place in incredible. Its no wonder that I always look forward to coming into work.
     That was the first half of the day. I had several other sales and several repairs come in also as well as many people coming in for ribbons and just to look around. I sold a IBM Wheelwriter 6, the women sent a courier over to pick it up and also a man came in at the end of the day and bought a beautiful 1936 Royal touch control model for his ten year old hockey playing daughter. Now here's what really put the day over the top. Anyone who read last weeks post, knows I was upset about not being able to get typewriter oil anymore. Well, late in the day a friend of mine came in to visit and say hi. He's an 87 year old retired typewriter tech. He brought in his friend from Connecticut, also a retired typewriter tech, and he says he's got a present for me. Out of a bag he pulls a gallon of typewriter oil and says Merry Christmas. I took that gallon of oil and hugged it tight. Bill was laughing so hard because he knew I was desperate. I kind of hated to see this day end but tomorrow's another day.

     About a month ago I got a call from a Martin Howard in Toronto. He was looking for an item to use in a exhibit he was commissioned to do for the Smithsonian in D.C. I couldn't help him out but we talked about typewriters for awhile and he told me that he collected early American typewriters from the 1880's and that I should check out his website. I did and so should you. These are the first American machines restored back to their original condition and professionally photographed. They are simply stunning. How he got his domain name I'll never know. Check it out at http://www.antiquetypewriters.com/

     I got this machine in last month and just got around to reconditioning it this week. I wasn't sure which model it was at first. After checking Olympia websites I figured out it is a SM-5. They called this color caramel. The picture doesn't do it justice. This thing shines. It has a luster that is just gorgeous. I predict that this machine will be sold within a week.

Check out the red Royal Quiet de Luxe in the background. That repair came came in around lunchtime. Some lucky girl is getting that for Christmas.

     O.K. one more story. Early in the week a elderly gentleman came in to get a ribbon for his typewriter. He look around at all the antique machines on the shelf out front. A big smile came over his face as he pointed to an old Remington 6 Standard and he said I remember that machine. You want to hear a funny story. I said oh yeah and moved in closer. He was stationed at Fort Hood in Texas during WWII training to be a code breaker which he said was a really cool job. There were about twenty-five other men in the class and they had to take a typing class first thing every morning. They were typing on these old Remington 6's that had been modifyied for code breaking class. He said that the platens easily snapped out of the machines in two seconds. A few nights every week the guys would be out till 2am and had to get up at six to go to classes. It wasn't unusual for someone to fall asleep over the typewriter during typing class. When this would happen, the instructor would sneek over to the sleeping soldier and quietly snap the platen out of the machine. Then he would stand a few feet behind the soldier and loudly clap his hands. The man would snap awake and immediately start typing as fast as he could. The whole class would roar laughing as the soldier had no idea what was wrong.

     Just picturing that happening is making me laugh. Well, thats it for this week. Thanks for checking it out. Everyone have a great weekend. Go do some Christmas shopping.

    

      

Typewriter Event In Philly

Announcing the first Philadelphia

         Type-IN

A Pleasant Afternoon of

Manual Typewriting

SATURDAY, 18 December,1 p.m.-4:30 p.m.

 BRIDGEWATER’S PUB, South Concourse30^th Street Station, 30^th & Market Sts.Philadelphia

SEE a choice display of vintage writing machines • BRING your favorite functioning manual typewriter (plus one or two to swap/sell) • COMPETE in a typing contest; win modest prizes • COMPOSE a holiday letter (we’ll supply paper & stamped envelopes) to your loved ones • CONSULT with an experienced typewriter technician •  ENJOY the excellent kitchen & vast selection of craft beers at Bridgewater’s Pub •

The Type-IN is FREE, but please RSVP to phillytyper@gmail.com with Type-IN on the subject line.

 humbly sponsored by trophy bikes university city

& the trophy bike garage of northern liberties

     A few days ago, I got an email from someone in Philadelphia who was putting together a gathering of manual typewriter users. He wanted to know if I would post his flyer on my blog to help spread the word. You bet I would! I also really wish I could go. I got really excited after reading his flyer and email. It would be so cool if people around the country started organizing typewriter events. Typewriter enthusiasts from all walks of life getting together to share stories, experiences and support each other. We need to do something like this in Boston. This growing interest in old manual typewriters and typewriters in general is such a joy to watch. I'd love to hear your comments on this.

