presents

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Some more Web sites that may be of interest to fans of old typewriters...

Organizations and Periodicals

• ETCetera: newsletter of the Early Typewriter Collectors Association
• TypEx: The Typewriter Exchange
• Associazione Italiana Collezionisti Macchine per Ufficio d'Epoca
• Internationales Forum Historische Bürowelt
• Sammlerclub Historischer Büromaschinen Schweiz
  

Collecting and Restoring Typewriters

• Typewriters on The Collectors Weekly: a list of links, current news items, and current items of interest on eBay.
• The QWERTY Connection and more -- follow the links here to read about the QWERTY keyboard, the hobbies of collecting typewriters and typewriter ribbon tins, and the historic Sholes and Glidden typewriter. Maintained by Darryl Rehr.
• Antique Typewriter Down Under Connection: this site by Australian collector Bob Moran has a lot of good features, including an opportunity for you to leave comments and respond to those of others.
• The Typewriter Restoration Site: this fine site by Dutch collector Paul Robert lists techniques and describes Robert's own restoration projects. Also included: the Typewriter Parts Exchange.
• Office Machine Americana offers a great selection of manuals for old typewriters and adding machines, as well as three excellent books (see The Percy Smock Corner on this site).
• Online Typewriter Support, by Will Davis: advice on operating, maintaining, and repairing a manual typewriter.
• The "Write" Type of Collectibles: an article by Chuck Dilts and Rich Cincotta for Collector Online.
• How To Collect Antique Typewriters: An article written by Richard Polt for Enrico Tedeschi's web site, which is primarily devoted to antique radios.

Typewriter Collectors

• Retro Tech Geneva: Adwoa B. in Geneva, Switzerland, blogs about her typewriter discoveries.
• Arnold Betzwieser shows us his collection, including many German machines, with careful historical and technical notes. In German.
• Mike Campbell's Typewriter Page: this collector joins the Web with some useful tips on packing typewriters, as well as other nice features.
• Swiss collector Philippe Campiche shares his collection with us. In French.
• Anthony Casillo's Antique Typewriter Collecting: the world of old writing machines as seen by a typewriter repairman and collector extraordinaire.
• Brazilian typewriter collector Fernando Costa has created an excellent site where you can see some of his rare machines. In Portuguese.
• Vintage and Antique Typewriters by "damon66."
• Davis Typewriter Works: Will and Dave Davis' blog about their typewriter discoveries.
  
• Chuck Dilts & Rich Cincotta's Typewriter Homepage: a nice site from two enthusiastic typewriter fans.
• Aurelio Dragonetti shows off his collection in this web page. In Italian.
• Elysse shows off the typewriters she's restored.
• Antique Typewriters by Martin Howard: a lovely site showcasing the typewriters of this Canadian collector. Read a story about him in The Toronto Globe & Mail.
• The S.L. Johnson Typewriter Page: this collector lists the various writing machines and related items that he's accumulated, plus has special tributes to Corona and Oliver. Very nicely designed.
• Jan Kaluza of Tychy, Poland, presents his own online typewriter museum. In Polish.
• Teacher Mark D. Martin presents fine photos and lots of information about his collection, mostly consisting of mid-century portables.
• Adolf Mayer collects and restores typewriters; he shows us photos of a few of his machines. In German.
• Mechanista: a glimpse into the possessions of a couple of anonymous typewriter and adding machine collectors.
• Morton Typewriter Collection: a list and photos of the machines belonging to young collector Jett Morton, and links to a newspaper article about him.
• Swedish Typewriter Page: an attractive site created by Christofer Nöring, with beautiful pictures spanning a century of writing machines. In Swedish, with English summaries.
• Landbee Collection: a lovely set of typewriters assembled by British collector Les Owen.
• John Payton's site shows off his typewriters as well as his Model A Ford.
• Chestnut Ridge Typewriter Museum: a handsome set of photos of unusual items from the collection of Herman Price.
• German collector Hartmut Quast's site offers some nice pictures of his collection.
• Martin Rice presents the Johnstown Type Writer Conservatory, with articles on his collection and notes on "type writer" history.
• Lady Typewriter: Englishwoman Janet Riding's perspective on typewriter collecting includes photos of her collection and a great deal of information.
• Machines of Loving Grace: W.A. Seaver shows off and discusses his collection, featuring many midcentury portables as well as a variety of other machines.
• John E. Simmons shares his collection with us and offers downloadable user's manuals and repair manuals in PDF format.
• Swiss collector Georg Sommeregger's typewriters.ch not only shows us his own collection, but presents interesting material from Swiss typewriter history, a blog, and a free font, among other things. Primarily in German, with some English.
• The Tanner Page: Collector Jack Tanner's perspective on the world of old typewriters.
• typewriter.be: a big and beautiful site created by Belgians Wim Van Rompuy and Guy Pérard.

