The Early Typewriter Collectors’ Association election for new Board of Directors
In my mail today was the official ballot for the ETCA Board of Directors election, which will determine the makeup of the Board for the next 5 years and thus, the direction and focus of the Association and magazine. I will be sending in my ballot and a check for renewal of my membership tomorrow. […]
How to Re-Spool a Brother Typewriter Ribbon Cassette (JP-10/12)
It’s nice having a fellow Typospherian only a few blocks away – handy for having someone around who might just like the machines that you feel guilty about not buying, but just don’t quite want for yourself. Key Snap and I tend to text each other when we see a machine in the thrifts that […]
Typewriter Database News: 3000+ galleries attained – and plans for 2015
Type-Writer.org’s article on The First Brothers (updated with new info!) The Typewriter Database – 3000+ Typewriter Galleries to peruse! :D
Thrift Gods Hear My Plea: Brother Professional 90 and IF-50 Computer Interface
Now, guess what I’m going to be doing with this baby? If your guess involves certain Paleocomputers I keep in my corral, your guess would be correct. Stay tuned for 1980’s style printing fun! In the meantime, how about we let the Brother Professional 90 tell us a bit about itself: PS: 5 more to […]
Camera of the Week: Fujica AX-3
When Key Snap texted me asking if I wanted a couple grab bags of random camera stuff that someone had just gifted to him, I of course jumped at it. A free camera to play with? Yes, please! (: When the contents of the bags were sorted, I found I had a nice 80-200mm zoom […]
The Joy of Vintage Fountain Pen Daily Drivers…
In The Mail: Petersen’s Photographic (1970’s) and the Tiniest Selectric in The World…
The postman was busy this week, dropping off parcels accompanied by typewritten letters from Agents of the Insurgency around the world. From the great state of Maine, Typewriter Hunter Michael Höhne sent me the first of two large stacks of Petersen’s Photographic magazines that he’s kept around since the 1970’s. Full of useful tips and […]
The Typewriter Database Gadget for Blogger!
Well, after having some people try out the TWDB widget in their Blogger blogs, it turns out that Blogger strips certain tags (including both OBJECT and IFRAME) tags from any “HTML/Javascript” code you try to paste into their gadget. This, despite my research suggesting that it should work fine. So, I did a little more […]
Typewriter Database Update: Collection Widget for your Blog!
Oh hey, look at that over in the right side of the blog! It’s a Widget for displaying my currently owned typewriters, as entered into the Typewriter Database. “How do I get this nifty Widget for my blog?” I hear you say. Well, it’s easy as pie. Just log into your “Typewriter Hunter”-level account at […]
Brother Hunt: JP-5 Found in the Wild, Again!
Brother JP-8 Discovered, 3 Remaining Missing Brothers
Yep, these are 21st Century Brothers 1987 JC Penny Christmas Catalog, the very latest mention I can find of the JP-1 being sold new. The Brother JP-8 Parts and Service Manuals Detailed view of Potential Brother JP-6 Detailed View of Potential Brother JP-13
Toy Typewriters from Sears, JC Penny, Montgomery Wards, Aldens and Eatons Christmas Catalogs: 1957-1983
As I’ve been researching Brother machines in various store catalogs, I’ve run across a large number of Toy Typewriters. In fact, in some years (notably the mid-70’s) many catalogs had a page for Toy Typers but no page for real ones, which seemed odd to me. Anyway, I know there’s at least a little interest […]
Desk Cats
Ahh, desk cats, those curious felines who sit on your desk next to your typewriter and stare at you while you type, subtly shedding fur that gets into your segment and occasionally refusing to budge from your carriage return path. Most are only a minor bother, and make up for it by being cute and […]
Typewriter Database Update – “Operation Typewriter Hunt: Brother”
I’m hip-deep in the rewrite of the Brother Serial Number Page at the Typewriter Database this week, so if you have a Brother machine uploaded to the Database, please log in and check the comments on your Brother galleries. I’ve probably been badgering you about your machine. (: A Work In Progress, that page is. […]
Paymaster Series 8000 Ribbon Writer
Ok, I admit it. I finally met the Checkwriter I couldn’t resist. As a thrift-huntin’ typewriter collector, I occasionally see a Paymaster Checkwriter sitting in the same general area that typewriters are stashed. Although always intrigued and tempted by these neat very mono-purpose printing machines, I’ve always held back on buying one (and you do […]
Adventures of The Archivist, Part One.
