Typewriter Siwulogi

From 2:00pm to 3:00pm on the 21st, young Jake Fischer will be speaking about typewriters at the North Valley Regional Library. Pack a lunch and make your way up to the gorgeous northern parts of the Phoenix Metro area to hear what he has to say. I will take pictures and offer a complete summary of the day's events.

40410 N. Gavilan Peak Pkwy

Anthem, AZ 85086

602-652-3000

Jake Fischer's North Phoenix Typewriter Presentation

Local typewriter collector Jake Fischer os hosting a presentation on typewriters called "21st Century Typewriting" on February 21st from 2:00pm to 3:00pm at the north Valley Regional Library.

I have not had the pleasure of meeting Jake in person, but we exchange email messages and he is a very entrepreneurial young typewriter and collector who has impressed me greatly. I am very interested in hearing what he has to say. For your mapping needs here is the address to the North Valley Regional Library:

40410 N. Gavilan Peak Pkwy

Anthem, AZ 85086

602-652-3000

When I get a flier or other details I will happily post them here.

They Came in the Post

Last night as the rain started to fall I heard a knock at the door. I looked through the peep hole and I was surprised to see three packages. I had heard that these three packages would be coming my way from Alabama. Tim had mentioned it in his email.

I loaded the boxes into my car and drove them to school. What could be inside?

The excitement is palpable.

An Olivetti...

an Olympia...

and another Olympia.

It's raining right now, but in my classroom it's raining typewriters. More on these great typewriters very soon.

Christmas with Royal

With Christmas fast approaching I thought it would be fun to see how Royal advertisements throughout the years reflected this time of family tradition.

We start with some stately pre-war grace. This kind of image makes me think of Natalie Wood in Miracle on 34th Street.

Now on to something that really puts the cheer in the holiday...

...as if you were hoping to make your children juvenile delinquents for Christmas.

Here little Jane and Billy are admiring the fine Christmas gift that will last for years. And they are not even remotely juvenile delinquents. their parents heeded the warning from Life magazine last Christmas.

As we move out of the 1940s into the 1950s the obligatory weird cute/ugly elf makes an appearance. This time, he is shilling a tombstone keyed Royal portable. I can't entirely tell, but is this a new version of Royal's portable?

Now, an advert from September:

I know Santa is magical. That has been made very clear. If Santa is so magical, why is he carrying a typewriter around and sweating? Wiggle your nose and be done with it! Also, that belt Ms. Claus bought Santa is too small. Is she telling him something? 

Santa hat and a typewriter. Genius! Don't over-think it!

Does this look like an angel is loitering and an elf-woman is being mugged? Merry Christmas!

 Look at these hip, young people communicating. Now I want some eggnog.

Does it seem like those four fake Santas and one real Santa are judging Royal's manufacturing? I mean, Litton-era typewriters are nothing exciting. Even the copywriter couldn't  muster an overtly positive thing to say about a Litton Royal. "The people who make a variety of good portables." Good portables. Not: great, fantastic, rugged, precision, or quality. Good. Maybe Litton outsourced the copy writing to Portugul along with Sabres.

That was fun. Now, I hope that there is a typewriter under your tree this Christmas.

Ghost Blog Writer

I can hardly believe that it has been nearly two months since my last post. I bet you thought I was a ghost or as my title indicates--a ghost blog writer. My metamorphosis has been greatly exaggerated. I thought I would drop a little Halloween hello to the Typosphere. Here's hoping you have a spooky and safe Halloween.

Very Odd Visual Aids

When you integrate typewriters into a class lesson it makes for some very anachronistic PowerPoint slides.

The Fingers Fly

A new school year has started. Actually, it's already three weeks old. The honeymoon has worn off and the kids are deep in the study of Beowulf, Hrothgar, and the terrible events at Herot.

This last Tuesday I started the kids on the typewriters. Here are a few pictures.

In order to get the typewriters ready for classroom use I had to dust them all off and do something about the ribbons. I didn't have time to place an order from Baco so I used Ted's WD-40 ribbon rejuvenation method. I used several light coats and didn't bother with dabbing the ribbon. They weren't wet enough to warrant it. In the end the ribbons were noticeably darker and made it easier for the kids to type.

The best part, however, was giving the lecture on how to use them. I had a whole presentation and it was very odd telling a whole generation of phone freaks how to turn a knob to feed a sheet paper into a platen. Very odd.