This trend of moving away from technology to embrace low tech, standard typewriters has been happening for some time now and doesn’t show any signs of changing. Of course, you can never replace a computer with a vintage, standard typewriter. However, typewriters have not only withstood the test of time, but they have a unique history and aura attached to them. The typewriter is one of the most revolutionary inventions in history. It gave writers speed and it brought a multitude of jobs to women.
Typewriter fans are rebelling against the digital age to embrace a vintage typewriter where they can bang out a message. Nothing beats the tactile feel of the typewriter under your fingertips with the clickety clack sound that is pleasing to the ear. Not to mention they are an amazing machine to look at with different designs, colors and fonts.
Security
Some fans of the typewriter rightly point out that a typewriter doesn’t have security issues like a computer has. Someone can hack into your computer and cause a lot of damage and disruption, but that can’t happen with a typewriter. Also, manual typewriters do not require electricity or the internet to work. If you’ve ever lost power in the middle of writing something on your computer, you’ll appreciate this. Movie stars like Tom Hanks and Lady Gaga love their typewriters and the designs of these typewriters are gorgeous. It’s akin to collecting vintage cars because they look and feel so beautiful. Hanks bought a Hermes 2000 at the young age of 19. This was the first typewriter in a large collection of more than 100 typewriters that he would collect over the years.
Vintage Typewriters
However, you don’t have to be wealthy or a movie star to collect them. They cost a lot less than a vintage car. I own an Oliver 9, also known as a Bat-wing. The Oliver 9 was made from 1916 to 1922. She may be old, but she’s still a beauty. I also own an Olivetti Lettera 44 and an L.C. Smith No. 8, which was made in 1915 – 1936. They all have their own unique charm.
These are the reasons that I started collecting typewriters and typewriter manuals. As a writer, I see the importance of having this information at your fingertips and I wanted to share it with as many people as possible. These are historical machines and documents that we need to preserve as much as possible. When you own one of these machines you will soon be searching for the manual that goes along with it.
Typewriter Manuals
To check out our Typewriter Manuals click here.
If you would like to see a certain typewriter manual and you can’t find it. Please let us know.
To learn more about Tom Hanks as a collector, click here.
Reference Books
Some books that we recommend on this topic are:
Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks.
A collection of seventeen wonderful short stories showing that the legendary Tom Hanks is as talented a writer as he is an actor.
“Reading Tom Hanks’s Uncommon Type is like finding out that Alice Munro is also the greatest actress of our time.” –Ann Patchett, bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Dutch House
A gentle Eastern European immigrant arrives in New York City after his family and his life have been torn apart by his country’s civil war. A man who loves to bowl rolls a perfect game–and then another and then another and then many more in a row until he winds up ESPN’s newest celebrity, and he must decide if the combination of perfection and celebrity has ruined the thing he loves. An eccentric billionaire and his faithful exec. These are just some of the tales Tom Hanks tells in this first collection of his short stories. They are surprising, intelligent, heartwarming, and, for the millions and millions of Tom Hanks fans, an absolute must-haveutive assistant venture into America looking for acquisitions and discover a down and out motel, romance, and a bit of real life.
What do thousands of kids, makers, poets, artists, steampunks, hipsters, activists, and musicians have in common? They love typewriters–the magical, mechanical contraptions that are enjoying a surprising second life in the 21st century, striking a blow for self-reliance, privacy, and coherence against dependency, surveillance, and disintegration. The Typewriter Revolution documents the movement and provides practical advice on how to choose a typewriter, how to care for it, and what to do with it–from National Novel Writing Month to letter-writing socials, from type-ins to typewritten blogs, from custom-painted typewriters to typewriter tattoos. It celebrates the unique quality of everything typewriter, fully-illustrated with vintage photographs, postcards, manuals, and more.