Philly Typewriter Newsletter

Public Typewriter Program -- New Collaborations

In April we were happy to welcome The Print Center, a non-profit art gallery dedicated to promoting and exhibiting significant artists in the fields of printing and photography. As part of their show New Typographics: Typewriter Art as Print (featuring the work of 6 artists who make art with typewriters), the Print Center is hosting a Public Typewriter that patrons will be able to use to make their very own "typewriter art". The show runs through July 27th, and we are grateful for the help and cooperation of Ksenia Nouril, Michele Bregande, and the rest of the staff at the Print Center.

We’re also providing Public Typewriters to two branches of the Philadelphia Free Library as part of their new monthly Zine Workshop. On the last Thursday of every month at South Philadelphia and Whitman branches, patrons can use art supplies, found images, our typewriters, and their own drawings to publish their own artistic and literary creations.

A Lot Goes Into the Service of Your Typewriter

Fully servicing a typewriter (especially an older one such as the 1918 Oliver shown below) can require up to 200 separate steps, taking up to 30 hours of labor and spanning many weeks. On this particular project we had to reshape a 101 year old mainspring which had broken, replace a missing carriage retaining clip from our large inventory of parts machines and resurface the platen with brand new rubber. Tuning the bell was most satisfying.

Electric Typewriters in the modern office

Have you ever had to fill out a form or address a business letter with a computer? Ever gotten frustrated with your printer? Those in-the-know swear by an electric mechanical typewriter for everyday business needs and many businesses depend on us to keep their electric typewriters in good working order. We've helped out a freight shipper who depends on his electric typewriter to fill out Bills of Lading, in quadruplicate. A local real estate title company that requires two IBM Selectrics to fill out their paperwork. And perhaps the most interesting, a police detective who still completes crime reports on a Smith-Corona electric typewriter from the 1970's.

Pharmaceutical symbols from a 1920's Smith-Corona built especially for druggists: