# Typewriters, a Remembrance



## Fyrefox (Oct 7, 2019)

Typewriters; remember them? They used to be office staples, and were used by many to pound out required papers for school.  There were recognized brands, like Royal, Smith-Corona, and Underwood.  Typing skills were considered so vital for success that I actually took a mandated course in typing at public school, training on a big, heavy manual machine.  I had a portable at home, and when I went away to college, I was sent off with a portable _electric _typewriter, the high tech of its day!  Who can forget the trademark sounds of a real typewriter?  The tap and feel of the keys, and the solid "thunk" of the carriage as you returned it at the end of a line!  Typewriters were a standard, and they were _everywhere._

Then computers happened, and they spelled the death of the typewriter.  The trusty machine was replaced with a word processing program, and a plastic keyboard that just wasn't the same in look or feel.  Typewriters were relegated to attic storage, and now can be found in antique stores as quaint objects.  I mourn their passing, and miss them...

Did you use a typewriter, and what memories do you have of them?


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## JustBonee (Oct 7, 2019)

Used my IBM electric typewriter all the time .. at home and work.    Loved that darn thing!   
The last time I saw it was at my daughter's home.


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## Aunt Bea (Oct 7, 2019)

I remember using the typewriter to complete three and four-ply forms with carbon paper and later carbonless paper.  Sometimes I would put the carbon papers in backwards and other times I used colored correction fluid or those round erasers with a brush to try to make corrections, what a nightmare!  

These days all you do is hit print!


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## Tommy (Oct 7, 2019)

Ah, yes!  I remember them well.  Started on an old mechanical Underwood and finished on an IBM Correcting Selectric.

Paper forms are still very much with us, and after decades of life with computers, they still can't fill in paper forms like a typewriter can.


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## Ken N Tx (Oct 7, 2019)

Historians have estimated that some form of typewriter was invented 52 times as thinkers tried to come up with a workable design.


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## Uptosnuff (Oct 7, 2019)

@Bonnie 
Oh, I had one of those at work not so long ago.  I loved it!!  For some reason, though, my boss hated the idea of me using a typewriter.  I kept telling him there were still times when only a typewriter would do, but he finally got his way and they took it away.  There are still things that a typewriter is better at than a computer like when I need to make a hanging folder label.  Most times I only need to make one.  If I use the labels they make for the computer, I have wasted the whole darn sheet just to print out one label.  I hate waste like that.


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## gennie (Oct 7, 2019)

Loved my IBM Selectric with ball head.  

I agree about label strips for Pendaflex hanging folders.  Also, addressing envelopes individually.


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## Grampa Don (Oct 7, 2019)

I took typing in the ninth grade, and glad I did.  I still have my Remington portable in the attic.  But, I don't miss it.  A word processor is so much easier, and I  appreciate it when it tells me I've spelled a word wrong.  I would much prefer to fill out forms in PDF format and print them than mess around lining up a printed form on a typewriter.  And, I don't miss carbon paper at all.

Don


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## Mrs. Robinson (Oct 7, 2019)

A good friend of ours was in the typewriter repair business. In fact,I remember that business as far back as I can remember growing up. Long before we met Bob. He was partners with his father in law and then FIL retire so he was the sole owner. But year after year,business got slower and slower,as computers took over. It got to where older people were hauling in their old typewriters,begging him to fix them,but not really wanting to pay him much for doing so. Luckily for him,he had kept UTD on computers and was able to do computer repair as well as typewriters. Finally,about 12 years ago,he closed down the shop and moved to Oregon. Became a school bus driver lol.


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## win231 (Oct 7, 2019)

I haven't used a typewriter for many years.  When I first saw home computers, I was intimidated by them.
My niece has an antique Royal typewriter - that Yellow & Black one.  Whenever I see one of those I'm reminded of "Misery" when James Caan used it on Kathy Bates.


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## toffee (Oct 7, 2019)

gosh they must have been hard work all that changing the ribbon '' and tipex Arrrgh ;and poor borring typing pools '''''


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## jujube (Oct 7, 2019)

I got a Hermes portable typewriter as a high school graduation present to take off to college.  It really came in handy as I made some good money typing papers for the guys in the dorm who had never learned to type.

I had that thing for years and years but finally I couldn't get the ribbons fo

Well, dang, there's a 1965 3000 model (which is the one I had) in mint condition selling on Ebay for over $1,000.  Why don't I ever hang onto the stuff that's worth something???


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## hollydolly (Oct 7, 2019)

I learned on an old mechanical Underwood. The keys had to be pressed so far down, I felt sure I would break my pinky finger 

This was in the late 60's...


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## Pepper (Oct 7, 2019)




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## Victor (Oct 8, 2019)

I wrote a huge amount of work on typewriters, mostly electronic (Royal) and was very reluctant
to change to a computer. Eventually, the ribbons were no longer available and it looked
so out of style and very unprofessional. Only last year I gave it to charity. Hey, I never lost anything
on a typewriter and had no mechanical problems but errors were a hassle. I know a store that sells old ones.
Of course, the keyboard layout is still the same, kids don't know that.


