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www.saddler.co.uk www.saddler.co.uk
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via "Honestly, Same" at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1922868772004684/posts/1978726723085555/
Every Sunday, I spend 60 minutes making index cards for the woman I think I'm going to be that week.<br /> That woman has never once shown up for work.
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https://www.facebook.com/groups/olympiasg1/posts/1812952576689815
Lots of colloquial suggestions for cleaning and polishing plastic typewriter keys.
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reply to u/ropeynick at https://reddit.com/r/TypewriterRepair/comments/1xk6tkj/olympia_sg3_right_margin_stop/
The right margin on the Olympia SG3 is a known thing:<br /> - https://typewriter.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?pid=27528#p27528<br /> - https://typewriter.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=3521
They say roughly what my experience is with both of my Olympia SG3 right margins: - If you're typing characters, the line lock will engage and require you to hit the margin release to continue. - If you're tabbing, spacing, or using the carriage release you'll blow right through the margin and can keep typing.
The number of spaces from bell to margin will differ based on the pitch of the machine as will the number of spaces one would need to space past the margin before the line lock disengages and allows you to type in the margin again.
It was a change in design of how a right margin stop worked in late typewriter manufacture.
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https://www.facebook.com/groups/4770669677posts/posts/10164413651119678/
The Haas Atlas (page 7) would identify the foundry mark as being a Hulse-Typen manufactured Pica face for Smith-Corona: https://archive.org/.../typewriter.../page/n5/mode/2up
Page 31 of the 1954 Smith-Corona Typewriter Type Styles and Keyboards Catalog would indicate it seems to match up solidly with the Pica Gothic No. 4 typeface: https://typecast.munk.org/.../1954-smith-corona-scm.../ Especially look at the Q, the J, and the 8. The '64 NOMDA guide Mark links is the same, but doesn't have as extensive a typesample.
Many machines, and especially the American manufactured ones, don't always have foundry marks which line up with the respective catalogs.
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yurii7812.github.io yurii7812.github.io
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Paper PKM, Illustrated<br /> accessed on 2026-11-06T09:18:06
Example of someone's version of a zettelkasten process
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www.etsy.com www.etsy.com
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www.omegasonics.com www.omegasonics.com
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https://www.omegasonics.com/<br /> Omegasonics
Recommended by Lucas Dul as something he uses in his shop.
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We put a good dozen machines through a month, and large amounts of small parts. It's a great machine, but very expensive. Both the unit, the power demand, and the solutions. Not every machine or part can go in either, we still do many machines by hand to avoid damage in the ultrasonic. Quality of work is critical, but so is time. We can do the same level of in depth clean manually, but it takes 2-3 hours and the ultrasonic halves that time. We still do drying, rust removal, bulk grease, and final washes by hand to ensure consistent quality. Can't express enough how amazing the ultrasonic is. Deffinately increased our output. We work with OmegaSomics for machines, parts, and cleaners.
via Lucas Dul (aka u/Lucasdul2) at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1xairdl/comment/19rpjcvqm7v9e/?context=1&screen_view_count=2
Puts about a dozen machines a month through their ultrasonic cleaner. Doesn't rely on it solely due to need for quality control.
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reply to u/remy_vega at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1wxj0js/olympia_sm3_i_think_acquired_now_to_cleaning_and/
The white material is likely oxidation/corrosion specific to the metal on the piece. I'd guess potentially zinc oxidation. Duane has used lacquer thinner on stuff like this in the past with good results. (See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDpTJ4NQGwk).
However for the material on the keys, you're likely to damage the plastic on them. For this part you could spot test some vinegar as a means of removing the oxidation without damaging the keytops. Try it out on one key to see how well it works. If it helps, you can remove the keytops individually. (See: https://youtu.be/XRm0VH42y1s?si=P0D1L9bm8uMRSJDC&t=867) I might also try a thin/skinny brass bristle brush either before, or in combination. (See: https://boffosocko.com/2024/12/01/typewriter-tools-upgrade/#Typewriter%20Cleaning%20Tools)
See another occurrence at https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1x2drma/olympia_sm2_restoration/ where kizeer reported success at my method by saying:
Thanks for the links! I started to remove the key caps and soak them in vinegar and brush the rest off which seemed to work fine. Just having some issues to remove the first row of key caps (1,2,3,..). I guess I need to remove the case/housing first.
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Das lachende Berlin
via https://www.facebook.com/groups/705152958470148/posts/1409358181382952/
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No Country for Old Typewriters: A Well-Used One Heads to Auction<br /> by [[Patricia Cohen]] - The New York Times<br /> accessed on 2026-11-04T23:19:34
McCarthy also had a Royal typewriter in the early 60s.
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Glenn Horowitz, a rare-book dealer who is handling the auction for Mr. McCarthy, said: “When I grasped that some of the most complex, almost otherworldly fiction of the postwar era was composed on such a simple, functional, frail-looking machine, it conferred a sort of talismanic quality to Cormac’s typewriter. It’s as if Mount Rushmore was carved with a Swiss Army knife.”
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Josh Brolin Never Thought He’d End Up in Malibu<br /> by [[Nick Haramis]] - The New York Times<br /> accessed on 2026-11-04T23:18:16
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and a stand-alone office with an antique walnut desk, an Art Deco lamp by the modernist Irish architect and designer Eileen Gray and a typewriter — an Olivetti Lettera 32 — that once belonged to the novelist Cormac McCarthy. After years of false starts and a second career as a stock trader, Brolin finally became a movie star with his role as an unsuspecting hunter in the Coen brothers’ film adaptation of McCarthy’s 2005 novel, “No Country for Old Men”; he was with the author this past June the night before he died.
Josh Brolin has one of Cormac McCarthy's Olivetti Lettera 32 typewriters.
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www.amazon.com www.amazon.com
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F5BH2JT?binding=hardcover<br /> Writings of Charles S Peirce (7 book series)
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www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
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Patrick Stewart, ‘Star Trek’ Captain and Professor X on ‘X-Men,’ Dies at 86<br /> by [[Anita Gates]], [[William McDonald]] The New York Times accessed on 2026-11-04T22:40:39
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www.theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com
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A Cynical Ploy to Block California’s Wealth Tax<br /> by [[Marc Novicoff]] The Atlantic<br /> accessed on 2026-11-04T22:38:56
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cormacmccarthy.lib.utk.edu cormacmccarthy.lib.utk.edu
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reply to u/Prince_naveen at https://reddit.com/r/math/comments/1xmn4c6/for_those_of_us_postponing_grad_school_and/
Who says anyone needs to "quit" math anyway?!? If you love it, practice it as a hobby. Work on problems in your spare time. If there are nearby colleges, take courses go to lectures and colloquia. (I've been taking various subjects in the math departments of UCLA, USC, and Caltech near me for over 20 years now. Here's a recent example of one: https://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/1vnknqu/in_the_los_angeles_area_and_looking_to_expand/) Find conferences via the AMS.
Even people like novelist Cormac Mccarthy read mathematics throughout their adult lives. A research project has been cataloging his personal library of over 20,000 volumes and a huge number of them were in math. https://cormacmccarthy.lib.utk.edu/home?search_api_fulltext=mathematics Later in life he joined his friend Murray Gell-Man at the Santa Fe Institute for "fun".
There's lots of math out there, you just have to look a bit to keep it in your life.
