Well, it’s been about 5 or 6 months since I started using Facebook for serious, and I can report that it does have a great deal of value in terms of keeping in touch with a community and collaborating to find and promote things. Does it replace blogging? Not a chance- it’s way too ephemeral, […]
The Brown Book: 1994-95 – The Emo Years
Heh, I found some old notebooks from when I seemed to be a more bored person, certainly one less busy than I am now. Ahh, the days of having the time to sketch aimlessly and write poetry. One interesting thing is how my handwriting changes from one day to the next, and from one mood […]
New discounts on Typewriter Repair Bibles!
a Special offer was available on all Typewriter Repair Bibles: (gone now) Bibles! And some more happy typewriter repairers from Facebook:
Tape Dispenser of the Month: 1940s 3M DD-1 Scotch Tape Dispenser
Yeah, it’s been awhile since I did a Stapler of the Month, so what business do I have posting a whole new category, especially one so bereft of popularity as “Tape Dispenser of the Month”? What could possibly have elevated such a humble object to the level of making me decide that I will probably […]
Royal Model 10 Standards, Dual-Glass, Single-Glass and No-Glass – when did it happen?
Whatever Happened to the International Typewriter Appreciation Month? The 1940 AMES American Typewriter Parts Catalog The one that started this hunt, the first known Model 10 Royal: From the Virtual Typewriter Collection of Evan Pitman: 1913 Royal 10 Serial #X-173084 http://typewriterdatabase.com/1913-royal-10.7490.typewriter First Dual-Glass: From the Virtual Typewriter Collection of Drew Saffell: 1915 Royal 10 […]
Spreadin’ The Word of Jones…
The Reading Rainbow: Five editions out now and ponderin’ which ones I’ll do next. The first ones have started making it out to people who’ve posted some pics in the Facebook groups. I suppose they count as testimonials, so here’s the most recent ones. I love it when they post pics with the Bible next […]
Would you like a Typewriter Repair Bible? (:
Okie doke, I’ve got three of ’em done, one more almost in the can and one out for proof copy. Here’s the three that are done, and ready for you to purchase and enjoy. The Manual Typewriter Repair Bible478 Pages, Professionally printed and coil bound to lay flat on your work table! Includes: Basic Mechanical […]
Score #1 of the 2017 Typewriter Hunting Season: 1969 Olympia SM-9
This Olympia SM-9 on the Typewriter Database
TMTRB: Update!
Hey, look what the mailman brought today! The first proofing copy, hot off the press. I estimate another two weeks or so for edits and mailing time for the final proof – then RELEASE! You’ll be able to get your own copy by mid February, I think. The TMTRB, Yes, that’s the Book for me! […]
Guest Post: Zbrojovka Brno and Remington
This is a guest post from TWDB Hunter Vlastimil Novak that started as part of a comment thread on an unrelated topic. It’s moved to a post of its own so it can be further examined, discussed and referenced (I always like a hard link to source references for TWDB). Good day again Mr. Munk! […]
Operation: OOPRAP and the Manual Typewriter Repair Bible
Whoo-doggie! If you’re wonderin’ why I haven’t posted in awhile, it’s because I been busy. Doin’ what? Well, first I was gathering material for a little project called Operation: OOPRAP – which looks to be nearing completion of Phase 001, and then I got distracted by this: Yeah. It’s gonna be a monster of a […]
Book Review: “The Fox Typewriter Company” by Tyler Anderson
I’ll say up front that my review of Mr. Anderson’s work will be a bit biased, as I’ve seen firsthand his dedication to uncovering the history of the Fox Typewriter when we worked on the Fox serial number page at TWDB, where I depended pretty much entirely on his research work to build out the […]
Brother BP30 Type-O-Graph In Action (videos!)
For those who have asked, and any others interested in the Type-O-Graph’s unique typewriting action:
Pencil tips for the Type-O-Graph!
Well, I’ll call the “lead test” a success – and with that concept proven, it seems all you’d really need to build new *pencil* tips is a bit of rigid plastic tube of exactly the right diameter (I’ll need to borrow a micrometer and mic out the dimensions of the original pen cartridge) with a […]
The Handwriting, Drawing Typewriter: Brother Type-O-Graph BP-30, with User Manual!
You know, there’s just something that really jazzes me about these little Brother mini-typewriters from the early 1980’s – maybe it’s the inventiveness that Brother showed in trying out so many really unique ways of re-engineering the mechanics of the way a typewriter works – that kind of inventiveness in the typewriter industry really only […]
In Search Of: Clarence Leroy “Rocky” Jones
If you study typewriter history, especially the history of typewriter repair, you are certain to encounter the name “Rocky Jones” at some point. “Rocky” is something of a vague legendary figure in collector circles, mostly in reference to books that collectors cannot find because they are so rare. This past week, I endeavored to find […]
let’s take a little trip to 1963: Olympia/ITC letterhead & SM Cases and Tools
I dunno about you, but I could use a palate cleanser after last night’s bitter swallow. I’ll console myself with scanning some Olympia parts manuals, here’s some pretty stuff from what’s scanned so far… well, that tool list shows why it’s so tough to get at some of the important adjustment points in an SM. […]
TWDB blasts past 6000 Galleries, and adds a new Repair Manual section!