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## 911 (Oct 8, 2019)

I was the only boy in my typing class in high school. No one cared. I think I typed around 60-70 w.p.m. by the end of school. Not too bad, but others were faster, much faster. My sister was a pro at typing and shorthand.


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## Kaila (Oct 8, 2019)

I loved the typewriter, also.  I do miss its unique features.

For copies,  or correcting errors, or moving entire paragraphs, though, I must admit that the computers are better.

I am enjoying this thread, with everyone's memories and stories and pictures.
Some items like the typewriter, we never imagined would not be forever used and valued.
Turns out, few things fit that.  Do any?


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## fmdog44 (Oct 8, 2019)

I had one probably from the 40s and it weighed a ton. Long arms for the letters and it took a solid hit to lift those arms.


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## fmdog44 (Oct 8, 2019)

911 said:


> I was the only boy in my typing class in high school. No one cared. I think I typed around 60-70 w.p.m. by the end of school. Not too bad, but others were faster, much faster. My sister was a pro at typing and shorthand.


A marine in an all girl typing class...…...any _type_ in particular you were looking for?!


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## Liberty (Oct 8, 2019)

Does the name "IBM  Selectric" mean anything to you guys?  If so, do you know what was so special about this typewriter - what was so different?

Because of it I got a job when I was hobbling around after a car accident that I needed very badly.


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## Don M. (Oct 8, 2019)

I have an old Smith Corona Sterling, that my parents bought me in the mid 1950's, to do my schoolwork on.  I had it out a couple of months ago, and it still works great.  I may advertise it on EBAY this Winter, as I've seen similar items bringing some nice money.  A couple of years ago, I bought an old Underwood at an auction for about $15, and sold it on EBAY...to a buyer in Japan...and made over $100 on that sale.


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## Liberty (Oct 8, 2019)

Don M. said:


> I have an old Smith Corona Sterling, that my parents bought me in the mid 1950's, to do my schoolwork on.  I had it out a couple of months ago, and it still works great.  I may advertise it on EBAY this Winter, as I've seen similar items bringing some nice money.  A couple of years ago, I bought an old Underwood at an auction for about $15, and sold it on EBAY...to a buyer in Japan...and made over $100 on that sale.


Hey, Don...now there's a lucrative little part time biz for you!  Tom Hanks collects old typewriters, too.


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## applecruncher (Oct 8, 2019)

In high school typing class the teacher used to sometimes stand behind me and cover my eyes because I looked at my hands (which I still do sometimes). Mom got me a portable manual typewriter as a graduation gift.  I think the brand was Brother.

Although my typing skills were very good on jobs, I never did great on typing tests.
When those IBM Selectrics came onto the scene, it was like...WOW!   Thinking back, the noise of typewriters - especially manual ones - was annoying.

I also remember a time whenever a female applied for a job she was always asked her typing speed and given a test - even if she had a degree and was applying for a job as a scientist or whatever. (I recall this in the late 1970s)

Here's a scene from "Mad Men" (set in the early 60s). Listen carefully to what Joan says about the typewriter....@ 1:20


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## JB in SC (Oct 10, 2019)

My wife still uses an old manual Royal from the 40’s. Her grandad used it until he retired as county school superintendent in 1964.

I had a red IBM Selectric I that I used for years, I found it sitting unused in a closet at our executive office so grabbed it (along with a low profile transparency projector). I had to hide it and lock it up at night to keep another bandit from absconding with it. This was around 1979 so it was still pretty nifty.

I left the company about 25 years ago, when they closed about 10 years back I tried to find it (I was in the used textile machinery business). Another location had some Selectrics but not a red one. I loved that thing and preferred it long after PC‘s and printers were mainstream.

It probably wound up in a trash bin.


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## Butterfly (Oct 10, 2019)

Uptosnuff said:


> @Bonnie
> Oh, I had one of those at work not so long ago.  I loved it!!  For some reason, though, my boss hated the idea of me using a typewriter.  I kept telling him there were still times when only a typewriter would do, but he finally got his way and they took it away.  There are still things that a typewriter is better at than a computer like when I need to make a hanging folder label.  Most times I only need to make one.  If I use the labels they make for the computer, I have wasted the whole darn sheet just to print out one label.  I hate waste like that.



When I was working, you could set the labels program to print exactly the one you wanted to print, i.e., you could run the same sheet through over and over and print the next one in line.  As I recall, the labels thing was part of our word-processing program.

Easy to use, you just chose the type of labels you were going to use (the program had a zillion choices) and the page popped up and you typed the label where you wanted it on the page and Bingo!


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## Butterfly (Oct 10, 2019)

hollydolly said:


> I learned on an old mechanical Underwood. The keys had to be pressed so far down, I felt sure I would break my pinky finger
> 
> This was in the late 60's...


I learned on one of these, too, back in the early 60s.


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