Tom Hanks, patron saint of manual typewriters, wrote an article in The New York Times seven years ago explaining his fascination for these vintage machines. He cites their three benefits:
1. Noise! The clanging of manual typewriter keys has a solid sound accompanied by a bell that rings loudly when you've reached the end of a line. These sounds remind us viscerally of the physical existence of our communication. You can write e-mail on your laptop silently but pound out a letter on paper and you know you've created something real.
2. "[T]he sheer physical pleasure of typing; it feels just as good as it sounds, the muscles in your hands control the volume and cadence of the aural assault so that the room echoes with the staccato beat of your synapses." I can attest to this from personal experience. Pounding typewriter keys with your fingers is fun and good exercise.
3. "[T]he third reason to write with a relic of yesteryear: permanence. Short of chiseled words in stone, few handmade items last longer than a typed letter, for the ink is physically stamped into the very fibers of the paper, not layered onto the surface as with a laser-printed document."
Yes, typed paper is indelibly transformed into permanent records of our thoughts. Sometimes during my work I come across a typed document that's 50-100 years old (e.g., real estate deed) and am amazed by its magical quality. The document survived time in a way electronic records never will. I collect these special objects and plan to display them in my future personal museum.
As Tom notes, "300 years from now a thank-you note [you type] may exist in the collection of an aficionado who treasures it the same as a Bill of Sale from 1776 for one dozen well-made casks from Ye Olde Ale Shoppe." Yup, we're making history.
Join the club. Type a letter today!
I have no argument with either you or Tom Hanks
ReplyDeleteGood! I'll send you a typed thank you letter. :)
DeleteI guess we're the same type, then!:-) I learned to type on a manual over 50 years ago. My technique has not changed all that much, though, which is why I have battered quite a few computer keyboards into oblivion over the past few years. And, of course, I have to clean the screen regularly to remove all the white-out. I would have been great as the dumb blonde from the typing pool!
DeleteHa! Funny, Connie.
DeleteTerrific post, Ally. We did not have a computer in my house growing up (80s/90s) and while I started using them early on in my schooling, I learned to type at home on a typewriter first - perhaps on of the last youngsters to do so in that era, as personal computer would soon become de rigueur within a matter of years beyond that point (and certainly, for many folks - especially younger familie - with kids). I love that I got to experience this piece of classic technology firsthand and would absolutely love to pick up a vintage typewriter one day to use both for letter writing and in my paper crafting.
ReplyDeleteAutumn Zenith 🎃 Witchcrafted Life
Great comment, pal; thank you. Using a typewriter now, after decades from your introduction to them, will be sweet and poignant. You'll remember their sounds and feel. Plus, as you guess, they are very useful for creating material for paper crafting!
DeleteI use my typewriter to create materials for other projects, such as making humorous buttons.
DeleteI agree! They are wonderful! Reminds me of how happy we were spending hours typing on the one at my Grandparent' house when we were young!
ReplyDeleteI was still using a type writer in 2004 to write my English papers!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely more thought and exacting wording goes into writing with one.
That's the cool thing about old tech: it makes you think and act differently.
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