Yesterday the Typewriter Database hit typewriter gallery #6000 in the relentless march to , well, eventually most of them. If you were there and paying attention to the gallery count in the main menu, you might have noticed something else new: Yep- new Typewriter Repair School section. I figured out a way to extract high-resolution […]
A Republic, If You Can Keep it…
In 2012, former Supreme Court Justice David Souter answered a question about civics education in America. His answer is kind of a spookily accurate prediction for what has happened just four years later. Yeah. So, I’m taking bets on whether we’ll be seeing Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho on the Republican ticket in 2020. […]
I have no excuse for buying this typewriter…
199x IBM Correcting Selectric III @ TWDB 197x Smith Corona Galaxie Twelve @ TWDB 1964 Smith Corona Coronet @ TWDB
The Royal “RA” prefix Quiet De Luxes and the “Speed Selector”
The Royal Portables in 5 parts: Unraveling the Royal Quiet De Luxe – Part 1: Ancestry (Model P, O and B) Unraveling the Royal Quiet De Luxe – Part 2: Birth of the QDL (and siblings) Unraveling the Royal Quiet De Luxe – Part 3: The Post-War Royal Portables (A, B and C Models) Unraveling […]
New Typewriter Service Manuals at TWDB!
New service manuals at TWDB, you’ll want to check ’em out! Parts and Service Manual – Olivetti Lettera 22 Parts and Service Manual – Olivetti Studio 44 Parts and Service Manual – Olivetti Lexicon 80 Adjustment Manual – Olympia SM – 1955 AMES Basic Training Manual for Standard Typewriters – 1968 Adjustment Manual, Smith-Corona “6-Series” […]
Scanning Project: Olivetti Service Manuals, Lettera 22, Studio 44, Praxis 48
My scanner’s bein’ a bitch, not letting me scan because it has an empty ink tank. Confounded contraption! Well, I’ll get it figured out – I have to, because I borrowed Bill’s Olivetti Service Manuals for the Lettera 22, Studio 44 and Praxis 48: So that’s on my scanning docket…
UJTU: Will 2016 never end?
It’s been a rough year, hasn’t it? It’s got the feels in spades, and chaos reigns. The future looms full of change that is shaped by rough uncertainty – the road ahead enveloped in a dark thundercloud, forks of lightning striking potholes into the many forks in the road itself. Like Jonah heading for the […]
The Well-Appointed Typewriter Repair Shop from AMES Supply General Catalog 1960
At the height of the typewriter industries importance in world commerce, arguably right about 1960, setting yourself up as a typewriter repair shop was something you could do out of a catalog. In the United States, you could do it out of the AMES General catalog, and the little typewriter shop from whom I borrowed […]
Typewriter Platen Reference, and all Things Made of Rubber: Ames 1960 General Catalog
Some more reference from the wonderful year 1960, when you could shop for new platens and feed rolls like you were customizing a hot rod… For your amusement and edification, the “Rubber Section” from the 1960 AMES Supply General Catalog:
Typewriter Repair Tools Reference: 1960 Ames Catalog
For your entertainment and edification, a reference list of typewriter repairman’s tools offered by AMES Supply Company in 1960:
7th Phoenix Type-In: 3D!
Ephemera Dump: 7th Phoenix Type-In, 2016
Operative Joe has recounted his mission and initial report already from the run he made to PHX from the ABQ. It was excellent meeting our fellow insurgent and sharing the Gospel of St. Christopher Sholes with the peoples of the Republic of First Draft. Many greets and funs were had and the Central Committee agrees […]
TWDB Update: Noiseless, Rochester and American Pocket Typewriter!
Following a lose thread from the last set of updates, specifically the designs of W. P. Kidder, there’s a few new links forged in that chain, starting with the Noiseless: The Portable numbers are an educated guess, since there were only about 6500 made over about 2 1/2 years between its introduction in Nov 1921 […]
1958 Remington-Rand Quiet-Riter Eleven – The 2016 Typewriter Hunting Season continues
There’s still a bit of pitting left behind by the mold that shows up in flash photographs. Maybe a bit of buffing compound might fix that. Flash photography also reveals that the keys are slightly different shades of green .. randomly. thankfully, neither of these things is apparent in normal light. Actually, now that I […]
W. H. Bennington: Gambler, Scoundrelly Politician, Horse Lover, Boodler, Spy, Shotgun Slayer of Felines, Mental Scientist and Typewriter Designer.
“And Satan Appeared in Kansas City…” A collection of news clippings from 1891-1908 tracing the activities of one Wesley (AKA: William) H. Bennington in the years up to his first *five* typewriter companies. For the first 3 years of his active political life, Bennington appears to have been a well-liked and active member of his […]
Molle Updated some more, and the Bennington Plot Thickens…
This weekend at the TWDB was mostly about more research into the details of Molle and Bennington. I made a rough stab at laying out a serial number list for Molle, and immediately more info and analysis from our friends Mark Adams and Tyler Anderson flowed in, allowing some very nice fine-tuning to that list. […]
Typewriter Database Update: Molle!
Well, this one wasn’t bad, though I did all the grunt work of hunting down sources before I found Robert Messenger’s blog post from Jan, 2013 where he’d already done most of that grunt work. Turned out to be a good thing, as I turned up just a couple bits that prolly weren’t available when […]
The Bennington/Xcel Mystery Deepens – a third Bennington and hints of a long con…
Sometimes you whack the pinata and all kinds of tasty stuff comes out. Such is the case of the “was it ever even built?” Bennington and Xcel, where we left off a couple of days ago smugly munching our Scooby Snacks — when Agent Polt dashes by and tosses a letter on Bennington letterhead, from […]