Machines that no longer bring me joy

I left Smith Family Bookstore this morning with $30 in cash! They didn’t buy all the books in the box, but only a few were left. I was pleasantly surprised! My gadget fund is so happy with me that now it wants me to go through my typewriter collection and cull out machines that no longer bring me joy. In fact, I started doing just that this evening.

So far I’ve got 4 typewriters sitting in “The Empty Space” (which only remained empty for a few days after Mrs. R took down the Christmas tree)—awaiting a photo shoot and production of typing samples—to post on either Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, or both. I haven’t decided yet. They are all ultra portables, and all of them work. Each one has an issue or two, but most typewriters do—being by definition vintage or antique items. The last decent manual typewriters were made in the early 1980s. So the youngest ones are well over 40 years old. And the best ones for typing on—the most sought after mid-century portables—are in their 60s or 70s.

What’s going on the block—as soon as I can type up print samples, take pictures, write descriptions, and decide on prices—are: an Olympia Splendid 66, a Brother Webster, and two Smith-Corona Corsairs (one pica typeface, the other elite).

By a quick mental count (they’re spread throughout the house), I’ve got 27 typewriters in my collection now (down from nearly 40 just a few years ago). Off the top of my head, there at least another half-dozen typers I could part with, but 4 is a good number for starters. I think probably 15 is the realistic minimum number of keepers to aim for at this point in my life. That’s still plenty, obviously, and will give me a variety of features and strengths for my typewriting arsenal.