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Justice Alito Will Not Retire From Supreme Court Immediately, Despite Election Outcome<br /> by [[Ann E. Marimow]] - The New York Times<br /> accessed on 2026-11-04T22:00:24
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Opinion | Jon Ossoff Suddenly Looks Even More Presidential - The New York Times<br /> by [[Peter Beinart]]<br /> accessed on 2026-11-04T21:57:47
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Trump Emerges After the Midterms: ‘Did You Guys See the Helipad?’<br /> by [[Shawn McCreesh]] - The New York Times<br /> accessed on 2026-11-04T21:51:30
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California 2026: Live Midterm Election Results - The New York Times<br /> by [[The New York Times]]<br /> accessed on 2026-11-04T21:43:41
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www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
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Simon Winchester, Author of ‘The Professor and the Madman,’ Has Died<br /> by [[Alan Cowell]] - The New York Times<br /> accessed on 2026-11-04T19:12:21
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I got my last dream typewriter two typewriters ago...
https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1xnbahv/hermes_baby_help/
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www.ebay.com www.ebay.com
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/377616520971
A French Royal O typewriter with Vogue offered at $990.
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Beginning of a holiday gift giving guide for the typewriter enthusiast in your life:
Repair person:
Some ideas for typewriter tools: https://boffosocko.com/tag/typewriter-tools/ including:<br /> - Paul at Bremerton Typewriter has reproduction segment picks that make solid stocking stuffers. - Crawford Tools has some great oilers and spring hooks.
Typewriter repair manuals are great to build up your library: https://www.lulu.com/search?adult_audience_rating=00&contributor=Ted+Munk&page=1&pageSize=50&sortBy=PRODUCT_SALES_90_DAYS
Shelving that will fit heavy standards is always a true "gift".
Bulk ribbon from Fine Line Ribbon in Texas is lovely.
If your rich uncle asks: https://www.safety-kleen.com/services/parts-washers/solvent-parts-washers
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reply to u/Fireflystudio at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1xn596e/remington_identification_help/
They (the serial number prefix JT) sort of appear at https://typewriterdatabase.com/remington.42.typewriter-serial-number-database but as J, SJ, and EJT.
You'll find two of them on https://typewriterdatabase.com/Remington.Standard.42.bmys. Your serial number seems to line up with the other Italian made ones, but the database doesn't seem to have any detail about years of manufacture for those serial numbers. Because they're fairly serious collectors who've listed theirs as early 1960s models (196X), yours was probably also early 1960s. The shift from the green keys to the white/gray chicklet design can be seen at the break between 1959 and 1960 for the Remington Quiet-Riter Eleven: https://typewriterdatabase.com/Remington.Quiet-Riter+Eleven.42.bmys
Presumably the primary prefix model letter for the Remington Standard is "J" and the additional letters either indicate the factory/country of manufacture or other functionality. (Remington often added the letter "T" to some models to indicate tabulator or decimal tabulator, though in this case, as a standard, a simple tabulator would have been implied. Perhaps in your model's case the "T" stands for Torino which is likely the plant it was manufactured in in Italy. See also: https://www.nytimes.com/1951/10/08/archives/remington-rand-to-build-in-italy-company-to-construct-large-plant.html
The SJ models seem to be from England, FJ models in France and another CJ model, potentially from Canada? Some additional research ought to uncover if this hypothesis holds.
Torino, Italy
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https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1xn596e/remington_identification_help/
Prior to this in the late 40s and early 50s were the Remington 17 and KMC versions before they switched to the Remington Super-Riter. This one with the push and slide margin controls marks it as a Remington Standard.
There are only a few models in the database that have this body finish and "chicklet" style keys (Both James Grooms and Richard Polt have them), but perhaps this was a tooling change when they moved manufacture out of the US to Italy some time around 1962?
These were used by Robby the Robot, Lina Wertmuller, and Grace Kelly. Mel Gibson's character used one in the 1982 movie The Year of Living Dangerously.
Your machine should have the Fold-A-Matic feature which should help you clean out the internals: https://boffosocko.com/2024/12/06/using-the-fold-a-matic-feature-of-the-remington-standard-to-clean-oil-and-adjust/
Should you need to replace some of the internal rubber grommets: https://boffosocko.com/2026/02/23/rubber-grommet-repair-on-remington-super-riters-and-standards/
The manual: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/RemingtonSuper-Riter.pdf
There was a laterRemington 19 which had a plastic body and similar "chicklet" keys that showed up in the early 60s,
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typewriterdatabase.com typewriterdatabase.com
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From the 1983 The Year of Living Dangerously. Gibson uses a Remington Standard.
via James Grooms: https://typewriterdatabase.com/196x-remington-standard.23240.typewriter
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www.imdb.com www.imdb.com
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Kaffee: [interrupts with game-show buzzer sound] eeehhhhh! I'm sorry, your time's run out! What do we have for the losers, judge? Well, for our defendants, it's a life time at exotic Fort Leavenworth! And, for defense counsel Kaffee, that's right, it's a court martial! Yes, Johnny! After falsely accusing a highly decorated Marine officer of conspiracy and perjury, Lieutenant Kaffee will have a long and prosperous career teaching... typewriter maintenance at the Rocco Globbo School for Women! Thank you for playing "Should we or should we not follow the advice of the galactically stupid!"
via https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104257/quotes/
double-check the quote verbiage
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1945 Remington Rand C — Full Restoration of a Flea Market Typewriter
Listed as a full restoration, but really only a reasonable refurbishing. Paint job, but no new rubber at all....
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- Nov 2026
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The white correction part is dry white correction material on film. It's supposed to be that way. The black is the part that ought to be wet with ink. I don't think that anyone makes the older bichrome correction ribbon anymore. There's still NOS out there, but I generally don't recommend it as, though it may work, it throws flecks of white into your segment and onto your typebars. It makes a heck of a mess and is a pain to clean up.
If you need it, you can find old correction tabs out there or correction tape which is far easier (and cleaner) to use.
Better ribbon can be found here: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-faq.html#q1
Reply to u/OalBlunkont at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1xkpg95/ribbon_for_brother_charger_11c/
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- Oct 2026
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Likely the right hand margin slider has shattered. I just fixed this same issue on my SG-3 by 3D printing a replacement using a free file available on Thingyverse. My library printed it at no charge. The repair took a little doing— I had to drill out two small brass rivets and replace them with tiny screws, but it is great to have it working again.
via u/radiant_control at https://www.reddit.com/r/TypewriterRepair/comments/1xk6tkj/olympia_sg3_right_margin_stop/
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www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
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Saturday, May 23, 1970: “This is a brand new Olivetti typewriter upon which I am writing given to me by Lil and Brook. It is sparkling and very loose compared with the Hermes Baby and it will take me a little more time to bang away on it with the same abandon as I do on the old one which I shall keep anyway out of loyalty for many years of battered service. I shall retire the Baby to the library on the boat or at Gstaad. The machine is fire-engine red and I’ve pasted on it a Welsh dragon. . . “ - Richard Burton, The Richard Burton Diaries
via https://www.facebook.com/groups/TypewriterCollectors/posts/10164377139549678/
Check source on the quote.
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Valentine di Olivetti: la storia della macchina da scrivere portatile<br /> Bazaar<br /> accessed on 2026-10-30T17:45:34
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oztypewriter.blogspot.com oztypewriter.blogspot.com
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I Know What's in Richard Burton's Case, But What About Marlon Brando's Case?<br /> by [[Robert Messenger]] in oz.Typewriter<br /> accessed on 2026-10-30T17:34:08
Richard Burton had a red Olivetti Valentine with a Cymru flag sticker on it. <br />
Marlon Brando travelling in August 1953 with what appears to be a Smith-Corona portable typewriter.
