Category Archives: public typewriting
Typewriters meet Tech on April 29!
Philly Tech Week 2016 starts not with a bang, but with a beep, with the Dilworth ARCADE Party an evening bash for the digerati.
On Friday, April 29, the west side of Philadelphia’s City Hall will be jammed with coders, gamers, electronic musicians and more.
But WAIT–what’s that sound? That clickety, clack, ding! ?
LAST YEAR, WE HAD JUST TWO TYPEWRITERS AT THE ARCADE PARTY; they were a hit and we’ve been invited back to do a full-fledged Type-IN.
Yes, there will be a Type-IN at the Arcade, showing off the noisy mechanical roots of word processing to the youngest generation, digital natives for whom the typewriter has a completely different attraction.
Brian Kravitz (of Philly Typewriter) and Michael Ardith (of Hometown Business Machines) will be on hand with two rows full of manual typewriters, from vintage desk top machines to sleek Italian portables.
We’ll also have an IBM Selectric –arguably the peak of analog typewriting history–available to astonish those who’ve never seen a type-ball dance like a hummingbird pecking words onto paper.
We will have a Speed Competition, and other surprise activities for your type-writing pleasure. It’s free, of course–thanks to Messrs. Ardito and Kravitz, and Trophy Bikes , the semi-official stamp and paper sponsor of the Type-IN at Tech Week.
The ARCADE PARTY starts at 5 p.m.. We figure the Speed Competition (with chintzy prizes) will start at around 7:30 p.m. NOTE: spaces limited for the contest. Please sign up in advance when you arrive!
First Mini-Bummer of 2016…
OK …better borrow the car and snag this one– ” …A little dirty but works. (Non Crashable word processor, right??) These were the workhorse of every office for sure. $30 OBO. Would just hate to throw this thing away…. “ Contact seller and…..
OK, let’s see–ah, a reply…. “ I just found out my dad got rid of it. He actually just threw it away. ” 2.5 thoughts: What the hey –the ad was just a week old. Why dost thou torment me, typewriter gods? Oh, and man, your dad must be one really strong dude if he can throw a Selectric II !
Filed under IBM SELECTRIC, public typewriting
Typewriter Power leads to a tuff writer
This vintage comic pic of a guy getting clocked by a desk top–OW–led to a clear-eyed, cutting essay by author Claire Vaye Watkins about the writing world shaped mostly by white men, and its effects on a woman navigating it.
Philly’s PRETZEL PARK Type-IN gets some media coverage
WHYY/Newsworks was nice enough to send a photog/reporter to cover last Saturdays clack-a-thon in the park. Have to laugh that the first photo is of me obviously chiding a young person: “Errrmph! Please type with just two fingers to avoid key jams–it’s like you’ve never used a manual typewriter before, really!”
Here’s the link to the Newsworks story.
And here are a few pics:
Young people encounter vintage typing machines…
Bryan Kruk always brings some lovely machines; here’s a pair of Olivetti ICOs — one in matte black and one in a glossy piano black. Bellissimo, Mr. K!
Ah, such a crisp design could only foster concision!
Let’s have a closer look at that OLIVETTI ICO, shall we? What’s really astonishing is that this machine types as beautifully as it looks! Thank you, men and women of Olivetti, S.A.
The Remington Agenda
At Lucky’s Last Chance in Manayunk; typing up the agenda for Saturday’s Type-IN! (Olivetti Lettera 32 fueled with vintage Anheuser-Busch letterhead. Tomorrow: gather up chintzy prizes for the Speed Contest, ha. 
Tech Guy with Typewriter
Hmmm; this latest Phillymag story profiles the founders of Technically Philly; That’s Chris Wink, with a classic manual (Remington?) typewriter, on the left! (And Brian James Kirk with a Mac laptop on the right) Will try to find out what the story is here and let you all know.
UPDATE: Often, typewriters are used as symbolic props, brought to the shoot by stylists. Not this one. The vintage, compact Underwood in the picture was gifted to Mr. Wink years ago by his grandfather, who has since died. He typed, simply,”Hello Christopher” to his grandson; that page is still in the machine, which now graces the newsroom of Technically Philly’s HQ. Our thanks for Chris for the lovely story behind the picture.
Photo by Philadelphia Photographer Gene Smirnov
Clack vs. Click?
Graphic (novel) Content
Was shopping for something completely different at Fat Jack’s Comicrypt and found this here comic– a good story, though not much typewriter content inside. Who cares? Cover is great… can anyone help with ID’ing the machine?
Filed under private typing, public typewriting, Typewriters in the media
Have you heard about PUBLETTERS ?
We are also involved in an even more analog event that you may not have heard about–it’s called Publetters. It simply involves going to a pub, getting some nice paper, writing a letter and placing it in an envelope; then we hand you a stamp. Repeat as desired. Next one is Nov. 11th in Philadelphia at Paddy’s Pub 228 Race St. More details right here: www.publetters.com It’s sponsored by Trophy Bikes (we bring the stamps, pens and a “cheat sheet” of addresses for all sorts of people) and Casa Papel (They bring really nice paper and envelopes). It’s Free, of course; just bring words.
We will be at Paddy’s every Tuesday in November, 7-9 p.m. Bring your words!
Filed under public typewriting, UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE, USPS
Tweens Take Over Philly Type-IN!
When you schedule a Type-IN and it turns out to be set right next to a big Pumpkin Fest for kids, you toss the program out the window and just keep loading paper into those machines and unsticking the occasional rugby scrum of type bars. These Tweens dug typing, and we went way over schedule. Michael Ardito of Hometown Business Machines helped with crowd control, brought a stack of his typewriters and gave out a lot of cards. He also answered some typewriter history and technology questions from the kids. Numerous parents had whispered Xmas present conversations, about which we can say no more, nudge, nudge, wink-wink!
This young man comes from a typewriter-equipped home; he set to and immediately began a chapter story.
This is about the fifth set of typers we had on the machines–and we had a blast. Thanks to one and all.
Here’s a group pic of tomorrow’s typists!
phillytyper 