Typewriter

A typewriter is a machine with keys that, when pressed, print letters or other characters onto a sheet of paper (or something comparable). The keys are each linked to individual pieces of cast metal type similar to those used in movable-type letterpress printing. When the operator (usually called the typist) presses a key, it strikes its piece of type against an ink-bearing ribbon, leaving ink on the paper in the form of the letter.
Initially, such machines were purely mechanical in action ("manual typewriter"). By the mid-twentieth century, electromechanical variants eased the typists' job ("electric typewriter"). In the 1970s and 80s, typewriter high tech was the IBM Selectric II with its crisp carbon ribbon and interchangeable font elements. Fans often named their typewriters and wrote brief essays or even light verse about them. By the end of the 1980s, however, typewriters were increasingly being displaced by word processors and personal computers.
Typewriters are still in use today in certain work environments, and are favored by some writers. Some bloggers type their work, scan it and post the scan, a practice called typecasting. Many children and young people like the vintage experience, the distinctive look of a typed page and the fact that a manual typewriter can be used anywhere. The recent scrapbooking revival has caused a resurgence of interest in vintage and retro decorative styles. At least one company has produced a line of manual typewriters designed for use by scrapbookers. However, these machines may be more ornamental than useful. Enthusiasts recommend that newbies buy an older machine and have it reconditioned if necessary:
Typewriters have their own fandom. The actor Tom Hanks collects typewriters and has written a collection of stories about typewriters, Uncommon Type.David Greene, "Tom Hanks Is Obsessed With Typewriters (So He Wrote A Book About Them)". NPR's Morning Edition, October 16, 2017. Among Hanks' humorous "Reasons to Use a Typewriter":
Hanks and other artists were featured in the documentary California Typewriter, about people who still use the machines and one of the last typewriter repair places in America. Musician John Mayer, actor-producer Sam Shepard and historian-presenter David McCullough are among those interviewed.
Typewriters can also be dismantled and the keys used to create jewelry, although typewriter fans strongly object to "key chopping" from perfectly good machines."Typewriters of this vintage are especially coveted by certain jewelrymakers (known in typewriter circles as "keychoppers") who will find a beautiful machine like this one with its wonderful glass-topped tombstone keys and cruelly cut off all of the keys with a hacksaw or bolt cutters, and then throw away everything else. If you ask me, that's a lot like finding an intelligent and beautiful girl and then tying her up, shaving her hair off for your wig project and throwing the rest in a wood chipper. Bastards." Theodore Munk, Munk's Slightly Out-of-Control TypewritercCollection at www.munk.org: see also his Typewriter Database.Robert Messenger, " How Typewriter Vandals Have Changed the Dynamics of Collecting." oz.Typewriter, 2012-01-14."They target the oldest and rarest of machines and strip away the interface between the fingers and the page, leaving the rest to rot in a waste bin. Rather then restoring them and letting them survive to educate another generation, to be allowed to continue their purpose which they were so carefully crafted to do, they are crudely dismantled and ruined." Typewriter repairman and photographer Lucas Dul, "Fabricating Typewriter Keys", showing his step-by-step method for making new keys for "chopped" machines. In Mechanica Antiqua, January 2018.
In addition to typewriter repair people experimenting with creating new keys for "chopped" vintage machines, artists and Steampunk fans are developing ways to manufacture replica or reproduction typewriter keys especially designed for jewelry and decoration; search on "faux vintage typewriter keys" or "typewriter key fabrication".Reproduction Typewriter Keys at the Steampunk forum at brassgoggles.co.ukNeko Noire, How would you make typewriter keys? Youtube film dated April 28, 2013.
In April 2011, an article in the India Business Standard reported that Godrej and Boyce, "the last manufacturer of typewriters in the world", had shut its doors and ceased production.Shine Jacob, Typewriters About to Become a Page in History India Business Standard, April 17, 2011."Last Typewriter Factory in the World Shuts Its Doors," by Nicholas Jackson, dated April 25, 2011. WebCite. The Brother company in the UK stopped making typewriters in 2012.Gerry Holt, "Five reasons to still use a typewriter." BBC News Magazine, 20 November 2012. However, it seems the reports of the typewriter's death have been greatly exaggerated.Seth Abramovitch, Relax, They're Still Making Typewriters. Gawker, 2011-04-26.Drew Millard, Why Are People Still Using Typewriters in 2015? Vice, March 13, 2015.Nicole Pajer, 11 Ways Typewriters Are Cool Again. AARP, September 9, 2021.Matthew Mershon, Typewriters Making Comeback Among Creatives, Those Wanting to Keep Things Confidential. Spectrum Local News, January 2, 2021. The Royal company, which has made typing machines since 1904, offers a line of "Classic" and "Epoch" manual typewriters for up to $300.Royal typewriters for sale at typewriters.com.