Orson Welles with an Underwood Noiseless, a Royal Standard, an Underwood four bank, and a Lexikon 80E Electric. <br />
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- Marlon Brando
- Smith-Corona typewriters
- photos
- Olivetti Lexikon 80E Electric
- Olivetti Lexikon 80
- Royal typewriters
- Olivetti typewriters
- Royal Quiet De Luxe
- Underwood 4 bank
- typewriters of Hollywood people
- Orson Welles
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Richard Burton
- typewriters of authors
- typewriters of actors
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myoldtypewriter.com myoldtypewriter.com
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Touching Grass and Powder Coating Typewriters<br /> by [[maryech]] myoldtypewriter<br /> accessed on 2026-10-30T13:12:27
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reply to u/MorsaTamalera at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1xjo3ly/do_my_type_pieces_seem_ok_or_do_they_need_cleaning/
During a period when people got their machines serviced regularly, the general advice was to bush out the slugs with a stiff bristle brush (firm toothbrushes make a reasonable tool here) once every eight hours of typing. See: https://youtu.be/ocdxgkxKAKo?si=Qz5PSud60SYGVvH6&t=328
If you've got some dirtier slugs, a degreaser like mineral spirits in combination with a a brass bristle brush can be used to better effect. Some also use pins, toothpicks, or even dental picks to clean out the harder to clean loops of letters like a, e, b, g, d, etc.
A variety of solvents can be used if you don't have any mineral spirits on hand including isopropyl alcohol, fingernail polish remover, lighter fluid, or even gasoline and kerosene (though obviously take care that your cigarettes and open flames aren't around). See also: https://boffosocko.com/2024/08/09/on-colloquial-advice-for-degreasing-cleaning-and-oiling-manual-typewriters/#nail-polish%20remover
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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Dust getting into the typebar segment often causes sticky typebars. via https://youtu.be/ocdxgkxKAKo?si=jpfcAIpE3ZfNkP8b&t=298
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This website is a gem, thank you!
via u/RaspberryEnjoyer at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1xgtxmy/comment/19rtl32oof0bp/?context=1&screen_view_count=2
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https://www.instagram.com/p/De2PQF4D5vWom7fZgbCX4t5G1YNJ14Xi4N2lAQ0/
Next reading is at @typewriters_anonymous (aka The Poetry Bunker) on Thursday, November 5th! MACHINERY OF NIGHT features Duncan Cuervo, Rhiannon Cielos Chavez, Daryl Gussin, Phillip T. Nails, and a special set by moi and my compa Raul Garcia as CASCAJO
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www.amazon.com www.amazon.com
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Quote from Introduction:
I remember when it was all done in first draft telling Gene Wolfe, who is the wisest writer I know and has written more excellent novels than any man I’ve met, that I thought I had now learned how to write a novel. Gene looked at me, and smiled kindly. “You never learn how to write a novel,” he told me. “You only learn to write the novel you’re on.”
Gaiman, Neil. 2021. American Gods: A Novel. 10th Anniversary. New York: William Morrow Paperbacks.
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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memotorres.substack.com memotorres.substack.com
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What Happened at L.A. Taco - Memo Torres<br /> by [[Memo Torres]]<br /> accessed on 2026-10-27T10:53:42
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www.telegraph.co.uk www.telegraph.co.uk
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Josh Brolin: ‘I used to drop acid and walk naked in the desert’<br /> by [[Richard Grant]]<br /> accessed on 2026-10-26T22:00:49
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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Obviously there are well built machines and more cheaply built machines, but at a certain level it’s what you connect with. If you spend three years straight typing on one machine, then it will be comfortable and perform well for you. Back in the day, people may have encountered different typewriters and occasionally tried them, but MOSTLY they picked one out in the store they connected with and used it. After years and years (if they don’t have issues), they will think it’s the best typewriter ever. It’s like buying a car, most modern cars are very reliable. So you do some basic research, look at costs and make a pick. If it has something annoying about it (bad visibility or crappy AC or reliability), you’ll never buy one again. But if it works well and you like it, then you’ll think great. You’re comparing two top brands that took very few shortcuts. It’s like comparing a BMW to a Mercedes - maybe one here or there will have issues - but they are both great cars. That doesn’t stop BMW people from talking shit about Mercedes and the other way around.
by u/newsINcinci at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1xf54ra/the_sm9_that_i_almost_passed_up/
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www.smithsonianmag.com www.smithsonianmag.com
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Josh Brolin, who starred in No Country for Old Men, at his Southern California home. He became close with McCarthy and sat with the novelist right before he died. He’s also the proud owner of McCarthy’s Olivetti typewriter. Wayne Martin Belger
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/93/f4/93f4c6cd-b174-4ddc-9d3b-c9b6842852de/31b_smithsonian_cormac_josh_brolin_-1000406.jpg)
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Two Years After Cormac McCarthy's Death, Rare Access to His Personal Library Reveals the Man Behind the Myth<br /> by [[Richard Grant]]<br /> accessed on 2026-10-25T14:02:31
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She was unable to calculate the total number of books because the cataloging software didn’t account for multi-volume works. McCarthy’s 36-volume history of Utah, for example, registered as a single entry. Nor did the software tally multiple editions of the same book, so McCarthy’s 13 copies of Moby-Dick registered as one entry. The total number of entries was 18,520. Taking into account duplicate copies and multi-volume works, Peebles felt confident that McCarthy’s library contained just over 20,000 books, with 2,170 annotated.
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“Cormac considered contemporary fiction a waste of time,” said Dennis, “because contemporary writers no longer have a legitimate culture to feed their souls.”
Could this be because of the age and generation of writers writing at the time he was reading?
Compare with Neil Howe's thesis in The Fourth Turning.
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With the exception of Moby-Dick in multiple, gorgeous leather-bound editions, the scholars found hardly any novels until they started cutting open boxes that Dennis retrieved from a storage locker in El Paso. Out came the entire canon of Western literature, from ancient Greece and Rome to the best novelists, poets and essayists of the 1970s, nearly all in cheap, worn, paperback editions. “These are the books that he read in his 20s and 30s and maybe into his 40s, and he was broke that whole time,” said Dennis. “Once he got money, Cormac bought all his books in hardback if possible, and for the last 40 years of his life he read almost no fiction at all.”
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As Rick Elmore, a philosophy professor at Appalachian State University with floral tattoos climbing up his neck, puts it, “Wittgenstein was always asking how the systems we use to represent the world relate to the world we want to represent. It’s one of the central questions in McCarthy’s work.”
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His great friend Murray Gell-Mann, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist, invited him to join the Santa Fe Institute, serving as a sort of in-house literary intellectual.
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I asked John what else his father collected apart from books, cars and kitchenware. “I would say clothes were the other big one. He had hundreds of tweed jackets, hundreds of shirts, hundreds of suits that he’d never worn.” John once spent three days dragging stuff out of a room he wanted to use as a bedroom. “When I was done, I said, ‘You ever think you might be a little bit of a hoarder?’ And he looks at me and he goes, ‘Yeah, probably.’ He attributed it to all those years when he had no money.”
An example of poverty, scarcity mindset and hoarding as a symptom.
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It was John who told me that McCarthy worked in bed—a California king with high-thread-count sheets, the Olivetti on a wooden platform with a leather pillow underneath it, and piles of typed pages, magazines, books and catalogs. Writing, McCarthy once said, was not a conscious process for him. He put a blank piece of paper in the Olivetti, the words arrived, and he typed them down. But that was just the first stage of an extensive rewriting and structuring process, and some of his books took 20 years or more to get right. “Dad didn’t like being interrupted when he was working, or when he was reading,” John said. “‘No, no, no. I’m reading. Go away!’ he would say.
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Oprah, knowing it was true, asked if The Road was a love story to his young son John. “In a way, I suppose, that’s kind of embarrassing,” he said. She made slightly better headway on the subject of punctuation. McCarthy didn’t use quotation marks, hated semicolons and kept commas to the barest minimum. “There’s no reason to block the page up with weird little marks,” he said. “If you write properly, you shouldn’t have to punctuate.”
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After leaving her without an explanation in 1974, McCarthy drifted around cheap motels with his typewriter, a pile of books and a light bulb for good reading light.
