I recently purchased a 1964 Corsair-Deluxe Smith Corona Typewriter for my 22 birthday. I was hoping to find something inspiring to encourage me to write, but instead found a whole new world of information regarding the analog crowd of humans who are collecting, restoring, and researching these fascinating machines. Much like the resurgence of record players and vinyl, typewriters have found their way back onto decorated book shelves, ad campaigns, and into the collections of some very influential people. Most notably, Tom Hanks has a massive collection of vintage typewriters. His stash has roughly 250 separate machines, 90% of which are in working condition. Other typewriter fanatics include singer/songwriter John Mayer and science fiction author Harlan Ellison. What’s surprising, especially in a digital age, is that there are still many practical uses for typewriters over computers in some of the most unsuspecting places. For example, in 2015 a New York City councilman introduced a bill to remove typewriters from the NYPD. Apparently, many NYPD officers are still using typewriters to fill out specific forms during the booking process over digital processes even though they have access to computers and digital filing systems. Until a full conversion is complete, many NYPD officers are keeping their typewriters at their stations. Funeral homes are another consumer of typewriter machines as they can use them to fill out death certificates as opposed to trying to print out the information exactly in-line with the original form. These practical uses of typewriter technology keep some aspects of this culture alive, but the real workhorses in the typewriter market are the collectors.
who is still buying typewriters?
Like all avid collector markets, typewriter collectors have several directions to take their casual obsession. A collector can get hooked on a brand, of which there are many to choose from: Royal, Underwood, Smith-Corona, Remington, Olivetti etc. A collector may also find that they like a specific kind of typewriter: portable, electric, manual, old as dirt. Or, if you’re like Tom Hanks himself, anything that writes is just as fascinating. In an interview Hanks did with CBS, he said: “If drums are the backbone of any rock band, then the sound of a typewriter is the sound of productivity.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTtDb73NkNM This sound can come in many forms depending on the year, the brand, and the type of typewriter you’re working with. Caroline, my baby blue Smith Corona from Manchester England, for example has a doorbell-like carriage ding at the end of a line and a thud-like click with each key. Why would sound be important? Well, besides Hanks’s reference to the different feels and sounds of his many typewriter selections in his New York Times Articles, these sounds can be utilized for a very specific purpose: a Typewriter Orchestra.
Formed in 2004, the Boston Typewriter Orchestra started as a collection of people in the Boston area who were interested in experimental music production through the utilization of typewriter sounds. With a goal only to make enough money to continuing buying typewriters and the occasional pizza, their sound helped them achieve a very niche audience of people interested in percussive performance art. Their group has expanded to include more repertoire, including some covers, and has achieved them enough recognition to complete a small tour of the North Eastern United States. The Boston Typewriter Orchestra has also just released a cassette tape featuring their original songs. This embrace of bygone technology emphasizes the nature of appreciation that people have for typewriters as tools.
why the analog tech?
In his documentary California Typewriter featuring several typewriter collectors, refurbishers, and artists, Tom Hanks equated the process of typing something out on a typewriter as act of measurable productivity that will last much longer than anything written on a computer. A typed thank you note, for example, will be saved forever while a simple email with the same message is so quickly deleted. This sentiment is echoed through John Mayer’s explanation of his song writing process as he now types his lyrics on a typewriter so that a measurable process can be observed as he works through a song. Because it takes more time and thought to type something perfectly on a typewriter, the implication of the words written on that machine seem to have more of an impact on the reader as opposed to a quick tweet or internet only published article. There is a permanence to paper that isn’t replicated by continuous hard drive back up processes. Documents get lost all the time in cyberspace, but handwritten or typewritten notes get saved and revisited all the time by the writers who sift through their own creative processes and the people who receive those typewritten notes. Health professionals are even known to suggest typewriters to their patients who are writers who are stuck in a rut with their novels as the change in medium tends to help them get into a new creative mindset. With this in mind, why would a casual person want to indulge in a seemingly expensive habit like buying typewriters?
I have never written anything for serious publication, nor have I ever shared my personal prose in a semi-professional setting, but I find that sitting down and forcing myself to type out a page every so often can help clarify thoughts, create manageable lists of tasks, and refresh my creative spirit. If you have a typewriter to type something, you have to have something to say. This pressure is not stressful, but rather like an effective deadline that encourages a creative solution to the problem of having a great medium and platform to create works of writing. Beyond admiring their design quality, their efficacy as a machine that does not require electricity to perform a task, and their myriad of interesting sound effects, typewriters have a stable and reliable quality to them that is deeply rooted in the fact that they are mechanical. Owner of the California Typewriter Repair shop in Burbank California, Kenneth Alexander, equates the process of working on a typewriter to that of fixing your own bike; It is something that belongs to you, and it is your responsibility to keep it running and know it inside and out. This kind of object permanence that goes beyond software updates or upgrades in operating systems creates a stability and trust between your creative process and the machine. I’m not saying you need one, but I am saying that having a typewriter and learning how to take care of it gives you a whole new appreciation for the craft of writing, and I do think everyone needs a new perspective on this art form.