I agree, I think I could actually be pretty happy with just 10, if I had to – the 4 I mentioned could go without causing me much pain, and I suppose one of the other Pica machines (Bogart or Boswell, if I found a similar machine in a typeface I liked better) could also. Man, I’d hate to lose Boswell tho, even if I have Indy, which is nearly identical – Boswell is just such a very handy typer.
Thing is, I can’t think of too many machines I’d really like to have that I don’t already. Groma Kolibri, of course, but what are the chances? SM4 just because it’s handsome, a 50’s QDL just because I know it would be right up my alley and would be easy to get. A Rooy (dream on), but nothing I really *have* to have. As a collector, that makes me somewhat of a piker, I guess. I should be dreaming about finding Lamberts and Hansen Writing Balls being used as thrift store doorstops. :D
Regarding Nano, last year the stress was high (threat of homelessness, legal troubles, etc.) in Nov/Dec, and for some reason that appears to be repeating this year in Nov/Dec. I guess banks just love to put people through the wringer around Christmas season, damned Scrooges. I see it coming and don’t feel like repeating the “I promised myself I’d do this, but the time and mental energy just isn’t there” situation I dealt with last year. Maybe next year I’ll either be so used to just getting by with the skin on my teeth that I can adopt the Alfred A. Neuman view, or things will have gotten better, and there’ll be less to worry about.
Looking back, I suppose it took 2 terms with a Democrat in the White house to clean up the last Republican mess of the 80’s, maybe another couple years of Obama will change the American psyche enough that money can start flowing again.. When the hell will we ever learn?
This post is inspiring, especially that bit about 20 being a magic number. Sigh. I like taking typewriters to work too, if only for the good reason that there is so much space to stash them there that I don’t have to look at them, or worry about the space they are taking up at home. Fewer guilt trips all around… but then one can only do that for so long :(
Makes me feel better about The Ones That Get Away, really, it’s only for the best.
It really is for the best. There’s an undeniable thrill to the hunt, but I’m learning to be happy with a limited number. The thrill of giving away makes up for it a bit (:
Man, I am already at 24. And in just a couple of years. True, several are donors for other -luckier- machines, but still…
Living in Chile i find that there is not as much variety to choose from and that most previous owners seem to have been extremely careless with their typers, as a vast majority of the machines I find are beyond hope.
I still need to find my perfect tool, though. A few posts back you wrote about a hypothetical basket-shifted SM3. The same day I read your post I had previously written this same wish; to find an Elite SM3 or SM4, normal width carriage ( i seem to find only wides) and the fabled basket shift. Dream a little dream…
I am having trouble deciding about the best way to “dispose” of those machines no longer favored. There is no such thing as a local typosphere: I am the only typewriter user that I am aware of, there are no repair stores to speak of and so on. I’d just hate myself if I threw any of my toys in the trash, but I don’t know anyone who would want them and give them the love they deserve. In a way I feel stuck with anything I buy… and the space is limited. So is the wife’s patience.
Still, it is hard for me to consider myself a collector. I’m just a guy searching for his perfect writing experience…
Ahh, if you manage to find a basket-shift SM3/4, please let us know. Nobody I know claims to have seen one, but I expect that the instant one is found, there’ll be a mad rush to find more. :D
I’m quite lucky to live where I do, at least in regards to “casual” typewriter collecting. This town not only has one of the few remaining Typewriter repair shops (established 1948), but has a large population of retirees (which means quite a few people who bought typewriters when they were younger are now donating them to thrift stores and such as they depart this mortal coil). I’ve discovered in the past year that if I’m patient and semi-vigilant, I can get nearly any machine I want eventually. It’s the waiting that I have to get better at :D
I’m sure you can get plenty of enjoyment out of a small herd like this, particularly if you mix it up with a trade once in a while.
Are you NaNoing, and if so, with which devices?
I agree, I think I could actually be pretty happy with just 10, if I had to – the 4 I mentioned could go without causing me much pain, and I suppose one of the other Pica machines (Bogart or Boswell, if I found a similar machine in a typeface I liked better) could also. Man, I’d hate to lose Boswell tho, even if I have Indy, which is nearly identical – Boswell is just such a very handy typer.
Thing is, I can’t think of too many machines I’d really like to have that I don’t already. Groma Kolibri, of course, but what are the chances? SM4 just because it’s handsome, a 50’s QDL just because I know it would be right up my alley and would be easy to get. A Rooy (dream on), but nothing I really *have* to have. As a collector, that makes me somewhat of a piker, I guess. I should be dreaming about finding Lamberts and Hansen Writing Balls being used as thrift store doorstops. :D
Regarding Nano, last year the stress was high (threat of homelessness, legal troubles, etc.) in Nov/Dec, and for some reason that appears to be repeating this year in Nov/Dec. I guess banks just love to put people through the wringer around Christmas season, damned Scrooges. I see it coming and don’t feel like repeating the “I promised myself I’d do this, but the time and mental energy just isn’t there” situation I dealt with last year. Maybe next year I’ll either be so used to just getting by with the skin on my teeth that I can adopt the Alfred A. Neuman view, or things will have gotten better, and there’ll be less to worry about.
Looking back, I suppose it took 2 terms with a Democrat in the White house to clean up the last Republican mess of the 80’s, maybe another couple years of Obama will change the American psyche enough that money can start flowing again.. When the hell will we ever learn?
You forgot about Roger Sterling. :)
This post is inspiring, especially that bit about 20 being a magic number. Sigh. I like taking typewriters to work too, if only for the good reason that there is so much space to stash them there that I don’t have to look at them, or worry about the space they are taking up at home. Fewer guilt trips all around… but then one can only do that for so long :(
Makes me feel better about The Ones That Get Away, really, it’s only for the best.
It really is for the best. There’s an undeniable thrill to the hunt, but I’m learning to be happy with a limited number. The thrill of giving away makes up for it a bit (:
Man, I am already at 24. And in just a couple of years. True, several are donors for other -luckier- machines, but still…
Living in Chile i find that there is not as much variety to choose from and that most previous owners seem to have been extremely careless with their typers, as a vast majority of the machines I find are beyond hope.
I still need to find my perfect tool, though. A few posts back you wrote about a hypothetical basket-shifted SM3. The same day I read your post I had previously written this same wish; to find an Elite SM3 or SM4, normal width carriage ( i seem to find only wides) and the fabled basket shift. Dream a little dream…
I am having trouble deciding about the best way to “dispose” of those machines no longer favored. There is no such thing as a local typosphere: I am the only typewriter user that I am aware of, there are no repair stores to speak of and so on. I’d just hate myself if I threw any of my toys in the trash, but I don’t know anyone who would want them and give them the love they deserve. In a way I feel stuck with anything I buy… and the space is limited. So is the wife’s patience.
Still, it is hard for me to consider myself a collector. I’m just a guy searching for his perfect writing experience…
Ahh, if you manage to find a basket-shift SM3/4, please let us know. Nobody I know claims to have seen one, but I expect that the instant one is found, there’ll be a mad rush to find more. :D
I’m quite lucky to live where I do, at least in regards to “casual” typewriter collecting. This town not only has one of the few remaining Typewriter repair shops (established 1948), but has a large population of retirees (which means quite a few people who bought typewriters when they were younger are now donating them to thrift stores and such as they depart this mortal coil). I’ve discovered in the past year that if I’m patient and semi-vigilant, I can get nearly any machine I want eventually. It’s the waiting that I have to get better at :D