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McCarthy often had a pencil when he was reading and would make tiny vertical marks next to sentences that interested him and add comments in the margins in small print handwriting. Sometimes he jotted down thoughts on slips of paper that he left between the pages. Inside The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by Herself, first published in 1565, we found him musing philosophically: “There is an intelligence to the universe (of which we are fractal) and that intelligence has a character and that character is benign. Intends well toward all things. How could it not?”
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McCarthy was starting to seem like a man whose talents and intelligence were without limits, yet he lived in a hoarder’s shambles and couldn’t stop buying nonstick skillets and fruit bowls.
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McCarthy was a devoted carpenter and designed these nine-foot-tall shelves along the walls of his living room, with room for 1,000 books—a mere 5 percent of the author’s sprawling personal library. Wayne Martin Belger
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/02/51/0251ae3b-5286-47dd-9130-d49b2f5d875e/30_smithsonian_cormac_shoot_1_-9.jpg)
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The second major discovery, discernible in his work but confirmed beyond doubt in his library, was that McCarthy was a genius-level intellectual polymath with an insatiable curiosity. His interests ranged from quantum physics, which he taught himself by reading 190 books on the notoriously challenging subject, to whale biology, violins, obscure corners of French history in the early Middle Ages, the highest levels of advanced mathematics and almost any other subject you can name.
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Nor did McCarthy use a computer—ever. He typed out his pages on a cheap, durable Olivetti typewriter and, I learned later, did most of his work propped up on pillows in bed.
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I was invited to the house by two McCarthy scholars who were embroiled in a herculean endeavor. Working unpaid, with help from other volunteer scholars and occasional graduate students, they had taken it upon themselves to physically examine and digitally catalog every single book in McCarthy’s enormous and chaotically disorganized personal library. They were guessing it contained upwards of 20,000 volumes. By comparison, Ernest Hemingway, considered a voracious book collector, left behind a personal library of 9,000.
Cormack McCarthy had a library of approximately 20,000 volumes
Ernest Hemingway had a personal library of approximately 9,000 volumes.
Tags
- Ludwig Wittgenstein
- quantum mechanics
- Buick Riviera
- philosophy
- reading practices
- quotes
- interviews
- collecting
- art
- Dennis McCarthy
- personal libraries
- hoarders
- Winston Churchill
- Rick Elmore
- writing methods
- Oprah
- quotation marks
- Olivetti typewriters
- read
- Cormac McCarthy Society
- James Joyce
- annotations
- scarcity mindset
- writing style
- physics students
- Olivetti Lettera 32
- typewriters of authors
- car collectors
- punctuation
- polymaths
- Lotus
- non-fiction
- Oprah Winfrey
- Ernest Hemingway
- semicolons
- Stacey Peebles
- fiction
- drifters
- Saint Teresa of Ávila
- hoarding
- reading with a pen in hand
- Allard racing caars
- quantum physics
- Albert Einstein
- book collections
- culture
- Charles Sanders Pierce
- Bryan Giemza
- The Fourth Turning
- writing in bed
- Ford GT40
- commas
- Murray Gell-Mann
- nonstick skillets
- writing practices
- fruit bowls
- libraries of authors
- Cormack McCarthy
- Santa Fe Institute
- abstract mathematics
- typewriters of Hollywood people
- Lincoln Mark VIII
- photos
- generations
- interviewing authors
- Josh Brolin
Annotators
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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My SG1 doesn’t handle thick cardstock well. I have some index cards that are thicker than normal index cards and they are the thickest I can feed. Greeting cards or the nice letterhead cardstock my wife got me, do not fit.
If this is the case, I worry that there may be something poorly adjusted on your machine.
These standards were designed for offices using thicker carbon packs of 10 or more sheets of paper for carbon copies at the same time. I can easily roll a stack of 13 standard Oxford index cards (approximately a tenth of an inch!) into my SG1 at the same time. It's only when I go over this that problems begin.
I just tried it as an experiment, but if I'm careful, I can put a piece of corrugated cardboard from a standard Amazon box into my SG1 and type on it. (Hint for those considering it: the corrugation doesn't give the best results from an imprint standpoint. The machine is also going to compress the cardboard and put "wrinkles" into the corrugation as it winds through the platen.)
If the bigger standards aren't going to handle the thickness of card stock you're attempting to type on the portables and ultraportables are going to be even worse.
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I am looking at purchasing a manual typewriter, specifically an ultra-portable or a portable. I mainly want to be typing cards with thicker paper. the world of typewriters is more vast than I thought and I keep going down multiple rabbit holes and can’t come to a conclusion on what would be best. please give me your thoughts! thanks!
Reply to u/arightler at tk
As one of the few here who may be typing on a regular basis on index cards, I'd generally recommend standard typewriters (which have larger diameter platens and thus handle thicker cardstock better) which also have either card fingers or Perspex card guides. These latter will help hold the card to the platen for a better imprint and make the process much quieter. Any of the Royal standards (all of which have card fingers) here would be great (KHM, KMM, KMG, HH, FP, etc.) or the Olympia SG1 which has Perspex guides.
You can get away with portables, but they're not as great for regular card work (smaller diameter platens). I might recommend one of the Smith-Corona Series 4 or 5 machines as long as they've got adjustable card fingers. (In the late 50's typically only the Silent-Super model had card fingers, but earlier models often had them as well.) Most of the Olympia SM series (2-9) will do relatively well as they all have Perspex card guides.
Ultra-portables, with their miniscule platens and barely extant/broadly useless paper bails, will be the worst possible option. Most don't have fingers or card guides at all. I highly recommend against them for this work. If you insist on using one for it, DON'T every try anything else as you'll discover how bad these are for this work and it will utterly ruin you.
Grippy platens and paper bail rollers with nice tension along with card fingers/Perspex are usually required for being able to type all the way to the bottom of a card or label cleanly.
For quickly doing labels or small cards, some of the advanced typing techniques in this video will help: https://youtu.be/JUJfCfqgsX0?si=li5bPyn8NdAr2F69&t=1649
Create a small zig-zag fold into a piece of paper to create a pocket slot which can be Scotch taped on either side. This template paper can then be inserted so that the pocket is visible above the writing line, but the paper below it is still in the platen. The label or card can be placed into the pocket and the platen reversed to feed the label or card in backwards to the desired typing line. Using a v-groove or hole in the typing line can create a pencil line to serve as a guide for inserting many labels at the same place so that the typing lines up between labels.
Some offices had special platens for holding cards like this.
Pockets like this can also be used to hold the page to add additional lines at the bottom of pages. Deeper pockets may need to be used for doing this with carbon packs whose carbons are longer than the pages.
Alternately one can do something similar by creating a inverted u-shaped set of slits into an index card to hold such labels.
My usual typewriter recommendations and some information on the market:
Tags
- Olympia typewriters
- Oxford index cards
- typewriters for labels
- typewriter paper
- standard typewriters
- card fingers
- Olympia SG1
- typewriter recommendations
- Smith-Corona 4 series
- Perspex card guides
- carbon packs
- carbon copies
- Royal typewriters
- Smith-Corona Silent-Super
- Royal standard typewriters
- typewriters for index cards
- Smith-Corona 5 series
- Smith-Corona typewriters
- cardboard
- index cards for typewriters
- reply
Annotators
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https://www.uline.com/BL_3867/Wide-Span-Storage-Racks-Particle-Board
James Grooms uses something similar in his typewriter collection.