IBM Serial Number Page Updated
The Netherlands Production section of the IBM Serial Number Page
Frickin’ Frackin’ !@#$%^&*
That touch of Silk…
While my original impression was that the two fractional characters when typed together (similar to the smiley face on GP “Sunshine Script” elements) made a logo that looked like the Union 76 oil company logo, the Professor remarked that it looks more like a logo that was commonly used during the USA Bicentennial celebrations of […]
Typewriter Rainbow
I woke up this morning to a fine, beautiful rainbow supplied by Nick B: Speaking of the Typewriter Database, I mentioned before that I had an effort going to obtain the old expired “tw-db.com” domain in order to point it to the new Database, thus re-validating hundred of hard-coded links that people have put on […]
The Rarest of The Remingtons
Slide Rule of the Week: Pickett Model N1010-ES Trig
Penncrest Caravelle 12: The search for something to fix.
Paleocomputing: A Linux suitable for an old stylus tablet laptop
Reiner Graphika typeface by Richard Polt works great in Linux apps, and is the typeface I’m currently using in Xournal for typing. Other apps of interest include Krita, MyPaint, Gimp, Inkscape and Mixxx.
Surprises in a $1.99 Bag-O-Pens & Pencils: Mont Blanc?
Typewriter Database News
It’s been awhile since I did a news update for the Typewriter Database, tho things have been humming along very nicely. 750 Manufacturers and Marques, 2460 Typewriter Galleries and 1238 Typeface examples as of right now. Quite a few new Typewriter Hunters have joined and have uploaded some very nice collections. Checking the scores for […]
Slide Rules
I have a habit of pulling wire-bound books out of the shelves of thrift stores to take a peek at the covers. Usually they’re cookbooks, but I’m on the hunt for a book called “Rocky’s Typewriter Repair Manual” by Clarence LeRoy Jones, which I’ve never seen a copy of, but I expect it’ll be wire-bound. […]
KOL Con 11 in 3D: Day 1 – Liquor in the Front, Poker in the Rear…
Timing is Everything in Thrifting: $3 Canon Canonet QL17
Pencast: 99 Cent Mont Blanc Ink and 1920’s Conklin Endura
KOLCon 11: It’s Ridiculous, It’s Not Even Funny…
Typecasting from the trenches of KOLCon 7 Heh, found this image while googling for my store banner. Apparently my store even breaks things when I’m not around… The Casbah is where you should always be able to get a Salty Dog, thanks to this hack.
Radio of The Month: Sony ICF-2010
I’ve always wanted a nice shortwave radio receiver, but they don’t show up in thrift stores very often, so when I saw this one at Deseret for $7 a couple of months ago, I snapped it up without hesitation. However, when I got it home and rigged up a regulated power supply for it, I […]
The 5th Phoenix Type-In: Squigglyvision and Anaglyphic 3D, Part 1
In order to see the Anaglyphs properly, you’ll need a pair of red/cyan 3D glasses, which you may have if you’ve stolen them from a 3D movie theatre or happen to have a TV that does 3D videos and games: And now, for those of you who don’t have 3D glasses, the same pics in […]
Isaac Asimov’s Typewriter
As seen on The Beeb’s “Real History of Science Fiction” Season 1, Episode 1 (Robots): Isaac Asimov at his Baby Selectric model 7×1 I have two of these fantastic little typers (well, “little” compared to most other Selectrics), and I loves ’em as much as Isaac apparently did.