Immovable Type

[hrj]

It was too much to expect, I suppose, that a manual typewriter that last saw serious use in my undergraduate days should still be functional. I bought it used (for $5, if I recall correctly), it must have been in the summer of '76. I rather liked the antique look of the thing: metal-ringed keys and an angular black metal body. I was a hard science major, so it had fairly light duties. I'm immensely grateful that I did my graduate work in the computer era!

Back in the mid '80s, I got my first personal computer and never seriously looked back. Ah, the days of dot-matrix and daisy-wheel! But I kept the typewriter -- partly because I tend to keep everything, and partly because there might be occasions when it would be convenient for filling out forms or the like.

That's why I dragged it out again last night. I'd gotten the hard-copy version of Nolo Press's "Deeds for California Real Estate" and was debating the merits of filling in the forms with very neat printing, springing for the electronic version as well, or pulling out the typewriter. The typewriter was tucked in a corner of the guest bedroom ... which makes it a minor miracle that it could be retrieved at all under current circumstances. When I opened up the case, flakes of rust detached themselves from the hinges of the box. (I believe this dates to the Time of the Roof Leak about a decade ago.) It looked possible that I could find a bit of ribbon that still had sufficient functional ink on it, but alas the block of right-hand-most keys in the array refused to budge from their places. And I cannot manage without "p"s.

Back I went on-line and located several sites with electronic copies of the relevant forms -- not quite exactly the same as the Nolo Press versions, but still adequate for the purpose. The typewriter, I suspect, is junk. Part of me says, "Hey, with a bit of work and cleaning up I could get it back in action again ... and by now it may be a real antique." Another part of me says, "If you haven't actually used it in the last 20 years, it isn't worth the admittedly minimal storage space." And the last part of me says, "Divest! Divest of unnecessary stuff!" There's no real emotional attachment -- I didn't write the great American novel on this thing and it wasn't handed down from an ancestor. Besides which, it's the attrition of random old stuff that makes surviving antiques valuable, so by disposing of it, I enhance the value of somebody else's better-cared-for machine. Help me out here -- I need to make sure I get rid of this thing before I relent and stick it up in the attic.

Comments

[wingedcorset.livejournal.com]

Get rid of it! Besides, there are people who make jewelry from keys of old typewriters.

[wulfsdottir.livejournal.com]

Offer it on your local freecycle list, and see if anyone wants it. Keeps it out of the landfill, gets it out of your house (don't move the thing, since it holds no sentimental value), and sometimes the parts are useful. If you find yourself suddenly in need of an actual typewriter, try your local library - sometimes they'll let you use theirs. Or yell real loud, and you can borrow my electric. If I can find the ribbons. Hrm. If I can find the typewriter.

[cellio]

This sounds good to me -- see if there's anyone left out there who would appreciate it. (And if not, that tells you something about its future value, so you may as well dump it if you can't give it away.)

Ancient Typewriter

[(Anonymous)]

My ancient Smith Corona typewriter is more ancient, but the parts still move. Of course, I doubt that ribbons for it would be findable and I never use it anyway. But, it was what my grandparents gave my aunt when she graduated from high school. My aunt is 8 years older than my mother, so I would imagine the typewriter is an antique. No comment on whether or not my aunt is an antique :-)
JIMR

[xrian.livejournal.com]

Ah yes -- would you believe I tripped over one of these during my recent bout of "clear out stuff in Dad's house" last week? Only I think mine is even older than yours..... I didn't think to test it, though, to see whether it works.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

Thanks for all the suggestions, but the machine went into the trash can today, it being cleaning day for the living room (where the typewriter had settled itself). I've learned that "I'll hold onto it until I can donate/give it to X" is a snare and an illusion and is functionally equivalent to, "Let's leave it lying around for another five years."

[aastg.livejournal.com]

Too bad you've trashed it: there's a minor fad for jewelry made from the keys of those old typewriters. Bracelets made from keys cost upwards of 80 bucks...you could have made one of your own, with your own genuine antique!