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worldcoffeeresearch.org worldcoffeeresearch.org
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Sensory Lexicon<br /> by [[World Coffee Research]]<br /> accessed on 2026-10-23T14:23:10
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sca.coffee sca.coffee
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How to Use the Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel in Eight Steps<br /> by [[Specialty Coffee Association]]<br /> accessed on 2026-10-23T14:22:12
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www.lowkeycoffeesnobs.com www.lowkeycoffeesnobs.com
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https://www.lowkeycoffeesnobs.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/image-3-1536x960.png
Via https://sca.coffee/sca-news/how-to-use-the-flavor-wheel-in-eight-steps-ab2hy
archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20180918204922im_/http://www.scanews.coffee/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/SCA-WCR-Flavor-Wheel-768x996.png
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honestcoffeeguide.com honestcoffeeguide.com
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Coffee grind size chart:<br /> https://honestcoffeeguide.com/coffee-grind-size-chart/
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www.etsy.com www.etsy.com
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writing.bobdoto.computer writing.bobdoto.computer
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Understanding the Zettelkasten as an "Asymmetric" Communication Partner<br /> by [[Bob Doto]]<br /> accessed on 2026-10-22T08:27:48
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ber10thal.com ber10thal.com
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www.kores.com www.kores.com
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https://www.kores.com/product/ribbons/<br /> Kores manufactures typewriter ribbons and cassettes out of Europe:<br /> Leopold Ungar Platz 2/ Office 334<br /> 1190 Vienna, Austria
They sell on Amazon in the UK. https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=kores+typewriter+ribbon
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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https://www.reddit.com/r/TheTypingRoom/comments/1x7optf/does_the_paper_change_the_way_you_write/
See also commentary at https://www.reddit.com/r/TheTypingRoom/comments/1x7optf/does_the_paper_change_the_way_you_write/
What effect does the quality of paper have on what we write?
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1x92f53/the_hunter_never_sleeps/
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I am a displaced western Nebraskan.
u/Jbhusker is a typewriter collector from Nebraska who lives in the midwest.
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Given your username, if you are in Lincoln, send me a DM and let’s get a coffee.
u/MicroProf is a typewriter collector in Lincoln, NE
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www.conejomountain.com www.conejomountain.com
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https://www.conejomountain.com/obituaries/Gerard-William-Lynham?obId=48648853<br /> Gerard William Lynham <br /> July 26, 1946 - June 5, 2026
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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Its just a ball bearing. Pull hard and it'll pop out. Might want to keep a finger on it so it doesn't fly into the Abyss and you can use it to attach the new ribbon.
via u/Koponewt (Pelicram) at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1x8uddf/is_there_a_way_to_unspool_this_it_seems_pinned_in/
On removing a ball bearing in a typewriter spool that's being used to friction fit a ribbon into a typewriter spool.
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ia801708.us.archive.org ia801708.us.archive.org
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Those, for example, who have carelessly practiced gluttony, violence and drunkenness are likely to join a company of donkeys or of similar animals. Do you not think so?
This passage provides a sort of personality to donkeys in an Aesopian manner.
More importantly it seems like it may be the inspiration for the donkey sequence in Carlo Collodi's Pinnochio.
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courage is a virtue, and moderation, wisdom, and munificence,and very many others
More of Meno's definition of virtue
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if you want the virtue of aman, it is easy to say that a man’s virtue consists of being able to manage publicaffairs and in so doing to benefit his friends and harm his enemies and to becareful that no harm comes to himself;
Meno's definition of a man's virtue
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can virtue be taught?
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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Hal B. Wallis, producer, had a Royal Vogue typewriter in his office.
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www.hollywoodreporter.com www.hollywoodreporter.com
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The 1944 Oscar statues that were handed out at the ceremony were made of plaster, which was part of the industry’s agreement to preserve metal during the war. Metal awards were later made and given to winners to replace the plaster stand-in.
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When Jack Warner Stole Casablanca Academy Award from Hal Wallis<br /> by [[Chris Yogerst]] for The Hollywood Reporter accessed on 2026-10-17T23:25:22
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mesothelioma.net mesothelioma.net
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Mesothelioma Lawsuit Cites Asbestos in IBM Selectric Typewriters<br /> by [[Terri Oppenheimer]]<br /> accessed on 2026-10-17T23:00:20
Lawsuit with claims of asbestos exposure from use of typewriters stemming from typebar rests and other parts, but without any direct evidence of asbestos in the claimed machines.
Importantly here:
The claim does not specify exactly where or how much asbestos was used in the products, or how the victim’s exposure to asbestos in IBM equipment can be differentiated from other occupational or personal exposures the victim may have had.
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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How a Mechanical Typewriter Works by [[Animagraffs]]
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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I've tested smith-corona from a super silent, and have read a post of someone testing underwood sound insulation, and neither had any trace. I'm working on testing a hermes 3000 too but the conditions make it unlikely. Its the wrong color and consistency for Asbestos, beyond the fact it would make no sense to use in that way.
via u/Ok-Attempt-3727
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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Fit_Artichoke_8668
Host of type-in announced for 2027-01-16 at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1x74py3/los_angeles_type_in/
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en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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archive.org archive.org
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www.safety-kleen.com www.safety-kleen.com
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Solvent Parts Washers<br /> https://www.safety-kleen.com/services/parts-washers/solvent-parts-washers
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archive.org archive.org
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www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
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The Law of Lidia Poet, tv series, season 03 ep. 04<br /> via https://www.facebook.com/groups/TypewriterCollectors/posts/10164207248754678/
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www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
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Platen colors are for Hardness. Here is the complete breakdown of typewriter platen colors, their hardness levels, and how they perform:## Typewriter Platen Color & Hardness Chart| Platen Color | Shore A Hardness | Typing Feel & Characteristics | Best Suited For... ||---|---|---|---|| Light Gray / Off-White | 85 – 87 (Soft) | Highly cushioned, muffled "thup" sound. Very quiet, but text imprint can look slightly less sharp. | Comfort typists, ultra-portable machines, and preventing paper piercing. || Teal / Muted Blue-Gray | 85 – 88 (Soft/Medium) | Iconic historic factory standard (e.g., Swiss Hermes 3000). Smooth, buttery feel with great acoustic dampening. | Vintage European portables and mid-century aesthetic restorations. || Bright Blue | 88 – 90 (Medium) | Modern custom synthetic rubber. Perfect "sweet spot" that yields a crisp print without loud impact noise. | Modern custom restorations, antique portables (like Corona 3 or Remington). || Standard Black | 88 – 92 (Medium/Firm) | Replicates the original factory specification for most classic manual typewriters. Excellent, crisp lettering. | Standard everyday manual typewriters (e.g., Smith-Corona, Underwood, Olympia). || Bright Orange / Red | 93 – 100+ (Hard) | Incredibly dense and solid strike backing. Controls heavy vibration but creates a very loud, sharp snap. | Electromechanical/electric typewriters (like the IBM Selectric) and heavy office machines. || DIY Heat-Shrink Blue/Black | 95 – 100+ (Rock Hard) | Often a cheap cosmetic cover-up over a dead platen. Feels like hard plastic, sounds deafening, and punches holes in paper. | Avoid for regular typing; requires a backing sheet if used. |
via Mitchell Vassiliou at https://www.facebook.com/groups/TypewriterCollectors/posts/10164208015789678/
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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Lucky find!! The vintage Typewriter repair tools we have never seen before.<br /> by Walid Saad of Mr & Mrs Vintage Typewriters
Tags
Annotators
URL
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mrmrsvintagetypewriters.com mrmrsvintagetypewriters.com
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Lucky find!! The vintage Typewriter repair tools we have never seen be<br /> by [[Walid Saad]] of Mr & Mrs Vintage Typewriters ltd<br /> accessed on 2026-10-10T13:37:39
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www.rileyblakedesigns.com www.rileyblakedesigns.com
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www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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Auxiliary sciences of history<br /> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auxiliary_sciences_of_history
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www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
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https://www.facebook.com/groups/TypewriterCollectors/posts/10159234560699678/
Typewriter repair pros used Lix mixed with solvent in typewriter tanks to dip machines for cleaning.
