About this blog

This blog is about the daily activities in a busy typewriter shop. I want to share with you the many interesting people who come in here, the beautiful machines I get and most of all the great typewriter stories that people share with me!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

All Work and No Play

     Wow, I sure do get really busy after a little publicity. The repairs are flying in so fast, I'm officially buried. I'm working seven days a week right now and still falling further behind. It's a good problem to have but in a couple of weeks I'm going to crash. Stay tuned to witness the carnage. Just kidding. I'm trying to pace myself and not over commit myself to customers. It's fun seeing all the different kinds of typewriters coming in for repair. There are many different brands from all decades, usually in poor condition. Many are old family typewriters that sat in the basement for years until someone saw a television show on typewriters and thought it would be cool to use it again. Tons of people are calling up to sell or donate a machine to the cause. I'm getting lots of great machines in to recondition and sell later on. I forgot to take a picture of the shop to show you the piles of machines, so I'm writing myself a note to do that tomorrow. Abraham is making a surprise visit tomorrow. I will try to get a picture of him typing on the Splendid.
      Some of the machines I acquired this week to recondition and sell are, a Royal KMM, a Quiet de Luxe, Signet(1960's), a Royal Parade, Underwood four bank, Smith Corona Classis 12, Super Speed (grey crinkle finish), white Olympia SF in tough shape, a gorgeous pink SM7, IBM Personal Wheelwriter  and four Selectric 3's. Also a few more I can't remember. A customer gave me a Steno type machine from 1915 that her mother bought for Secretarial School. She wrote out a page detailing the machines history. It also came with instructions. I always wanted to know how those court reporters could type so fast on these machines. The book says that the speed record is 375 words per minute. That's got to be a blur of flying fingers.
     I'm attaching a link to view the TV story from two weeks ago.

Obsolete: Segment Four - Video - WCVB Boston

    Hope you enjoyed the story. Sorry for the lack of pictures this week. My head is literally spinning still. Next week I'll have extra pictures. Thanks for checking it out. Everyone have a wonderful week.

6 comments:

  1. If you know of any resources on stenotypes I have two that I want to get dates and info about. I want to learn to use them - one at a time, of course.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was just coveting a pink SM7 today! Pictures?

    Although you're getting slammed, it makes me glad to hear the business is rolling in. The power of media!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The swarm of new business is great news.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Being busy is a good thing.....hang in there and good luck. Someday when I get to the east coast I look forward to visiting your shop and saying hello.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Notagain- I know nothing about Steno Type machines but I'm going to research them because I want to know how they work. I'll post on it if I find out.

    Strikethru- the pink SM7 is stunning(mint). Did I mention that it's a scriptwriter. I'll send you pictures soon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh my goodness. It sounds amazing. I always have admired pink SM7's. I am sure it will sell right away but if not, let me know!

    ReplyDelete