The Ancient Typewriters
Dusty Roberts
One day, while visiting the Train Museum, I saw a sign: Typewriter Club Exhibition-follow signs to model train room. Off I went, and that's when my love life with typewriters began. Sure, I remember typing my college papers with a Smith Corona back in the day. But in those days, that's all it was, a typewriter to do homework with, nothing more.
I took a couple of steps into the model train room, and there they were, tables and tables full of the ancient writer's tool, the instrument Hemingway used to create his masterpieces, as did many more legends.
But this time, to me, they looked more like a work of art than a tool. There were all makes and models, with manufacturing dates ranging from the late 1800s to the day they died, April 25th, 2011. On that day, the last typewriter factory was shut down. The almighty laptop took their place as the tool of choice for writers.
From the day I walked into that exhibition, I began to collect typewriters, and I have about 30 today. You would be surprised about how many people collect typewriters, some famous. Tom Hanks is one of those folks. Tom got his first typewriter when he was 19 and has been collecting them since that day. He is so obsessed with them that he authored a book titled, "Uncommon Type."
Click below for my first typewriter video:
Dusty