- James C. Cagle of The Typewriter Shop, 340 Alder Street, Junction City, OR
- Jack Lacy of Central Printer Resources, 4599 E Ramon Road, Palm Springs, CA
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www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
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en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthia
Mentioned in Plato's Crito
Achilles mentions arriving on the third day "in fertile Phthia" as does Socrates in Plato's Crito.
Relationship with Jesus' resurrection on the third day?
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1o8vjc5/typewriter_type_action_chart_my_personal/
u/N0nob compares the weight versus feel of their typewriter collection:
Cross reference with https://boffosocko.com/2026/09/17/what-words-could-we-use-to-better-describe-the-soul-of-a-typewriter/
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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One can't help but wonder if the naming of the private detective Milton Arbogast who was hired by Mary's boss to retrieve the money in the movie Psycho was subtly done on purpose?? 😮🤯
-gast (female dog, bitch) as a pejorative in Welsh
Arbo gast as "greedy bitch"
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I've noticed that there are many pejorative terms containing "gi" that are listed in various online dictionaries: bolgi - glutton brolgi - boaster cachgi - coward celwyddgi - liar chwiwgi - rogue clapgi / clepgi - gossiper / babbler cilgi - coward llechgi - sneak / skulker llwfrgi / llyfrgi - coward
https://www.reddit.com/r/learnwelsh/comments/1wygupa/pejorative_terms_that_contain_gi/
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www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
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https://www.facebook.com/groups/TypewriterCollectors/posts/10156067793359678/
David Born helped Richard Polt to update the list of typewriter repair shops. domarb@fastmail.cn
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www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
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www.ebay.com www.ebay.com
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https://www.ebay.com/usr/1532xplane <br /> Darwin Raymond, Raymond's Office Machines, 927 Grand Ave., Glenwood Springs, CO 81601. (970) 945-5872.
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typewriterdatabase.com typewriterdatabase.com
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writingball.blogspot.com writingball.blogspot.com
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Occasionally I've signed my typewriters in inconspicuous places. I've also designed stickers that I use on machines I service and sell under the name Urban Legend Typewriters.
via Richard Polt
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www.vintagecalculators.com www.vintagecalculators.com
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http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/mechanical_calculators.html <br /> Mechanical calculators
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www.jaapsch.net www.jaapsch.net
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https://www.jaapsch.net/mechcalc/index.htm<br /> Jaap's Mechanical Calculators Page
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Annotators
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www.johnwolff.au www.johnwolff.au
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https://www.johnwolff.au/calculators/Tech/TechIndex.htm<br /> John Wolff's Web Museum<br /> Calculator Technical and Reference Section
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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Servicing the Hermes 3000 Typewriter<br /> by [[Joe Van Cleave]] on YouTube
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site.xavier.edu site.xavier.edu
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This Olympia SM9 typewriter has a carriage lock on it indicated by the #1 in the diagram in the manual at https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/OlympiaSM9.pdf Engaging the lock will cause two teeth to engage with a set of matching holes in the carriage on the left hand side of the machine that will lock the carriage in the center. (You should be able to physically see this happen by looking straight down from above on the left side of the front of the carriage as you engage the lock.) The Carriage Release lever (#15 in diagram) will allow the carriage to be moved left or right to properly center & lock the carriage into place.
Please ensure the typewriter is also properly seated into the hardware inside the case and locked so that it can't move and fill in any dead space in the case prior to shipment.
These two precautions will help ensure safe shipment of the delicate internal mechanisms under the carriage.
Thanks in advance for your assistance!
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Why typewriters are having a renaissance in the digital age | PBS News Weekend<br /> by [[John Yang]], [[Lorna Baldwin]] for PBS News<br /> accessed on 2026-10-08T10:49:36
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The typewriters I collect have to do with language.
Julian Plys of Haddonfield, New Jersey collects typewriters based on language.
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Ryan Anderson is a recent graduate of the shop's apprentice program.
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But with the machine, when you're writing on a typewriter, you're just writing on a typewriter. It does one thing really, really well. I tell people all the time, typewriter is a machine that writes. A computer is a machine that happens to write.
Tags
- Taylor Swift
- typewriter repair schools
- distraction free writing tools
- Bryan Kravitz
- Bill Rhoda
- John Mayer
- typewriter collecting
- linguistics
- watch
- typewriters
- quote
- unitaskers
- writing practices
- Tom Hanks
- typewriter news
- Philly Typewriter
- typewriter revolution
- typewriter nostalgia
- typewriter collectors
- apprenticeship programs
- Julian Plys
- Ryan Anderson
- typewriter repair people
Annotators
URL
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nerdvana.co nerdvana.co
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Who Is Harry Nilsson?<br /> by [[David Buck]]<br /> accessed on 2026-10-08T10:47:07
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www.typebarmagazine.com www.typebarmagazine.com
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It Sucks To Use A Typewriter In 2026, But It's Also Worth It<br /> by [[David Buck]]<br /> accessed on 2026-10-08T10:37:40
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When my agency job was outsourced to an LLM in 2024, I felt like it was only a matter of time before AI would permeate everything. I think the worst part of that isn’t the ubiquity, but the ease with which many people have just accepted it and made it part of their lives. Either that, or the tech companies are cramming it into every damned thing. It's hollow. Annoying. Disheartening. Way too distracting. It hurts my brain.
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We have a long way to go before this unit is ready to rock and roll again (if it ever will be), but it'll be a lot of fun working on it and finding out.
The writer is definitely into the repair portion of the typewriter hobby space and despite some of the FUD he's spewing for lack of experience, he seems on the right track. He's discounting his lack of experience in the general space compared to his experience in computers, games, and guitar repair which he's obviously spent time. At least he can rely on this scaffolding to move forward in the typewriter repair space. Most others won't have this experience at all and that makes it even more difficult.
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I ended up first getting an antique typewriter for free and then finding myself back at the drawing board when it proved to be more of a “fixer-upper” than I wanted it to be.
Example of someone getting an old typewriter as a "fixer-upper" and probably wishing they'd gotten one refurbished from a repair shop.
Longer version of the story appears below the highlighted section.
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But, man, they’re a pain in the neck sometimes. They’re not exactly portable. Repairs can be difficult. Parts might be difficult to source. Plastic fatigue can destroy some parts of the machines. Pressing down on the keys can be a bit of a process at times. And if you get a machine where the rubber has turned to sticky sludge? God help you. The machines, while often beautiful, are absolutely not convenient in any way whatsoever. Also, you’d better be into some serious lubrication if you’re going to maintain an older model.
Most of the FUD here is that people are too cheap to bother having their machines properly serviced anymore and this is compounded by the fact that they don't know how to do most of the basics by themselves.
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Some people feel that using a typewriter can enhance creativity. Makes sense. But I think the most obvious tech-related draw of these old machines is that they offer a way to create something genuine and avoid so-called artificial intelligence.
There's a way to link this to the idea behind Friedrich Nietzsche's discussion about typewriters as tools and how that effects our work.
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There’s a reason why screen time, social media, and LLMs have such a massive conversation around them. So, I’d say that avoiding distraction is definitely a reason why people would want to use one right now. Most “typewriter enthusiast” articles and videos online like to use this as a talking point to convince folks to use them.
Author noticing something I've experienced in typewriter articles.
Perhaps it's time to aggregate some of the typewriter articles since the pandemic to see which categories they fall into?
- typewriter nostalgia
- distraction free writing
- escape from AI
- tinfoil hat crowd
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is literally trying to make the act of accessing intelligence itself a subscription.
writer's take based on article at https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-ai-utility-electricity-water-openai-2026-3
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And before you say, “Well, why don’t you use an Ethernet cable and buy non-HP ink cartridges?” Well, I did, but that’s not the point. The point is, I bought a friggin’ printer and feel like I should be able to use the darn thing without a subscription or maintenance fee. I’m a firm believer in OWNING WHAT I PAY FOR. I’m not the only one who feels that way (Louis Rossman and the FULU Foundation are big on owning what you buy). I would rather deal with the hassle of typing up several pages on a typewriter than deal with a stupid subscription-based printer. The need to get away from the constant bombardment of ads, subscriptions, and owning nothing is a big part of why physical media is coming back, at least according to Rolling Stone. Streaming sucks, anyway.
