Black Eye

A gift from Tom Furrier to complete this Corona. I'm sure it'll heal and go back to the lovely maroon color.

Finish Line

After a serious amount of work I can say that the typewriter collection has been displayed. Now comes the task of outfitting the whole lot with typewriter ribbons. Actually, that is one thing that is currently missing. I don't have any ribbons. Allegedly, some were ordered last year by the outgoing department chair. However there is currently one pallet of supplies still missing and I think this is where the ribbons might be. While I hunt for these ribbons please enjoy these photos of all the typewriters. All-in-all it's an impressive sight.

This is a corner filled with cases and junk. I am looking
for some storage space for these things.

Ahhh. That's the ticket!

That's right, Erasmus. You watch over those typers!

1960s Row.

Left End, 1960s Row.

An entirely novel use for a broken Remette.

Serious. Serious. Serious. Gaudy.

Another interesting use for some old typers.

I found this wonderful stand under a terrible
electric typewriter. I haven't had a chance to
clean it.

Getting Ready

This was going to be a typecast, but this week has been devoted to staff meetings and getting my new classroom set up. With all the new typewriters I have had to re-think storage for this school year. If money was no object I would have something made, but that is a dream. So, I had a look at what IKEA had to offer. Surprisingly, there was a shelving system that fit the bill and was under the 100 dollar mark.

This is what it looks like assembled. It's very utilitarian (i.e. charmless) but it will get the job done. With all the typewriters organized it will be an impressive sight.

$70 and room to grow.

Don't worry. You won't be alone for long.

See, some friends.

With any luck everything will be wrapped up by Friday ready for the students to return.

Happy Birthday Selectric!

More Typers

A couple more have been cleaned and made ready for school on August 8th.

This Remington Quiet-Riter (ran out of Ws) had a problem with shifted letters. The capitals were a little higher than the base of the lower case letters. It gave the impression that this typewriter was suffering a nervous breakdown. All I had to do was adjust this little screw and everything was solved!

The Area of Concern .

Detail of The Screw.

I also had time to clean up this Underwood Leader. The leader is definitely an economy typer. I'll have more to say on this one soon.

Great Gray Lady

Sitting pretty.

During the cleaning process.

Left: clean. Right: dirty.

Italics!

I  have been slowly going through all the newly donated machines cleaning, fixing, and getting them ready for classroom use. Most of them are portables, but there are three desktops. One, of which, is this Royal.

Obviously it sat for more than a few years. The segments were very dirty and filled with dust. I decided to use some PB blaster and a can of compressed air to try to get all the gunk out. The work is slow, but things are moving along and this machine is proving to be in pretty good shape.

While the PB Blaster was working its way into the nooks and crannies, I set to task working on the type slugs. Caked with ink they were nearly impossible to see, but as I cleaned with a toothbrush I was surprised to see an unusual typeface. Italics! You could have knocked me over with a feather, I was so stunned. I snapped a picture and flipped it around so you could see.

None of the typewriters in my collection are italics, so this one is special. Additionally, it's a desktop model. I have no idea where italics would be used in regular office work. Maybe in a church? Devotionals and programs might look good in italics. Regardless of its origins, I am excited to get this typewriter in working order and get it into the classroom. It'll be nice to see a few haiku in italics.