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So, there are seven standard typewriters on my front lawn.
(At this early juncture in the post, I stop to hereby declare myself Winner of Most Typewriters Acquired In One 24 Hour Period. I dare anyone to challenge my claim to this dubious distinction-- although firstly, we need to calculate our collecting handicap scores if Olivander is involved in this challenge.)
What's your maximum TPD* score?
The machines hail from a Petaluma museum that had chosen to disgorge its collection of dusty typing artillery (I heard about this deal through a colleague at work. I ask, what would you have done?). Somewhere in a vague e-mail exchange, 4 typewriters became 7, and three months later, 350 lbs of standard typewriters found their way to my front lawn.
Typeophiles of the Pacific Northwest, are any of you coughcough interested in a machine?
Some of them seem to work. Some of them seem to need work. I am no expert in these matters. Perhaps I will truck them all down to Ace Typewriter to get a medical opinion. Really, I just want to keep one. Which one?
*Typewriters per day
reflections on Bond Day
14 hours ago
24 comments:
This somewhat reminds me of a discussion I had last night in which I enthusiastically described a new notebook I had received... to which my partner replied with a lengthy silence, then the statement, 'You have a lot of notebooks'. I think I have 12 on the go currently, and many more in piles awaiting use... probably another 20. At least my fixation is a little more portable, if less admirably mechanical than yours... If I were anywhere near you I would gladly relieve you of some or all of these fine machines. :)
That's a hefty score to beat!
Admittedly the big old typers look better on a front lawn than engine blocks- or garden gnomes.
The most I can refer to are the 2 random Olympia portables that greeted me on a Monday morning at work- from 2 different people.
It was as though the Traveller and the Splendid 33 wafted from heaven to my work table.
It was serendipity.
With coworkers like that, who needs enemies?
My goodness, seven in one blow. Are these the selfsame typers you blogger about earlier? Getting a hands-on assessment of the experts at Ace would be wise, although the simple logistics of getting all of them to Portland in the first place. Luckily, you seem to be near the geographic nexus of Ironic Hipsterism up there, and surely there's a used bookstore or wedding party in search of the perfect accent piece.
Personally, I think you need to hang on to any glass-keyed machines, to keep them from the hands of the you-know-whats. One of the other machines could probably be designated a beater for the mini-Strikethru to pound upon, maybe during NaNo time when mommy should be working on her own novel. LFP will be required to take one (waves to Elizabeth) so that leaves how many to clean up and offer to budding young novelists on Craigslist?
If you have a university nearby, you might be able to free yourself of a machine or two. Do colleges even have stuff-swap bulletin boards anymore, or is it all MyFaceSpaceTube'd now? I've seen your papercrafting skillz: a hand-stamped-and-typed notice of typewriters available at "student prices" might get some nibbles.
My TPD record is two, for the pair of Remingtons I found on adjacent days this spring, and that only counts for the 24-hour technicality. If you're talking typewriters acquired in one sunup-to-sundown period, I think you have us all beat...
...except for Olivander, of course. What was that, 40-something portables from the Y2K survivalist?
Verify: subco -- supplying your hoagie, grinder, and sub sandwich needs on an industrial scale since 1954.
Ugh. Early AM commenting. Please correct grammar and spelling as needed.
I will step aside for this little competition. (Your figure is a little low, Clemens.)
Functionally, these are all really good typers. Any one of them would probably be excellent for everyday use. But if you have to keep only one to shine up, display, and use, I'd keep the Royal #10 with the larger paper tray decal.
Sweet haul!
Word ver: himesse: a man who carries himself well.
Well, clearly from looking at Olivander's link, there is some weight limit over which any group of typewriters becomes deep s*&%.
Unhalf, problem is, I also share your fixation. It *is* a little easier to hide.
I agree they make good lawn ornaments, my neighbors came over to chat about them and reminisce. No one does that about garden gnomes.
mpc, these are the same typers, with one curious (or not so curious) exception that somehow never made its way to me.
I just ogled your photostream. You can't give any of them up, except to people who will swear to treat them well. Wow. What a yard full of lovlies.
And just remind the husband that if he files for divorce, he's going to be stuck with half of them. That'll keep him quiet and you out of the s&*! soup.
My highest 24 hr. total to date is...one. I lose.
I am in awe of the grey giant. Holy smokes that thing is huge! Looks like the product of a love affair between one of those old Royals and a 50s refrigerator.
You have me beat. My max TPD rate is 1.
Goodness, that's a lot of typin' iron. I say you should definitely keep the Royal with the super-wide carriage. If it is a police typewriter, think of the things it has seen!
I've only acquired typewriters one at a time, first a trade-in at a local typewriter repair shop (traded an Adler for a Royal Mercury), then a second purchase a year or so later when I couldn't resist the Underwood Universal. And then, a month or so ago, my neighbor, who seems to think that collecting typewriters must be like collecting cameras, gave me a Sears brand electric machine, a big old heavy unit, formally owned by a local police officer, that looks well-worn but still types.
But this collection takes the cake. I wish you luck finding these machines good homes.
~Joe
Word Verify: "soccxyl". I dunno what it is, but it'll be the name of a prescription medicine shortly.
Elizabeth, I believe that they gray giant is now yours next time I'm headed South. Which may need to be soon, since I really need to visit Ace Typewriter.
What? You don't want it? Ican'thearyouIcan'thearyou
Take it. Taaaaaaaake it. The use it to type hard-boiled police fiction.
Would you ship a Royal 10 if I asked nicely and made pouty faces and whined a lot? How heavy are those things??
I already have at least one too many standards! I'm all out of raised flat surfaces.... And that one, frighteningly, makes the Ambassador look dainty.
Elite typeface, correct? And what model *is* that, anyway?
Ack...why am I asking questions about it?
I'd ask if my SG-1 could hitch a ride to Ace, but I'm thinkin' there won't be a great deal of extra room, unless you head down there in a tractor trailer truck!
Word verif: snughtw. Fitting.
LFP: Please, please take it. Or just tell me that you did so I don't start calculating the cost for shipping a 135 lb. typewriter from OR to NV. My marriage can only take so many typewriters.
I believe I already commented, on Flickr, that I think your new driveway anti-u-turn devices completely rock.
(word verif = "fatawisp"; very tiny but deadly religious zealots.)
Between this haul and that garage full, I'm unworthy. My TPD is two, but I'm steady.
I guess there's no way you could lug one of these onto the plane the next time you come down for a family visit, huh?
I would have bought s couple off you if I were in your continent.
Slow and steady wins the race *Wink, Wink, Monda*
Nice haul! My record for most typewriters aquired in a 24 hour period is one dozen. About a year after I first began collecting a local collector called to tell me that he had bought a small collection but only needed one piece from it and offered to sell me the rest. There were some great machines in that lot including a Blickensderfer 5, a Smith Premier 2, an Oliver 9, a couple of upstrike Remingtons and a Bing portable.
Jerry, that was one heck of a haul. I'll trade you!
So Strikethru, how are they??? Do they work nicely?
If you want to see where three of them ended up and how two of them type look here:
http://manualentry.blogspot.com/
Nice!! My maximum TPD was ca. 55 (fifty-five), reached in Aug. 2010. A man who had seen my typewriter exhibition in a bookshop contacted me, telling me an entire househould would be dissolved. I went there with my van, bought the whole bunch of typewriters spread all over the house, and could fit all of them in the car. An amazing event which involved a lot of weight lifting! This was the better part of a very nice collection. You can see it here: http://typewriters.ch/collection/list_sammlung_hb.html
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