UJTU: The Revolution Marches on

It’s an interesting thing to watch something you have long thought of as a very niche interest, in this case a love and interest in old manual writing machines, burgeon into a cultural phenomena. Today I learned that the Typewriter Revolution has spread to other parts of my state, and an article in the Prescott, Arizona Daily Courier brings news of a group of typist-enthusiasts in that northern Arizona town. Next time I’m in Prescott, perhaps I’ll stop by the Wild Iris Coffee House and see if my brothers in arms are clacking away there. (:

Another fun thing I enjoy is checking the signups at TWDB for new Hunters to upgrade. Even though only a handful of people a month actually request to be upgraded, I’ll often check the info left behind and upgrade people anyway if their info indicates some interest or connection to typewriters. Usually if they upload a profile photo and put in a personal description, that’ll be enough for me to upgrade, but sometimes people sign up with an email address that indicates they own their own domain name, and I’ll grab the domain part of the address and plug it into a browser to see what their website looks like.

This was how I found out about independent film director Lee Citron, who signed up a couple days ago. His site shows off almost a dozen well-made short films from his portfolio, and I knew Mr Citron was a true Typewriter Hunter (and thus I upgraded his account) when I enjoyed his short film “Idiot Box“. About halfway through the film I noted a scene where the protagonist sits at work in a modern-ish office, typing a report on a 1940’s vintage Smith-Corona portable (a stripey Speedline model, in need of a new ribbon):

idiotbox-1 idiotbox-2 idiotbox-3

 

Updated: March 14, 2016 — 8:48 am

10 Comments

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  1. That Prescott typewriter group sounds interesting. Thus serves as more motivation for me to get my bones, and a typewriter, down to some local coffee shop and raise a ruckus.

  2. I really enjoyed “Idiot Box” though I want to send Lee Citron a new ribbon for his Smith-Corona portable. I have a box of them.

    Slightly off-topic: what does “UJTU” stand for? “Ultimate Jamboree of Typists United’? I have found “UJTU” un-Googleable.

    1. “Update Just to Update”

  3. The first meeting of my Tucson Type-In group will be on Tuesday, March 29th at Falora Restaurant, which bills itself as (drumroll please . .. )”An Analog Neighborhood Spot!”

    Representing for Southern Arizona!

    1. Excellent! I see you’re already a Typewriter Hunter, but I see no machines uploaded. We want to see them :D

      Edit, ahh I see you put up a couple a while ago, disregard last (:

      1. I do need to put up some more, though . . . :-)

  4. Great short film – “… put the blame on VCR….”

  5. I met Lee Citron briefly at The Last Bookstore in LA. He’s a genuine insurgent.

  6. Hello! I am not interested in learning any value of this typewriter – as it was my grandma’s. She was born in 1908. It’s a Royal Companion CD188010. I am trying to figure out the year it was manufactured. I’m guessing between 1940-1949 but I’ve seen differing/confusing dates online. Do you have any idea how to determine the exact date? Thank you so much.

    1. Companion CD188010 would be 1941

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