Photo:  Photo: Lynn Goldsmith

In the Beginning, It Wasn't About a Typewriter – Toni Youngblood
First draft of this essay was typed on a Smith Corona Classic 12 typewriter. April 23, 2023 (My greyhound, Tesla's tenth birthday)

It began with noble intention. I read an article in the New Yorker magazine: “Five Ways to Declutter by Reckoning With Your Mortality, Plus One Bonus Tip” by Annie Mebanne (August 1, 2016).

Decluttering has been on my mind for quite awhile, especially after having purchased a second home for the purpose of fleeing cold, snowy winters at the location of my five-bedroom primary residence. My “plan” was to permanently relocate to the barely two-bedroom getaway cottage at some point. Consideration of down sizing was definitely in order. The article “Five Ways to Declutter by Reckoning with Your Mortality...” seems appropriate for my eventual move to a home less than a third the size of the home I've occupied for over sixteen years. The other thought, more morose, hovered around the vision of relatives (nieces and nephews) walking into my five-bedroom, fully furnished and-then-some home and seeing my “collection” of stuff as just a bunch of STUFF. A responsible Auntie would have a well-appointed will that spelled out any gifts, and have otherwise organized an estate sale from which proceeds would go to a favorite charity, maybe nieces and nephews included. I saw the article as a helpful outline from which to proceed.

All was good in Mebanne's account of her journey to successfully let go of things. Then she came upon her beloved Hermes 3000 typewriter that she hadn't used in decades. Many thoughts had turned into words on paper through her use of this typing machine. She mentioned that Tom Hanks had this model in his collection of over 200 typewriters, and it was a favorite of his. At this point, I will say that I did read the entire article, though I don't remember much more about it. Since her reference to the typewriter, I took a fast and furious dive into the world of typewriters, the sequence of the details traveling down that road have become fuzzy. In case you didn't know, there is a typewriter revolution going on, and “THE REVOLUTION WILL BE TYPEWRITTEN!” ~The Boston Typewriter Orchestra.

I found a short YouTube of Tom Hanks changing the ribbon on one of his typewriters. Then I ran across a reference to a documentary called “California Typewriter”. Oh, god, help me, I found it on FreeVee (or some other free film-watching vehicle) and watched with great interest. There were interviews with Tom Hanks, of course, but also Sam Shepard, John Mayer, David McCullough, and others. An opening scene describes the re-creation of an event involving artist Ed Ruscha, a friend and a photographer throwing a typewriter out of a car window while traveling along Highway 91 in California. This event occurred in 1966, was subsequently photographed (post murder of the typewriter) and assembled into an art book by Ruscha. I was hooked. Lots more information was shared about typewriters in the film by owners and employees of a typewriter shop and repair business in Berkeley, California from which the film title came. My trip down the typewriter rabbit hole continued.

After informally, but curiously researching typewriter brands and models by era and functions, I zeroed in on a model that I believed could work for me. For what purpose? Writing. WRITING---something I'd not done very seriously since writing my thesis in partial requirement of my M.Arch degree, Master of Architecture which I completed in 1990. Other than that (and descriptions of on-site construction visits during my architecture career) there was the occasional blog post that included a bit of research on a topic, and my thoughts on it, for my own entertainment.

I didn't keep track of the time that went by before I found the model I was looking for, maybe a week, a week and a half. I set my sights on the Smith Corona Classic 12. The “12” describes the 12-inch carriage which allows for an 8-1/2 inch x 11 inch sheet of paper to be turned horizontally, as well as accommodating a tabular size sheet of paper, 11 inches x 17 inches, in vertical orientation. After searching on eBay and Etsy, I found two machines in good condition at reasonable cost on Facebook Marketplace, one in my current city and the other in the town where my getaway cottage is located. I settled on the current city machine, as I could try it out right away. A day after the purchase, I ran across a list online of well-known writers and the typewriter models most often used during their careers. It turns out that Patti Smith used the same Smith Corona Classic 12 model that I purchased last Sunday. She also borrowed Sam Shepherd's Hermes 3000, back in the days when they were an item. (Read her book, “Just Kids” mostly about her love and friendship with Robert Maplethorpe, for more on that and other meaningful people in her young life.)

At this point, I must return to the interviews with the likes of John Mayer, Sam Shepard, David McCullough, and Tom Hanks in “California Typewriter”. Their views resonated with me concerning my lack of focus living in our world of the internet, social media “communications” and the massive distractions they create. McCullough mentioned the “solitude” of using the typewriter in his work, versus the inevitable breach of that which comes with word processing on a computer with internet lurking. Hanks likes to personally type “Thank You” notes. He despises email “Thank you's” and will delete without reading! Mayer spoke of the intimacy of writing lyrics on his typewriter and being able to easily pick up the pages within arm's reach, instead of storing them on a hard drive which he never looks at again! Sam Shepard likes that the typewriter forces him to think more about what he wants to say and how to say it before typing it on the paper.

In the seven days since purchasing my Smith Corona, I have happily been practicing typing on a daily basis by copying articles from issues of the New Yorker magazine that I borrowed from the Little Free Library on my block (placed there by my neighbor who played in our local symphony orchestra for more than thirty years). I have also continued online to search for favored easy-touch machines, as my Smith Corona manual requires “pounding” my fingers on the keys to elicit clear type. I never realized how useless my left pinky finger is, until typing on this machine, although I had similar experience attempting to hit the lowest notes on my alto saxophone. A positive is that the action of typing on this machine tends to strengthen my core muscles which weakened after acquiring a hernia during the pandemic. I had surgery three weeks ago to fix the hernia and no physical harm is being done by typing.

Reviews and tips abound on the internet. Anecdotal accounts by Tom Hanks, as well as typewriter repair persons, and all-around typewriter lovers describe “flying fingers” and “butter soft” touch when typing with an Olivetti Lettera 22, Italian designed and manufactured beginning the middle of the 20th Century. One of these machines is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art Department of Architecture and Design, as a fine example of design.

After seven days of owning my first typewriter in decades, I purchased a second machine: the Olivetti Lettera 22 from an eBay seller. It will ship out to me tomorrow, Monday.

How is my own de-cluttering project going?

SCORE
De-accessioned: One coffee mug
Acquired: Two vintage typewriters