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“They’re not causing a typewriter revival, because the typewriter people just aren’t interested in these.”
"They" = daisy wheel typewriters
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Let’s just say it makes perfect sense as to why someone would actually want to use a typewriter in what is now the mid-2020s, even if it kind of sucks sometimes. I can think of a few reasons, but the simplest one is: no subscriptions and the right to repair.
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in 2024, PBS claimed typewriters were “having a renaissance.”
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-typewriters-are-having-a-renaissance-in-the-digital-age
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In 2019, the Voice of America reported that typewriters were becoming popular again, especially among younger folks.
https://voa-story.com/2019-07-14-will-typewriters-become-popular-again/?ref=typebarmagazine.com
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onomatopoeia (thanks, Todd Rundgren)
Apparently Todd Rundgren has a late 70s love song about onomatopoeia?!
Tags
- media studies
- typewriter hobbyist repair
- Todd Rundgren
- typewriter history
- artificial intelligence as overload
- creativity
- quotes
- being cheap
- ownership
- typewriter servicing
- Sam Altman
- typewriter repair shop why
- 2019
- read
- typewriter popularity
- open questions
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- artificial intelligence
- typewriter revolution
- business models
- Joe Van Cleave
- typewriters
- daisy wheel typewriter
- outsourcing
- Voice of America
- right to repair
- distraction free writing tools
- subscription services
- analog life
- typewriter FUD
- we shape our tools and thereafter they shape us
- typewriter why
- typewriter fixer-uppers
- physical media
- onomatopoeia
- OpenAI
- typewriter nostalgia
- artificial intelligence experience
- outsourcing to artificial intelligence
- streaming media
- typewriter repair
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At FULU, we believe that people should control the tech they bought and own.
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www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
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“The kids get it,” Lundy says. “They’re not trying to be nostalgic for something they never experienced. They’re trying to escape what they experience every day.”
not obvious, but a tiny nod to escapements may be hiding here...
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quoteinvestigator.com quoteinvestigator.com
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Quote Origin: Every Writer Has a Lifetime Ration of Three Exclamation Points – Quote Investigator®<br /> by Quote Investigator <br /> accessed on 2026-10-08T09:31:30
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In 1919 essayist Christopher Morley published a collection of essays titled “Mince Pie: Adventures on the Sunny Side of Grub Street”. One piece commented satirically on an overwrought style:2 A letter should, if possible, be written on rose or lemon colored paper of a rough and flannely texture, with scalloped edges and initials embossed in gilt. It should be written with great rapidity, containing not less than ten exclamation points per page and three underlined adjectives per paragraph.
1919 Copyright, Mince Pie: Adventures on the Sunny Side of Grub Street by Christopher Morley, Syntax for Cynics, A Grammar of the Feminine Language, Quote Page 208, George H. Doran Company, New York. (Google Books Full View)
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- quotes
- Terry Hersom
- Jane Schwartz
- William Safire
- Benjamin Dreyer
- Annabel Davis-Goff
- typographical rules
- Christopher Morley
- read
- writing style
- Candy Schwartz
- Helen Dudar
- William Maxwell
- Peter Hernon
- Elmore Leonard
- Edward Hirsch
- exclamation marks
- Allen Smith
- Sheilah Graham
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
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Hollywood’s Oldest Super Agent Isn’t Retiring Anytime Soon<br /> by [[Erich Schwartzel]] for Wall Street Journal<br /> accessed on 2026-10-08T09:25:24
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www.sunnyshorescreative.com www.sunnyshorescreative.com
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Printable & Custom Recipe Cards<br /> by [[Sunny Shores Creative]]<br /> accessed on 2026-10-08T09:23:18
Found via https://www.reddit.com/r/promoteMyApp/comments/1wcjbg9/online_recipe_card_creator_to_print_out_recipes/<br /> on 2026-09-23
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features.apmreports.org features.apmreports.org
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Sold a Story - Podcast<br /> by [[Emily Hanford]] of APM<br /> accessed on 2026-10-08T09:20:23
Video playlist on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ajIPRy_yc0&list=PLAqpiCUiqiUM
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
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Facebook group for Index Card Planner Ideas and Inspiration
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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collaborate.princeton.edu collaborate.princeton.edu
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“I type very quickly, very badly, with many errors [ fautes],” Jacques Derrida confessed in a late interview. This paper proposes that the typographical error – usually viewed as a mere “accident” – may in fact be understood as a productive site for deconstructive reading and thought. Drawing on Nietzsche’s suggestion that the typewriter acts as a “collaborator” in thinking, this paper examines Derrida’s use of the typewriter, with particular attention to his typos. Following Derrida’s reading in the Geschlecht series and his own typographical practice, this paper argues that the typo should be thought of as the condition of possibility of every type – and as a defining difference between Derrida and Heidegger.
Chenoweth, Katie. 2021. “Faute de Frappe: Derrida’s Typos.” Research in Phenomenology 51(1): 61–77. doi:10.1163/15691640-12341464.
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www.gettyimages.com www.gettyimages.com
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Potentially one of the Coronamatic line: 1200 or 2200.
Might be a Coronet XL, but his looks like it has the Smith-Corona badging/name on the front left where the Coronet XL name was typically placed. https://typewriterdatabase.com/Smith+Corona.Coronamatic+Coronet+XL.86.bmys
The shape of the top of the 2500 isn't quite right: https://typewriterdatabase.com/Smith+Corona.Coronamatic+2500.86.bmys
The shapes of the Coronamatic 7000 and 8000 are wrong for this.
See also guesses at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1wzwzvi/what_typewriter_did_derrida_use/
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web.archive.org web.archive.org
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https://web.archive.org/web/20070411202436/http://www.jamesnormanhallhome.pf/indexen.html
From the James Normal Hall home museum. James Norman Hall is an American writer best known for The Bounty Trilogy, a series of historical novels co-authored with Charles Bernard Nordhoff: Mutiny on the Bounty (1932), Men Against the Sea (1934), and Pitcairn's Island (1934).
This photo appears to show him at a different machine that looks more like a standard:<br />
It's an early 40's Royal Quiet De Luxe (it appears to have a tabulator key in the top right). Compare with: https://typewriterdatabase.com/Royal.Quiet+De+Luxe.72.bmys Note the rectangular shift keys which didn't start until late 1940.
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images.findagrave.com images.findagrave.com
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Henry Dreyfuss death via the Associated Press
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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These may help: http://www.crisvandevel.de/cst.htm https://www.johnwolff.au/calculators/Tech/TechIndex.htm https://www.jaapsch.net/mechcalc/index.htm http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/mechanical_calculators.html And another you absolutely must bookmark: http://badonoer.blogspot.com/ Peruse the whole site! Do not just blindly oil things in here. Probably it wants no oil at all, and these sites will have detailed advice.
via u/ahelper at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1wxxhpa/i_need_help/
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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Reply to u/Bonkzzilla at https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1wx4l50/desk_pickiness/
You'll be hard-pressed to find a modern desk with heights specifically for typewriters.
Most mid-century typewriter specific furniture was designed to put the tabletop for a typewriter at 26 inches off of the floor, but the average modern desk is typically at 28 inches.
Your best bet is either a wooden or metal executive tanker desk with either one or two pedestals. They often have writing drawers which pull out and you can put a typewriter on them to lose an inch or two. Some also had spring-loaded platforms which allowed you to open a door and pulling your typewriter up and out at a better/lower height. Other desks had a rotating desktop to which you could bolt your typewriter and allow you to flip the typewriter upside down for storage underneath the desk. Some also came with a desk return which was attached to the side at a height a few inches lower that had space for a typewriter.
