Category Archives: public typewriting
Towards a 21st-Century Typewriter?
Is a 21st Century Typewriter Possible?
Filed under public typewriting, Type-IN
Shift into TyPerSpAcE 27-28 April •• Philly
Filed under Olivetti Lettera 32, Olympia SM9, Philadelphia, public typewriting, Type-IN
An Address For Thank-You Notes
Oh, and with I.T.A.M. in full swing, I will answer any mail I get! (at the address in the top left corner) cheers, mike mcgettigan… (Deek, workin’ on yours next)
February 8, 2012 · 10:12 pm
CBS to air typewriter/type-IN story on SUN., Feb. 5th? –And a short for now!
OH, and while you’re waiting, here’s a short about the Gramercy Typewriter Co. in NYC.
cheers
–mcget
January 26, 2012 · 8:47 pm
A post- flick haiku…
“… We can say with certainty, Watson, that this was not Mr. McGettigan’s first attempt at this particular haiku, and that he likely composed it in the morning, rather than the night before, and that he was in a hurry, perhaps even late to get to his place of employment, the bicycle shop just west of the river. Observe that above the paper bail, it is not only a different form of paper, but faint markings can be seen showing that it is in fact an envelope placed there to conceal his earlier effort on the same page; you may notice the characters are rather uneven in their impressions on the paper–he had just begun typing–once warmed up, most typists will press the keys more evenly and produce more consistent printing; and finally, his web posting was made using a cellular telephone and sent directly through the ether onto the Interweb, rather than his usual practice of taking a photo, then transferring it onto the larger computing machine inside his office. Come, Watson, we’ve no time to lose, if he trades his folding bicycle for a speedier racing machine, he could easily leave the city before we can alert the authorities.”
December 22, 2011 · 9:36 am
Winners of the speed typing competition!
Here are some sketchy details (my specialty) from Son of Type-IN
==And what goes better with sketchy details than a fuzzy iPhone picture?
Here we’ve got Mr. Steven Rea (at right) and Robin Palley (at left), both journalists and both rather speedy typists. They rattled their way to the fastest times in the Speed Typing Competition at Son of Type-IN on Sunday, 10 December, 2011. Smack dab in the middle is young Brian Kruk–he’s just a dozen years old, and he grabbed third place in Speed Typing. Mr. Kruk also brought a pair of awesome typewriters–a three-bank Corona, and a “field typewriter” made by Olympia that had a most unusual past–it was made to be used by the German army.
But there’s more to the story; lettered on the bottom of the Olympia’s battered wooden case was a name — “J.L. Nelson” –and a US Army man’s Serial Number. So at some point, this machine had been captured by the Allied forces and relabeled. Mr. Kruk’s mom actually looked into the G.I.’s service number, and found that this soldier lived in Lansdale, PA. Mr. Nelson, sadly, passed away a few months ago. But he helped bring an unusual machine back to the States and saved a bit of typewriter–and world–history. This tied obliquely into the text used for the Speed Typing–an excerpt from Ernst Kreuder’s The Attic Pretenders–the first book to be published in Germany after the war ended. Ah, coincidence!
Ms. Palley had her choice of a Lettera 32 by Olivetti, or an Olympus SM-9–she went with the compact! Thus Steven now has an Olympia SM9 to keep his Hermes 3000 company.
Let’s see: attendance — about 25 or 30, enough that every table at Bridgewater’s Pub was taken, and we actually kidnapped a few tables and chairs from the food court to make sure everyone could sit down and type. Bystanders:–a good number, and a couple even sat down to type a spell.
Hosting: The M.C. (er, me) seemed to be a bit schedule-obsessed, even crabby, barking at people as he speechified elements of the event. So… hope my apologies for allowing my crustacean heritage to emerge will be accepted!
Co-Hosts: Michael Ardito of Home Town Business Machines and Typist Extraordinaire Matt Cidino did yeoman duty; keeping paper in everyone’s rollers and collecting all manner of typed missives. They were joined in this by Trophy Bikes’ TJ Seningen (who sustained a flesh wound on a “No Stopping” sign during our load-out–he’s healing nicely) and by walk-on wonder Lauren Zapata–a young writer who moves her work back and forth from computer to typewriter during the creative process. They helped fill up the cheeriness deficit created by yours truly.
Media: CBS Sunday Morning sent a very nice producer and camera man; she asked 99 questions, he shot lots of footage and interviews, we will let everyone (especially my mom!) know when the story is due to air.
Venue: as always, Leslie Spellman, proprietorette (new word?) of Bridgewater’s Pub, dealt us a great hand, and helped squeeze out a little more space as more and more people arrived with boxes tucked under their arms.
The Machines: It was not a vintage collector’s paradise: this Son of Type-IN was a gathering of work horses: Olympia SFs, Splendid 33s, and Socialites; stolid Remington Quiet-Riters; a whole row of Olympia SM9s; and the largest machine, a pristine Hermes Ambassador courtesy of Matt Cidoni. This desktop beast (clad in Hermes’ weirdly soothing Seafoam Green) had a beauty of a touch, and has me looking for desks big enough to hold one!
Will try to post more pictures–though I took very few, and am hoping for the kindness of former strangers who I spotted bleeping away at the event.
Will try also to post some typing from the event or the aftermath. But let’s get this up onto the InterWeb firstly.
cheers
–mcget
December 10, 2011 · 4:22 pm
Son of Type-IN is tomorrow
The Recipe:
About 6 or 8 of our typewriters, easy. Maybe more. Sure, Martin Remy (Remington Portable #1), you may come with us–ditto Herr Doktor Olympia S.M. Nein, and Oli Lettera 32. Who else? Well, we’d better bring a Quiet-Riter so things don’t get too Nois-Ee. I suppose that at this kind of high-class do, a Socialite would certainly be welcome–but we’d better bring that square, Mr. Smith-Corona Classic 12, as a chaperone. Beyond that, it will be potluck.
One long “church picnic” table, since we said “potluck.”
A portfolio stuffed with regular typing bond, nicer stationery, envelopes, stamps, and the Speed Typing document–up till now a carefully-kept secret (even from myself!) — it’s a selection from Ernst Kreuder’s novel, The Attic Pretenders — an escapist fable and the first book published in Germany after WWII.
A little tripod and a few various (yes, digital) cameras. A small stack of event programs, sure to increase in value if stored properly.
Two typewriters as Grand Prizes for the Speed Typing Competition. Some lesser, er, “typoswag” for the runners-up.
A couple of short, type-written Radio Commercial scripts (one for our bike shop, one for the US Postal Service) that I am going to try to get some lucky people to read at our Station Breaks. Any variety show worth its salt must have the traditional “Word From Our Sponsor”, right?
A comb–since CBS Sunday Morning says they’re bringing a TV crew!
Ah, I know there’s something else, but it will be on a list somewhere–just have to find my map which has all my lists marked on it.
A Personal Appeal: If you are planning to come, do please RSVP to phillytyper@gmail.com, so we’ll now how many deviled eggs to bring!
— thanks for typing, and just as important, reading what others type.
cheers
–mcget/phillytyper
17 syllables; and a lament
where haiku happened
Above, at his typewriter, the Haiku master Nick Virgilio.
He wrote this:
My spring love affair
The old upright Remington
Wears a new ribbon
See more of his work and a lovely typed letter to another poet at
which is where the above picture came from.
And I had better confess with these three dashed off lines–
Cold December chills
Fifty thousand orphaned words
Failed NaNoWriMo!
phillytyper 