Old Typewriters for Sale

• eBay (US) has thousands of typewriters for sale on any given day.
• So does German eBay.
• Antikma: a German auction house specializing in interesting typewriters.
• Auction Team Breker: this German auction house is the largest in the world specializing in mechanical and technical items, including typewriters. In English.
• Blue Moon Camera in Portland, Oregon, sells refurbished, warranted typewriters at affordable prices. They will ship machines to other locations.
• Classic Typewriter Classifieds: for sale and wanted ads (post one for free). Maintained by Tony Casillo.
• Galerie Alte Technik: a German dealer in antique typewriters, calculators, and other interesting old machines.
• Mr. Typewriter, AKA Dan Puls of St. Louis, has a warehouse full of reconditioned typewriters.
• Mytypewriter.com: a source for beautiful and professionally serviced classics, both portable and desktop sized.

Typewriter History

• Antike Schreibmaschinen: a site in German by Jochen Besmer that explains all the essentials of old typewriters.
• Antique Typewriters by Will Davis: a rapidly growing site with plenty of interesting information about pre-1940 machines.
• The web site of the Associazione Italiana Collezionisti Macchine per Ufficio d'Epoca includes a virtual museum of Olivetti typewriters and calculators named in honor of the late founder of the association, Glauco Pegorini.
• Business Machines: 1857-1912: some interesting documents from Harper's Weekly.
• Chinese typewriters are under investigation by Stanford history professor Thomas Mullaney. Read about his research here, here, and here.
• Corona Tribute by S. L. Johnson
• Early Office Museum: a handsome site created by an antique dealer, including lots of information and pictures about typewriters and other antique office equipment.
• Eclectisaurus Typewriter Museum: an attractive site by a dealer who sells modern portables on eBay. Includes a list of repair shops.
• The European Typewriter Project: a growing collection of information on and images of European typewriters, many of which cannot be seen elsewhere on the Net. Machines from the Tilman Elster and Thomas Fuertig collections, Web site by Will Davis. In English.
• International Rasmus Malling-Hansen Society: an excellent site maintained by an organization dedicated to the Danish genius who invented the world's first commercially sold typewriter (the Writing Ball) and the fastest writing machine ever (the Takygraf).
• Mark Twain and the typewriter: What was the connection? Well, this is an interesting Web page, but you won't find the true story here-- only the aged Twain's recollection of what happened. Twain probably submitted a typescript of Life on the Mississippi (not Tom Sawyer). The first author known to have submitted typewritten manuscripts is not Twain, but Fanny Kemble, actress and writer.
• The Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind has an interesting collection of old braille writers on its web site.
• Music Typewriters: an interesting page by Rosendo Reyna at the web site of the International Music Engraving Company.
• Scott Lindstrom presents some fascinating literature about the ultra-rare Nickerson Automatic Typewriter.
• Oliver Tribute by S. L. Johnson
• Archivio Storico Olivetti: a source for information about the famous Italian company. In Italian and English.
• This extensive Polish site includes some pages in English and provides glimpses of little-known Polish writing machines.
• Portable Typewriters, by Richard Milton: "This site is devoted to the early history of the portable typewriter, from around 1890 to 1930, illustrated by antique typewriters from my collection."
• The Quest for a Faster Way to Write: a fascinating history of Japanese typewriters, including video of a Japanese typewriter in use.
• The Remington factory in Ilion, New York: a collection of vintage postcards.
• Siamese Smith Premier: an interesting exploration of Smith Premiers and other antique typewriters in Thailand, by Thai collector Pluethipol Prachumphol.
• The Truth of QWERTY: a blog by Koichi Yasuoka that investigates the Sholes & Glidden in impressive detail.
• The Typewriter Database: a growing list of serial numbers for a number of makes. A very convenient resource.
• Typewriter Illustrations, by Jay Respler: pictures of several makes, and some corrections to typewriter history books.
• Typewriter Ribbon Tins: Packaging Imagination: a great video introduction to these charming and collectible typewriter accessories.
• Typewriters by Will Davis: Will is known for digging up intriguing facts about mid-20th-century portables that most collectors don't know about, but he has plenty of information about older machines too.
• Typewriters in Tompkins: a little about typewriter history and its connections to Tomkins County, New York.
• The User-Friendly Typewriter: a thorough and interesting article by Martin Campbell-Kelly in The Rutherford Journal explores user-oriented design in the age of the mechanical writing machine.
• Virtual Typewriter Museum: a great site from top Dutch collector Paul Robert, collaborating with other enthusiasts around the world. This online museum features pictures of machines, history, hundreds of facts, and even typewriter erotica.
• World Typewriter and Keyboard Museum: a small online display illustrating some non-Roman typewriter keyboards.
• Yesterday's Office: this publication, part of Repair, Service, and Remarketing News, features interesting articles about old office machines, including typewriters.

