Flickr Widget

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

On joining the Typosphere

I have followed Ton S.'s blog I dream lo-tech for quite some time now. Ton is a vintage typewriter enthusiast who also appreciates vintage furnishings. He has been encouraging me to join the ranks of Typospherians worldwide in their celebration of and fascination for so-called "obsolete technology."

A little-known fact about me is that when I started my 30-year career in education in the early 1970s, it was as a high school business teacher. I also taught shorthand and business law, as well as 7th and 8th grade English, since the entire small rural school district that hired me was contained on one campus. (I had majored in English and had a double minor in history and business education.) Most of my career was spent teaching literature, but my roots were in a clickety-clack classroom full of manual typewriters.

I taught my students flawless posture and hand position. ("Sit with your back straight, feet squarely on the floor under the table, one foot slightly ahead of the other, fingers curved and hovering above the home row, making sure the heels of the hands are not touching the machine!") I also taught my students the art of correction. ("Strikeover in my class on pain of death. Don't rub that eraser back and forth...gently, gently, in one direction and then another. No, you can't use correction paper or fluid until you master erasing!") I insisted on proper word division ("Hyphenate only between syllables. Use your dictionary if necessary.") and insertion of an omitted letter ("Erase the two letters between which the missing letter should go. Then, with the type guide over the first blank space, pull the carriage back and hold it, so that the key will strike very close to...but not touching...the previous letter. Repeat till all three letters fit into the space of two.") OK...so the last one depended heavily on my modeling the process for the class...but you get my drift.

Anyway, I've been looking for a manual typewriter for the last year or two, and I finally bought one. I'll admit publicly (and I can hear Ton groan as I type this) that I am guilty of being what most die-hard Typhosperians would consider crass and shallow. I wanted a machine with a sleek, modern body and a pretty color that would match my decor as much as I wanted one that would be fun to type on. I have no defense. They're right about my crass shallowness. I almost groaned myself when I typed the word "match."

I had placed a bid the other day on a really cool orange Smith-Corona Super G and lost. Combing eBay again, I saw some pretty turquoise typewriters, but were they decent machines? One seemed especially promising. I looked through some of Ton's old posts and there it wasThe one he had seen at a flea market was missing the front protection plate, so he hadn't bothered to ask the price. But then he added that he probably should have. That was enough for me. After being assured by the seller...for whatever that's worth...that it was in excellent working and cosmetic condition, I made an offer on this snazzy little Smith-Corona Corsair Deluxe that was accepted instantly, and I've already made room for it on the kitchen bar/workspace. More photos will follow when it's safely (and stylishly) ensconced there...and I'm stocked up with ribbon and typing erasers and ready to typecast.


My latest purchase...a Smith-Corona Corsair Deluxe


Google Reader shut down July 1.
You have a three-week window to choose a new reader before you lose your data.
Follow on Bloglovin


14 comments:

  1. Salutations to Mr Smith! I look forward to reading your memoirs 'Thrift passions of a modern nester'
    Lol xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I promise to have a really steamy cover for it! :)

      Delete
  2. Typosphere——it's always comforting to learn that others exist who share my weird and obscure hobbies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, yes...there's a whole world of typing enthusiasts out there. If you check out Ton's blog, you'll find many of them.

      Delete
  3. Yes! Congratulations, Dana! I am so happy to hear that you've scored your first typewriter after a long while. I can see why you were drawn to the SC Corsair, it's a pretty color for sure (hey, nothing wrong with pretty). It's a good entry typewriter, I'd say. I can't wait for your first "typecast," I will definitely share it on my blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dana, here's more info on the SC Corsair, probably more than you'd care to know but could be a good resource:

      Made in England (and the US): SCM Portable Typewriters of the 1960s

      (sorry for the mess!)

      Delete
    2. I love the prophetic way you say "entry typewriter," as if you already know that before long I'll be up to my ears in typewriters, necessitating my declaring a period of typewriter chastity.

      Thanks so much for the link. You know how much I love the back story on everything. By the time my typewriter arrives (and my erasers and my new ribbon), I'll already feel like I know it personally.

      Delete
    3. Ton, the information you provided turned out to be extremely interesting. Philip H. Stevens, one of the designers of the Corsair, worked as a designer for Convair, an aircraft manufacturing company in Fort Worth, TX (where I live) around the time my neighborhood was built. From what I've read, the subdivision was primarily intended for officers stationed at Carswell Air Force Base and employees of the aircraft industry, so there's a not-so-remote chance that he had a home nearby. I suppose it's fitting that I bought this pretty little aqua typewriter.

      Delete
    4. Dana, by the way, we usually give sellers packing guidelines (having learned the hard way).

      Here's the ideal way of packing a typewriter: http://www.typewriter.be/shipping.htm

      I send a note requesting the seller to stuff the typebars basket/cavity with bubble wrap or paper, place case in an upright position, and use a sturdy box with a few inches of space all around (including bottom) for generous padding (rolled paper, bubble wrap, styro), and label with "this side up" and "fragile." I also say,"Typewriters are fragile in transit but I have never received a damaged shipment with these reasonable packing guidelines."

      Delete
    5. That's good to know. Thanks for more helpful information!

      Delete
  4. That is the typewriter my parents gave me for Christmas one year. I have no idea what became of it. Maybe you have it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The one my parents gave me wasn't nearly this cool. I'm compensating now. :)

      Delete
  5. It matters not why your typewriter chooses you, only that you allow it to choose you. (:

    Welcome to the Typosphere! (it's about dang time, I keep forgetting to run down Ton's blogroll for your link when I visit him, so having you actually on the Typosphere blogroll will be so much easier!)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I join the crow and welcome you to the typosphere, Dana! It's a very interesting little world, and as is the case in any nice fraternity, the typospherians are a very closely knit and helpful bunch of people coming from all walks of life.

    Oh, I don't have any objections with the idea of choosing a typewriter that matches your decoration... though in my case more often than not I've changed my decoration to match my typewriters... XD

    That is a very beautiful machine! Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete