Category: From the Desk of Reverend Munk

Typecasts from the desk of the Right Reverend Theodore Munk

The Tale of Ten Tipsy Trenchermen

Based on the serial numbers and dates I found on Machines of Loving Grace, and the serial number and date supplied by Manual Entry in reply to my last post, I’m going to estimate that my SCM Sterling hybrid Galaxie/Super-5 dates to 1964. I still wish I had good serial number data for SCM machines […]

The IBM Electric Typewriter Catalog (1960)

Another one from the file cabinet of Bill Wahl at Mesa Typewriter Exchange. The IBM Electric Typewriter Catalog of 1960! This one covers the various options and typefaces available on the Model C and Executive Electrics of 1960. If you’re a fan of these early IBM typebar electrics, you should be aware that Bill has […]

1966 Olympia SM-9 Postcard

I was over at MTE today to drop off some flyers for the 2nd Phoenix Typewriter Round-Up, and as happens everytime I drop by, I got to chatting with Bill and this time he rummaged through his file cabinet and came up with an old Olympia postcard, which he gave to me – probably because […]

1964 NOMDA Blue Book: Adler Typewriter Font Styles

One of the things I scanned from Bill Wahl’s 1964 National Office Machine Dealer’s Association Blue Book was the large section detailing the typestyles available to customers ordering a typewriter from a dealer. It’s surprising how many different typestyles were offered by each manufacturer, and a great many of these styles are ones I’ve never […]

On the “Something For Nothing” principle, and a new collecting obsession.

On that note, one issue I’m pondering is how strict I should make the data entry scheme for the typewriter database. for instance, here’s a possible schema for that table: CREATE TABLE typ_typewriters ( typ_id int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment, last_ts timestamp NOT NULL default CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, member_id int(11) NOT NULL default ‘0’, manufacturer varchar(250) default NULL, […]