Museums

• Collezioni Pedrali (Palazzolo Sull'Oglio, Italy)
• This The Safir Museum in Iran has a lovely collection of typewriters that you can glimpse on their web site, even if you don't read Farsi. "The Safir Museum is a private museum containing the collection of Farshad Kamalkhani who collected it during 10 years and finally it opened at summer of 2008 in Tehran. Mr Kamalkhani was interested in collecting and maintaining these worthy machines after Ê50 years working in the family business and 20 years private experience on this subject. The Safir Museum is located in Safir Shop, the company's main place. The site is not yet completed and we are in the process of improving it with a new design and full information about the collection in English and Persian."
• Museu de la Técnica de l'Empordà (Figueres, Spain)
• Peter Mitterhofer Typewriter Museum: an excellent museum in Partschins, Italy, hometown of rustic typewriter inventor Mitterhofer. (No, he wasn't really the first.)
• Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind
• Museum of Typewriters and Calculators at the Finnish Business College: an impressive collection presented in a slick website.
• QWERTZUIOPÜ: this museum named after the German keyboard arrangement features the collection of Rudolf and Sieglinde Doose. In Kerpen-Sindorf, near Cologne, Germany.
• Schreibmaschinenmuseum Wattens (Wattens, Austria)
• Scryption is a fabulous museum in Tilburg, The Netherlands, devoted to writing technology. In Dutch.
• For more places to see old typewriters, check out the Directory of Publicly Displayed Early Typewriters on this site.

Manual Typewriters for the 21st Century

• Marshall Sewing Machine Industrial is a Taiwanese company that got into the manual portable typewriter business in 1996 (!).
• Shanghai Weilv Mechanism Company also got into the typewriter business in the '90s. They make both standard and portable manual machines.
• Zhangjiagang Feiteng also makes typewriters in mainland China.
• Mehano makes a variety of toy typewriters in Slovenia.
  
• Will Davis documents Chinese manual portables here: Portable Typewriters TODAY.
• The Olympia SG 3N is the ultimate 21st-century manual typewriter -- '50s technology in a high-tech black exterior, and ready to type the euro character. I do not know when or where these were manufactured, but believe they are older machines that have been reconditioned and modified.
• Search Alibaba.com for typewriters and typewriter supplies made around the world today.

Typecasting

• All Typed Up
• clickthing
• Collapsing World
• Death Sucks, Let's Party
  
• Desert Loon
• Dirk van Weelden
• Duffy Moon Inc (formerly The Mad Farmer Liberation Front)
  
• Fresh Ribbon
• Joe Van Cleave's Blog
• Just Write
• La Vie Graphite
• Little Flower Petals
• The long slow blog
• Mysteries of M.T.Coalhopper
  
• Olympiaman's Typecast
• Semi-Automatic
• SnohomishWriter
  
• Sotto Voce
• Strikethru
• Tales from the Typer
  
• Travelling Type
• Type Clack
• Typewriters Around the World -- a collaborative international typecast
  
• Urgent Typewriter Correspondence
• Writing Ball
  

Typewriters in the News

• A story from Wired (of all things) about three San Francisco Bay Area typewriter repair shops.
• Check out the latest stories featuring typewriters, as provided by Google News.
• The Toronto Globe & Mail presents a story and video about typewriter collector Martin Howard (April 2009).
• The Vanishing Craft of the Typewriter Repairman: an NPR story by Margot Adler (April 2006), featuring Paul Schweitzer of Manhattan's Gramercy Typewriter and an interview with the creator of this site.
• Scribes tap, tap, happy until the final ... ding!: a piece by Bo Emerson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (February 2006).
• Backspacing in Time: a report on typewriter repair in the DC area (February 2006).
• What's so Special About a Hermes 3000?: Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune cultural critic, investigates Larry McMurtry's favorite typewriter (January 2006).
• Typewriters & Their Elusive Appeal: a March 2004 issue from the University of Toronto newspaper.
• Heavy Metal Writing: a well-written paean to the typewriter by Anna Dittmer (Indiana Daily Student, Oct. 2003).
• Clack of Typewriter Still Stirring Minds: a bit by USA Today founder Al Neuharth, written in the trademark USA Today style (or lack thereof).
• Typewriters hold key to collectors' hearts (June 2003)
• Keystrokes of Genius: (New York Times, June 2002): Bruce McCall reports on famed mystery writer Rex Regis's 1909 Glab-Porkovnyka, and other favorite old typewriters of the literati ...
• An article in the University of Chicago Magazine about oddball alumni collectors includes a bit on the creator of this site.
• True To Type: a May 2001 article on typewriter collecting in the Washington Post quotes a number of members of our eccentric little community.
• Y2K bug? 'No problema' with typewriters: Learn about how manual typewriters are still prospering in Mexico. The Christian Science Monitor, August 1999.
• Antiques Road Show: a reporter from Inc. tries trading his laptop for an old Corona (June 1999).
• Ever-beloved typewriters hang on: AP story, May 1999.
• Writer's Block, an installation by Sheryl Oring consisting of steel cages filled with typewriters from the 1920s and 30s, commemorates the Nazi book burnings of 1933. This project has created some strong feelings among typewriter collectors. A September 2003 New York Times article about the piece can be found here.
• A typewriter fan discussed his love of the machines on NPR's All Things Considered in September 1998. To hear the story in RealAudio format, click here.
• Read an article on typewriter man extraordinaire Martin Tytell from The Atlantic Monthly, November, 1997.