     A friend of mine sent me this link to the New York Times article earlier this year about Cormac McCarthy's Olivetti L-32 selling at auction for $254,500. Most of you know this but not everyone and it was a very important typewriter story. The NY Times article had alot of good information in it. I know that after the auction I couldn't find a L-32 anywhere for a reasonable price for about six months. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/cormac-mccarthys-typewriter-brings-254500-at-auction/ 

      Last week I had to reorder a bunch of cleaning supplies I use to repair typewriters including typewriter oil from Ames Supply Co. They sadly informed me that they can't get typewriter oil anymore. The company that made it no longer does. And, they don't know anyone else making typewriter oil. This was a real bummer. I need a good oil to repair machines. I immediately called several other wholesalers and heard the same story. This is a familiar story these days. As anyone in the business will tell you, its gets harder every year to get what you need to run a repair shop. Every year more ribbons and parts are discontinued making my job more difficult. But today I got some good news. My friend Matt from New Jersey called to say that he saw on the typewriter forum that Ames just scored a supply of typewriter oil and its in shipment. He knew that I would be excited and he was right. I'm a happy camper now. I don't know why that bothered me so much but it really did.

   A few days ago a minister from a north shore church came in with a Olympia SM-7 repair. He said that this was the machine he took to college and now he uses it to type out marriage certificates. Several months ago he decided to treat himself and buy a new manual typewriter. You know, the Olivetti 35 from China for around $100.00. He said he almost died after taking it out of the box and trying it. After two minutes he repacked it and sent it back along with an angry letter about what a poorly made product they sold him. So now the SM-7's looking pretty good again. We had a good laugh about it and he says that I should keep one of those new machines on the table so people will see it and want to buy one of the older better machines.   

Another perfect example of why older is better. 

     I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We have much to be thankful for! Have a great weekend everyone. 

 

Teenagers and Typewriters



Thirteen tear old Emma checks out a Corona flattop



     Now, most people these days wouldn't put those two words in the same sentence. Around here, we do all the time. The neatest thing going on in the shop in recent years has been teenagers coming in and buying vintage portable manual typewriters. It started out as a handful of kids coming in over the summer seven or eight years ago and grew every year to the point that its no longer a trend. Parents started coming in and buying them as Christmas gifts and birthday presents for the kids. Its so funny watching some of the dads coming in with their kid, and he'll walk in with his head down and say  "I don't know why but for some reason  my kid wants a typewriter. What do you have." Then I'll glance over at the kid and give him a wink as he's gazing around the room in awe. 

     After awhile I started asking the teens that come in why they were interested in typing when they had their computers. I got lots of different answers but the most common ones were, its cool and different or its more fun than my computer. It took awhile to figure out but most teens don't think twice about typewriters. The ones coming in are the creative type of kids. That is the ones that are the future writers, artists, musicians, poets, actors, photographers, etc...

     I sell alot of vintage typewriters every year and over half of them are to teens. I include high school and college kids amoung them. They are dicovering that connection between typing are writing that older writers have always talked about. I for one, am very excited about young people becoming typewriter enthusiasts and I see many teens that are totally into it and started collecting typewriters.

     For me, nothing is more fun than watching a sixteen year old girl (or boy), picking out a old Corona or a shiney black 1930 Royal for their birthday present. Its fun to watch the process of them deciding which machine to buy as they line up six or seven machines that they like and slowly eliminate them down to two or three and then agonize over that final decision. Some kids imediately see the machine they want and its a easy choice. The best part are the killer smiles on their faces as they leave the shop with their new old typewriter. Its like Christmas morning all the time. I never get tired of that. Sometimes I'll get a phone call from a parent months later saying how much their daughter loves the machine and still types everyday. How cool is that!
     Many more teens are bring in their parents or grandparents typewriter or picking them up at garage or yard sales and getting them cleaned and tuned up to use. Older kids are getting them on Ebay. But they're finding them and using them in many different ways. My daughter has had a 1940's Royal Companion since she was seven and I can see her now typing up newsletters to friends and dinner menu's for the week for my wife and I. I wish I could post some of them, they're hysterical, but my daughter would kill me.
     I guess that there is still life left in those old clunkers after all. LONG LIVE TYPEWRITERS!




before

      Its been pretty busy at the shop this week. I got buried in repairs early in the week. So I've been chained to my bench all week trying to catch up. I had a perfect example of a before and after picture on a Burgandy Corona repair that came in on Monday and picked up on Friday. Check out the difference. Thats what we do around here, take beat up machines and make them fully functional and beautiful. I had some nice sales too. An older gentleman came in and bought his wife a beautiful Royal Model 10 for her birthday. That was sweet. Today I sold a Green Olympia SM 3 in mint condition to a man who was replacing a rusted out Olivetti Praxis. Great choice.
     My friend John is coming in tomorrow and bring in a L-32 in mint condition for me and more vintage typewriter ads. I've got to get a scanner so I can post some of these ads here because they are really cool. A lot of history in many of these and some are just plain funny. I've got close to a hundred of them now and sell them in the shop.


after!!!