==In Their Natural Habitats==
File:Strange justice interior by chris ripley.jpg|from Strange Justice -- Chris Ripley portrays one of Starsky & Hutch's many bonding moments over a typewriter
 Image:typewritersatwork.jpg| from Jundland Wastes #1, some fans at the control panel
File:Vaultoftomorrow3-16.jpg|from Vault of Tomorrow #2 (1982), a typewriter called "Dreamer," artist is Sonnia Gringas
 Image:grip39-2.jpg| dreams and possibilities and typewriters, from Grip #39, the artist is Kate Landis
File:Solplus8art12C.jpg |from Sol Plus #8 (1981), the artist is Mike Wallace
 File:Beren3typewriter.jpg| Click to read an example from a typewriter that went rabid... for an entire issue. From the editor of Berengaria #3: "I really must apologize for my hyperactive 'h.' I have had it fixed, but to no avail. I have threatened to use a 'j' instead, but can you image 'tje' for 'the,' and 'jello' for 'hello'?"'
File:shiptoshoretypewriter.jpg| the red typewriter used for Ship to Shore
File:trekism5art8.jpg| a LaVena Kay Kidd's rendition of a typewriter, from TREKism at Length #5
==One of the Birthplaces of Fandom==
Much of fandom began in the typewriter era. Many fans simply referred to their machine as a "typer", occasionally as a "typerwriter", or sarcastically as a "typowriter." Here's a parody of the Vulcan greeting from Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Amok Time", showing that a fan and his/her typewriter are as one:
"Never and always...the endless sessions at the typewriter"
"Touching and touched... the stencils and typewriter keys"
"Parted from me and-never parted....money and the typewriter"
"I await thee in the- appointed-place-the-duplicating and the deadline..."from the editorial of Never and Always with Lighter Shades
==Access to the Machine: A T'Kuhtian Press Journey==
Typewriters were sometimes a scarce commodity. Follow the plans of the editor Lori Chapek-Carleton of Warped Space and other zines:
The top-of-the-line IBM Selectric, costing anywhere from $500 to $1000, was completely out of the question for most individuals. IBM made a nice little profit on the side by renting them out.
==In With the New, Out With the Old==
In October, the typewriter used to type some long-running zines was offered for sale. From the editor in Beyond Antares #24: 
==Typewriter Memories==
==Naming the Beast==
Many zine creators named their typewriters, then word processors, and later, computers.
Some examples:
* "This is Maya, the club's new typewriter... The typewriter is a Smith-Corona Cartridge 12 and has been named in honor of our favorite Psychon because of its special feature--changeable ribbon cartridges. Maya would not have been possible without the generous contributions of our members to the typewriter fund which amounted to enough to cover the initial deposit. Only ten more payments to go, and she's ours!"from the Space: 1999 newsletter Command Center (1978)
* The editor's typewriter for S and H was named "Bart."
* The editor's typewriter for Hanky Panky was named "Freddie."
* The editors of Nome had "dueling typewriters" named "Calliopa" and "Monster"
* the editor of STAG dubbed her new word processor: "Worf"
 Image:calliopa.jpg| "Calliopa," the first typewriter from Nome
 File:Nometypewriters.jpg| Nome's dueling typewriters: Left: Monster, Right: Calliope from Nome #4
==Typewriters in Canon==
Even after the typewriter was replaced with the computer in daily life, typewriters played notable parts in the canon of several fandoms.
* Doctor Who - the Eleventh Doctor's version of the TARDIS included a typewriter as part of the control console.See "Sixth Version" in the Control Room page and "The Eleventh Doctor's Console" in The Doctor's TARDIS page at the Doctor Who wiki. (Accessed 1 May 2011) It was used in several episodes.See, for example, The Eleventh Hour episode entry and the Vincent and the Doctor episode entry at the Doctor Who wiki. (Accessed 1 May 2011)
* Fringe - characters from the parallel universe visiting the primary universe communicated with their superiors using a quantum entangled typewriter in multiple episodes.See the entry on the typewriter at Fringepedia. (Accessed 1 May 2011)
* Agent Carter - Leviathan agents use typewriters containing transmitters and receivers to communicate.Time and Tide (Agent Carter) at Wikipedia (accessed 28 June 2015)
* Violet Evergarden - an anime that revolves around "Auto-Memory Dolls" who compose letters for people in a steampunk fantasy world, and typewriters are staple tools of their trade. The protagonist lost both arms in a war, and her prosthetics make her clumsy at handwriting but very efficient at typing.
