Oh, Brother

Yesterday, during my 1st period class, a colleague came by and asked if I would want a typewriter she found. I accepted the gift gladly. This is what arrived:

Performer? Reach for that lowest star, Remington!

The Remington Performer was manufactured by Brother sometime in the late 60s to mid-70s. The machine is vaguely mentioned on Will Davis' site (mirrored on Machines of Loving Grace). Surprisingly, it does have an all-metal body and is built well with tight tolerances. This specimen is is fairly good shape with just a few scratches near the carriage return. This is due, doubtless, to this type of CR lever. It folds down for travel, but if you do not extend it fully it will drag when you move the carriage.

As it is a carriage-shift, the shift key is a little stiff. Typing on it is only acceptable to good. The sound proofing is not adequate and sounds like you typing on a pilchard can. I'll beef it up with some spare felt when I have a chance.

This Remington has all the features of a late-model typewriter; repeat spacer, paper support arm, pre-set tabulator, key de-jammer/margin release key. It shares a more than passing resemblance to some of the last typewriters made today. That is not a coincidence. This Brother mechanism seems to live on in many variations and labels.

Whitman Balm

Reconstructed from a very soggy, chewed original.

Typewriter Desk

Our home has a one-year old who loves paper. That's why there is no typecast in this post. My son ate it. Trust me, it was a wonderful typecast. Anyway, a little web-surfing came up with this interesting article from 1942.

After you go through the process, you should have this 40s-tastic desk:

I took a look at the dimensions and this would be the perfect home for a QDL.

Typewriter Round-Up Adverts

I have been working on several versions of the posters for the Phoenix Type-In scheduled for March 5th. I've finished one version in B&W that can be printed on 11x17 paper. There is a smaller 5x7 size one to the right of this post. As the days progress I hope to finish all the other sizes.

The plan is to go to some of the more interesting independent coffee houses and stores and ask them to post them. With any luck I won't be the only person there.

11x17 Poster Link
11x17 Color Poster Link
8.5x11 Poster

UPDATE: All the psoters ahve been done and I have contacted several local media outlets. We'll see what happens!

The Mysterious Joe Van De Loo

Cronkite School of Journalism

I was down at ASU Downtown at the new Walter Cronkite School of Journalism building. This is also the home to our local PBS station, KAET Channel 8. In the school there is a small museum where bits and pieces of Arizona broadcasting history are on display. There is a large selection of ephemera related to the famous Arizona reporter Don Bolles who was murdered in a mafia-related bombing. There is also a very interesting Associated press wire machine that still has the last story it ever received (the day Gorbachev became premier of the USSR) ready to take off the roll.

There is even a collection of Walter Cronkite's famous pipes, but what really exited me was a small collection of typewriters. Take a look at the pictures below. The quality is low because the only camera I had was in my wife's cell phone and all the machines are behind glass.

Hammond Multiplex

Folding Corona No. 3

Corona Flattop

Remington Standard No. 7

Big Brown's Carriage

Not entirely unlike my HH.
Source: Machines of Loving Grace

This afternoon I was working on seating charts. You would think with all the smart-boards, computers, and projectors in the modern classroom there would be some amazing way to make seating charts, but my seating charts are byzantine documents that take hours of toil to craft. Our attendance system doesn't offer an easy way to craft the kind of chart I need. That's where the Royal HH comes in handy. It has a 13" carriage which is tailor made to accept the landscape forms that I use. When I set up the tabs I can get through a seating chart in very little time.

It's the tabulator key that makes this machine great. It's larger than a normal tab key and placed to be activated with the fleshy part of your pinkie. I don't think that there is another tab key like it on any typewriter. The proper placement of a tab key is important. On the Hermes it is in a strange location that takes a conciderable ammount of time to learn. The HH tab is easy to activate without looking. 

Well, as I was using the tab I nocticed that the carriage was slowing down mid-travel. A quick call to Mesa Typewriter Exchange (the last typewriter repair in the Phoenix area) help me figure out that it is either a dirty, sticky carriage or the tabulator brake. When I get a little time and money I'll take it on down and have it cleaned and serviced. It's a wonderful machine that I would love to keep for a long time.