 Well, thats it for this week. Thanks for checking it out. Everybody have a great weekend!

A Typewriter With Some History



Top cover of case depicting Boot Camps

      Every once in a while someone walks in the shop with a typewriter repair in a beat up, graffiti covered or travel sticker covered case. This imediately gets my attention because it usually means a machine thats been around the country or world. This machine was both.


Left side panel showing stops in Great Britain



     The young lady bring in this repair, Alexandra, quickly told me that this machine belonged to her grandfather and that it was now her most prized possession. With great pride she told me her grandfather was a reporter for the Worcester Telegram and Gazette for most of his life. He was working as a reporter up untill he past away in his 90's. I started to ask questions about the meaning of all the countries and towns in Europe. She said her grandfather was in WW II as a reporter and was sending stories back home. He painted on the case everywhere he went, which you can see is all over war torn Europe. On the left side panel he drew the troop transport ship he took to Bristol. The bottom shows the landing craft number he was on that landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy.



Right side panel shows stops in Europe



     The right panel shows all the stops he made on the Army's march through France, Belgium and Germany. What a amazing journey this man and his typewriter went on. One can only imagine him typing stories on this machine as he hears artillery bombardment in the distance. Or writing of heroic deeds witnessed firsthand on the frontlines of the battlefield. If only this machine could talk...



This machine looks like its been in a war.



     Finally you can see that the machine is very worn and beat up. It had not been used in some time as it was severely rusted. I was able to remove alot of the rust and get the machine back into really good running condition again. Alexandra was very excited when she picked up the machine earlier this week. She said she plans to write creatively on it and can't wait to start. I'm sure the energy stored up in this machine will only help to inspire her writing.  

    In other news this week, I've had many repairs come in week and a few typewriters sales. This afternoon a couple from Manhatten, in town on business came in and purchased a Hermes 3000. One of the nice ones with the curved front. Boy was he happy to find that. After typing for about ten seconds, he looks up at me with huge smile and says "This is it. This is it. I'm so happy." That makes my day too!

     Looking forward to a visit tomorrow from Abraham. He's bringing in a few machines. We always have a good laugh together and hope the Bruins go all the way this year.

     I've got a fun story for you next week. Check it out if you can. Have a great week everyone!



Welcome to my new blog

My home away from home

     Thanks for checking out my very first posting. I hope all you typewriter enthusiasts out there will check this out from time to time. I will try to post new reports each week about what's going on in the shop. I will share interesting stories from customers, feature classic and cool machines that pass through the store. Down the road I would like to feature a column on maybe typewriter repair tips or a machine of the month thing. I would really, really like your comments about what you would like to see in this column. This blog will be a work in progress for a while.
     These past few weeks I've been really building up my stock of vintage manual typewriters. I sell lots of old machines between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I like to have a large and varied collection for people to choose from. My friend John from Cambridge has been instrumental in picking up really mint condition stuff. I mean the machines that people start to drool over when I open the case. My friend Abraham has also been extremely helpful and supportive. So much so that I recently appointed him the Typewriter Ambassador of New England.

This Goverment issue WWI  LC Smith just sold

     I'm getting lots of Olympia SM3,4,7 & 9's in different colors and typefaces, including script. Also bunches of 1930's Royal portables and  Model 10's, Olivetti L-22 & 32's, pre-WWII Corona flattops , and curved fronts and many other odd machines that I'll post pictures of after they have been reconditioned.

     A couple of weeks ago I made a new friend, Matt from New Jersey. He found my web site a few months ago and starting calling me to talk about typewriters. Eventually he said his sixteenth birthday was coming up and he was going to tell his mother that all he wants is to go to Boston so he could check out my shop. Well , a few weeks later he calls up all excited and says I'm coming to Boston. Matt and his mom drove up 5 hours and showed up at 10:30 Friday morning. They stayed all day Friday and a few more hours on Saturday. Matt brought up three of his favorite machines for me to repair which I did in time for his trip home. I think he typed on every machine in the shop and clearly was having the greatest time. I am extremely impressed with Matts passion for typewriters and his extensive knowledge. He researches everything thoughly. Matt is also a typecaster and has his own blog called Adventures in Typewriterdom. He's well worth checking out. Its great to young people so passionate about typewriters and picking up the torch from us older folks.

    

     On Labor Day, Boston's local NPR station aired a story on my shop. If you listen to it you'll hear few good typewriter stories.

     Thanks again for checking out my first blog. Please comment and make suggestions. I really want to know what you would like to see on here.