* Dracula - as an epistolary novel, uses the typewriter and other tokens of (at the time) modernity, such as Jonathan's shorthand and Seward's phonograph diary, to contrast with the ancient and mystic threat of Dracula.
==Typewriters in Fanworks==
As a staple writing technology for the late 19th and much of the 20th century, typewriters often feature in fanworks about writers or writing which are set during that time period:
* -- Newsies fic in which Katherine gets her first typewriter.
* by ElektricAngel -- a Gravity Falls writer!Dipper AU set during the 1920s
* by Penstills -- Umbrella Academy fic in which Vanya Hargreeves composes poetry on a typewriter.
Typewriters being used as metafictional/supernatural devices:
* -- Parahumans AU in which Tattletale's power makes her aware of the world on a story level, she parses her power as words being written by a typewriter.
===Fanart===
* by MistyBeethoven -- for the film Tune in Tomorrow
==Resources & Further Reading==
* The Ed's Right Hand a personal account from the Dragonriders of Pern zine Fortfolio (1984)
* California Typewriter This 2017 documentary features the California Typewriter repair and supply shop, one of the last such places in the U.S., and interviews various creators including Tom Hanks and the late Sam Shepard who continue to use typewriters.
* The Typewriter in the 21st Century 2013 documentary distributed by Janson Media and free to watch on many online sites including Pluto, Vimeo and YouTube. "Filmmakers Christopher Lockett and Gary Nicholson crisscrossed America to conduct over thirty interviews with authors, collectors, journalists, professors, bloggers, students, artists, inventors and repairmen. Many of these people meet up for "Type-Ins"—gatherings to celebrate their decidedly lo-tech typewriters in a plugged-in, digital world."
* The Typewriter Revolution: A Typist's Companion for the 21st Century. Current as of June 2021. By Richard Polt, creator of The Classic Typewriter Page and editor of EtCetera typewriter magazine.
* A list of known typewriter shops across the U.S. Old Bob's Old Typewriters blog is current as of May 15, 2021.
* What You Need To Know About Buying a Typewriter. Site is current as of Oct. 2020 and you can learn all about typewriters. They also have some typewriters for sale.
* Michael Gustafson & Oliver Uberti, Notes from a Public Typewriter. A typewriter in an independent Ann Arbor bookstore invites customers to click out their greetings, thoughts, hopes and frustrations. Grand Central, 2018. Review by PD Smith at The Guardian, June 15, 2019.
* Life in a Typewriter Shop Typecast blog by Tom Furrier. "I own a typewriter shop in Arlington, Ma. I love my job so much I wanted to share it with other typewriter enthusiasts." Last entry March 3, 2019.
* Revert to type: how Goa’s last typewriter repair shop defied the digital age - Luis Abreu once thrived on servicing India’s many typewriters but computers are eclipsing his trade. Guardian, June 8, 2021.
* Erik Lacitis, "Bob Montgomery, 96, dies; Seattle area’s last typewriter repairman had the write stuff" Seattle Times, September 12, 2018. Montgomery's friend Paul Lundy took over the typewriter repair business after Montgomery's death.
* The typewriter isn’t dead yet, not for a long time. Quora user describing himself as a "Printbroker, financial printer, ex-lawyer" answers this question in extreme detail.
* Daniel Gross, "A Prisoner's Only Writing Machine." The New Yorker, July 20, 2017.
* Emma Ambrose, "Typewriter repairman sees brisk business at his shop." Lafayette Journal & Courier, Lafayette, Indiana, January 21, 2017.
* "Keeping It Old-School: Resuscitating SFMOMA’s Vintage Selectric Typewriter" Talks about the Typeface To Interface exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, summer 2016.
* "Don't Believe the Type! World's Last Typewriter Maker Alive and Well in NJ. Fox News believe it or not, published April 26, 2011; last update November 3, 2015.
* James Joiner, "The Hidden World of the Typewriter." The Atlantic, September 11, 2013.
* A to Z Typewriter Company Woodbridge, VA sales and service.
* USB Typewriter Innovative design connects an ordinary typewriter to a computer, while still allowing the machine to be used the old fashioned way. 
* 22 Pounds of Memory Author Megan Hanlon describes a childhood typewriter; how it became a "symbol, a clue, and a gateway".
* /r/typewriters on Reddit: "A subreddit for typewriters. An appreciation for that primal hammer-against-paper feeling when you sling words onto a page."
==References==
Category:Print Media