The Cutting Edge of Retro

• usbtypewriter.com presents a clever way to get a manual typewriter to work as a computer keyboard.
• Jamie Wilson presents his typewriter-keyboard hybrids in this YouTube video. He's got a relatively simple way to make it work!
• Low-End Theory: The Clacking Never Stops: a wry look at typewriters in the computer age, by Brendan I. Koerner.
• Visual Typewriter is software that lets you use a virtual manual typewriter on your PC. How warped is that?
• Joel Zahn explains how to turn an Underwood #5 into a PC computer.
• The Electri-Clerk: what you get when you meld an Underwood and a Macintosh.
• The typewriter-keyboard conversion: another hybrid typewriter-computer -- with instructions for doing it yourself.
• Install Tappy Type on your Mac and enjoy the classic sound of a manual typewriter as you process your words! (Unfortunately not compatible with System X.)
• If you use a PC, you'll need typewriter.exe to do the same job.
• Stop by the Vintage Type site and see their cool fonts based on old typewriters.
• Here's a place to go if you're looking for typewriter fonts for your computer. By the way, no "typewriter" font is ever going to look perfectly authentic. For the best results, you have to actually use a typewriter, then scan the results (that's how I got the typing on this site, using my Remington Noiseless Portable #7).
• 123greetings.com offers some cute electronic greeting cards you can send to your friends on "Typewriter Day" (June 23).

Miscellanea

• Magic Margin: A Phoenix teacher introduces manual typewriters to his students. What will happen? Read his blog.
  
• Typewriters on YouTube: all kinds of short films that include typewriters. Some funny stuff.
• Flickr Writing Machines Group: photography devoted to "typewriters, printing presses and movable type -- anything to do with the mechanical reproduction or creation of the written word."
• World Record for Typing Numbers in Words: typing up to "one million," in words, on manual typewriters -- a worthwhile way to spend 16 years of your life? You decide.
• How typewriters are made: an illuminating technical discussion.
• The world's biggest typewritten portrait is the brainchild of Uday Talwalkar.
• Visit the collection of typewriter paintings by Deb Kumar Biswas.
• More typewritten art, by Winifred T. Caldwell, can be found at the TypEtching site.
• "Basic Typing, Part I: Methods" is a rare typing instruction film made by the US Navy during World War 2, hosted and narrated by a then-famous typist, Lenore Benton. The film begins with a look at some beautiful antique typewriters, then various current (as of 1943) machines. Then Ms. Benton gets down to business and teaches her techniques for lightning-fast typing. The film is divided into Part 1 and Part 2.
• Hommage is a modified typewriter by artist Leopoldo Maler. A very "inflammatory" piece of art ...
• Ribbon Tin Connection: learn all about typewriter ribbon tins at this site maintained by Darryl Rehr.
• ASCII Art Gallery: pictures that you could make with typewriters, if you were so inclined. Includes a history of ASCII and typewriter art.
• At Retinascope you can find two animated films made on a typewriter.
• Time-Warp is an attractive and intriguing site about "vintage technology."
• Irish Typewriter Keyboards: An intriguing report from Michael Everson.
• The Curta Homepage, based in Austria, offers a virtual museum of Curta calculators and other interesting old calculating machines.
• Stop by Erez Kaplan's interesting site on antique calculators and join his mailing list for calculating machines.
• Ribbon Tin Connection is a valuable online source for those who collect typewriter ribbon tins.
• Learn about the Dvorak keyboard. This fine site includes many links to further such sites.
• For a detailed scholarly exploration of the QWERTY-Dvorak issue, which casts some doubt on the superiority of Dvorak, read The Fable of the Keys, by Stan Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis.
• Responses to Liebowitz and Margolis can be found here.