I Had A Typewriter

Sometimes I sit and think about how lucky I am to be a part of the last generation to use typewriters for real, not for nostalgic purposes. I was using a typewriter when the computer was getting introduced and all the families in my neighborhood were starting to get one.

I was using a typewriter when it was becoming a sign that your family didn’t have money. If they had money, they would have a computer by now. I was a walking advertisement of our family’s financial situation.

We could still go out and buy the black tape for typing, but I couldn’t hand in an assignment to my teacher without getting a sideways glance.

I remember the cranking sound that the wheel made to wind up the paper, and I remember that  it was brown and I didn’t think it was pretty. I remember thinking I should keep it anyway because this is the end of the line. Of course, I got married and it stayed with my parents. Me and typewriter lost touch after that.

I didn’t appreciate it back then. But I did, and I do, love the feel of pressing those raised keys and hearing it click and tap.

Now, I love an old thing as much as the next gal, and I’d love to find an older model outside of Etsy. I have daydreams of stumbling onto a perfect one at a thrift store and discovering it’s only  5 bucks…  Daydreaming about finding awesome things for cheap is one of my favorite pasttimes.

Now here’s a problem. Have you seen the remix of typewriters? The colors that typewriters are being coated with now are enough to make me swoon. There’s all types of cool retro colors that I never had when they were actually ubiquitous. So what’s a girl to do? Do I dare own two?

 

 

If you’re into nostalgia like I am, here’s a great blog dedicated to all things nostalgic.

P.S. If anyone wants to donate a typewriter to me, I accept charity!