There are also some small vintage typewriter stands, usually with wheels to allow for some modest mobility. These can be found for about US$50 these days.
Examples: - https://boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/wp-17169128054434698029806415884065.jpg<br /> - https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F51bda2fe-c049-4b48-a057-87457a49e01a_902x882.png<br /> - https://www.google.com/search?q=typewriter+stand
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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reply to u/orionis1 at https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1wxhe3q/bloquer_lavanc%C3%A9e_du_chariot_sur_une_underwood/
I presume you're going the route in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1upTPepErTY and miming/pretending all the typing with the carriage stuck at a set point by setting the margins so that the carriage doesn't move at all? The typist is then the tenth chair percussionist who is really only playing a desk bell.
I think the illusion is best when the bell is hidden from the audience in front of the typewriter and the typist actually only spaces and machine and does (quiet) carriage returns. The typing sound is then done by electronic keyboard and the carriage returns are played by wooden guiro, washboard or something similar.
You'll notice by watching any dozens of versions of performances of Leroy Anderson's "The Typewriter" that they're ALWAYS CHEATNG on the actual use of a typewriter. As an example, the bell on the typewriter in your video has been disabled/removed and the performer is using a separate bell mounted on the table next to it. It appears that he's finger pecking only two keys and/or only using the spacebar which moves the carriage. Many performances don't even attempt to properly time the carriage returns to the sound. Half of the "performance" is the attempt at comedy in the playing or presentation . You're trying to one up Jerry Lewis in 1963's Who's Minding the Store, which is never easy.
If you've got a practiced enough percussionist/typist, you can do the typing in reality though you may need to mic it up for volume/projection, but I recommend putting the paper up a few inches and not using the paper bale to get a louder percussion of the slug hitting the paper. If you go this route, I would recommend not using a machine with Perspex card guides, removing/disabling the paper fingers if there are any. It's impossible to get carriage returns done properly via sound as there are a few points at which the carriage hasn't moved enough to go more than a space or two.
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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I recently got a 1924 Stoewer Elite with this gorgeous wooden case. The veneer survived the past 102 years remarkably well, apart from a small chip on one of the rear corners. The finish, however, was showing its age. The wood looked dull, with a couple of deep scratches and the nickel plated parts had started to rust. It needed some work, so I decided to refinish it. In a few places the veneer had started to lift slightly. I filled a syringe with wood glue and used a hypodermic needle to get the glue underneath it. This worked really well and avoided having to lift the veneer too much and risk breaking it. Luckily, the veneer was also thick enough to carefully use an orbital sander to remove the old finish and stain (low RPM, light pressure). I chose a mahogany stain that was quite close to the original, followed by six coats of shellac to bring out the wood grain. Finally, I buffed it with extra-fine steel wool and applied a coat of beeswax for some protection against moisture. It also smells very pleasant now! I’m really happy with how it turned out. It was a fun project, and the shellac/beeswax combination gave it a beautiful satin sheen.
https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1wwrsir/refinishing_a_wooden_typewriter_case/
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1www974/the_mecca/
Left to right: Nick Campano Jay Schweitzer, Scott Connors
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1m44es6/great_visit_to_gramercy_typewriter/
Left to right: Jay Schweitzer, Scott Connors, Nick Campano
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thecarrtell.blog thecarrtell.blog
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Jimmy Carr: A Deep Dive into His Life and Career<br /> by [[The Carr Tell Blog]]<br /> accessed on 2026-10-03T14:10:11
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Jimmy is obsessed with comedy and, in the early days, lots of his contemporaries noticed him turning up to venues with a Filofax (which has now been updated to making notes on his phone). Never refuse the muse, he’s said.
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thecarrtell.blog thecarrtell.blogBooklist1
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https://thecarrtell.blog/booklist/
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www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
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www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
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Roses are Red<br /> Violets are Blue<br /> One Typewriter is enough,<br /> I mean each week or two :)<br /> —Mr. & Mrs. Vintage<br /> at https://www.instagram.com/p/DNI6GORsee8/
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www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
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www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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I prefer older, manual typewriters, but I just bought a Smith-Corona Electra 210 from FB Marketplace for $20. I enjoyed typing on it, and the fact that my fingers didn't slip between the keys and the typebars didn't jam. However, using an electric typewriter feels a bit like "cheating" in terms of breaking away from our digital world. It's not strictly analog, so I'm ambivalent about using it. I'm interested in hearing your opinions on the topic.
reply to u/Proud_Illustrator266 at https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1wvx18t/manual_vs_electric/
We can't absolve you of your guilt, but you can choose to use what works best for you.
Pretty much none of us are offline (look where we're discussing this). No one is really choosing to type with their heating or air conditioning off, or type by candlelight. You have options about where your analog line could be, just choose one and start banging away.
If you want to talk about guilt, tell us about your 70 typewriters that you're constantly rotating because you feel guilty that they're not all getting enough use.
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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A thermal typewriter will be the quietest option. As a high school teacher with typewriters in my room, here is my experience: kids are allowed to use them during passing time and if we have some independent time and they are done with their work, but they are too noisy to use for notes or during instruction. If a student wanted to use a regular manual typewriter during class, I would ask them to stop, because it would be too much of a distraction to the class (and me).
https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1wvrlad/best_typewriters_for_school/
Advice from a self-identified high school teacher with manual typewriters in their classroom.
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www.reddit.com www.reddit.com
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I call these, "Undervettis."
"Undervetti" as a derogatory term for poorly made Underwood typewriters under the Olivetti regime. —via u/strestle at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1wvb2l8/is_an_olivetti_underwood_just_a_postmerger/
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www.deluxe.com www.deluxe.com
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https://www.deluxe.com/shopdeluxe/pd/straight-tab-card-file-pocket-4-1-2-x-6-1-8-buff/_/A-1643<br /> Straight Tab Card File Pocket, 4 1/2 x 6 1/8, Buff
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5forms.com 5forms.com
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5formsbags.com 5formsbags.com5Forms1
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www.epi.org www.epi.orgCEO Pay1
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www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
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Ezra’s slightly mad typewriter-cleaning cocktail! After experimenting with various cleaners, this has become one of my favorites for grimy painted metal and bare metal parts: roughly 75% Simple Green, with the remaining 25% divided between isopropyl alcohol, white vinegar and lemon juice.
With caveats, this is what Ezra Rosensaft uses for external typewriter cleaning using modest amounts on a clean damp cloth.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/705152958470148/posts/1386689876983116
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The Gramercy mix: 1/3 409, 1/3 ammonia, 1/3 water.Like
Andy Morris reports that Jay Schweitzer of Grammercy Typewriter uses this cleaning formula for cleaning the exterior of typewriters to be applied to a soft cotton cloth and not directly on the machine.
Morris further suggests staying away from decals with this.
Second hand advice, but no reason to doubt it. https://www.facebook.com/groups/705152958470148/posts/1386689876983116
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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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"That's the sound of typing. It's the cadence of creativity. It's the percussion of punctuation. <br /> That sound you'll get lost in it. It becomes a rhythm. It becomes a music that will not only tell you—and the other people in the other room—that you're working, it will also spur you on to other areas of imagination that you will eventually create and record forever on your typewriter."<br /> —Tom Hanks in _Secret Talent Theatre" episode "Tom Hanks Changes the Ribbon on a Typewriter" for Vanity Fair on 2018-02-28 [00:02:16]
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A typewriter pro would switch the ribbon selection switch to the red setting and jam two keys together in front of the typing point. This raises the ribbon vibrator to it's highest position and makes taking the ribbon out and replacing it much easier.
Tom Hanks does not demonstrate this finer feature.
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