Mrs. Magic Margin is much more observant than me. She notices patterns that I think are just noise and coincidence. She has saved me more than once when I have glossed over a detail. So, it was no surprise when she leaned over to me while we were out seeing Moonrise Kingdom that typewriters are everywhere.
Example the First
Garnier BB face cream is for people who care about their face. I have always considered mine nothing remarkable, so commercials about this type of product fly over my ever-increasingly bald head. But, on the advice of Mrs. Magic Margin, I went to the Internet and found this commercial. It's the usual "make your face fresh" sort of stuff, but there is a typewriter in the last 1/4 of the commercial. It isn't a plot point or anything important, but it is a typewriter. You can plainly see from the two screen grabs below:
Example the Second
The Perks of Being a Wallflower has been in print for some time. It has just recently been turned into a feature film. (Fun fact: Chbosky wrote the novel and directed the film) I have never read it, but Mrs. Magic Margin says that it's a good book. The protagonist is shy and an aspiring writer and it's gospel that shy and aspiring writers need a typewriter. You can see from this still where Emma Watson (Harry Potter) and Logan Lerman (Hoot, Percy Jackson & the Olympians) are standing in front of a very nice Royal portable. However, the case is all wrong for the model. The prop master should have consulted with a Typospherian first.
Furthermore, the title is rendered in a typewriter-inspired typeface.
Example the Third
Now, I couldn't find any pictures for this third Proof, but the soon-to-be-released film, The Words has typewriters, original typewritten manuscripts, and literary theft. It's portrayed as a romantic drama about an author who finds a manuscript and plagiarizes the story as his own. As his literary celebrity increases, so does the price of stealing someone story. There are typewriters there too.
I could go on and on about the Pottery Barn catalog that features a Hermes Ambassador, or other examples, but you get the idea.
A Summation
What is going on here? What is the deal?
I think I have an answer. It's us. It's the Typosphere. Through our blogs, and type-ins, and articles, and documentaries we have brought the typewriter out of the dusty closets, musty basements, and stifling attics. We've started to make typewriters important; perhaps even more important than they were during the height of their use.
Regardless, it's a great time to be a typewriter collector.
Let's keep it up until typewriters are everywhere!
