# Anybody have a typewriter? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 25, 2014, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500 "2014-03-25T02:33:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/41 "2014-03-26T02:44:47Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Actually, you can easily expand the PDF to full screen mode while editing by clicking the icon with two diagonal arrows _after_ you click on “Add Text”. The mouseover tip calls this “Read Mode”, but you can still edit text in it. That plus the built in fax service I think has won me over. Five free faxes a month, straight from the program, which I can also use to quickly sign things. Not bad at all. That’s how you step up your game. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/42 "2014-03-26T02:50:47Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I might consider just using Adobe Reader for typing again, as it is faster to load. But do they still do that thing where the creator of the document can mark the file as not allowing any modifications to be saved? Yes. But you can use PDF X-Change to convert it to a TIFF (or if you’re lucky, Word) document and then convert it back into a permission-free PDF. Or just stick with using the X-Change typewriter tool. Our office just forked out for the full version of Acrobat after years of my whining. It’s great. ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/43 "2014-03-26T03:14:41Z")
Down at the office had to fill out the forms, A pink one, a red one, the colours you choose, Up to the counter to see what they think, They said “it doesn’t count man, it ain’t written in ink”. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/44 "2014-03-26T03:22:37Z")
I have a typewriter. Olivetti Lettera something (numbers, but I don’t remember which numbers. I think 22). However, when I run into this kind of form, which seems to happen either twice a year or once every two years (in three-year cycles) I pull the offending form into InDesign, create a new layer, type in the required stuff (I like making it look like I used an actual typewriter), creating a new PDF, and sending it back to them. I kind of am a Luddite, I guess. There is probably a way to do it that’s lots easier, although this one isn’t too bad. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/45 "2014-03-26T05:40:27Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Important contracts, like real estate sales, are often done on an online application that meticulously authenticates and records changes and such. But they don’t just use E-mail. What do you mean by an “online application?” My company uses email. When the contracts are being drafted, they’re blacklined using Word or similar, and when both parties are in agreement on the contract, the signature pages are scanned and the whole thing is .pdf’d. Everything goes back and forth as regular email attachments and as far as I know, the fanciest Acrobat function used is “rotate pages.” 😛 This is for commercial real estate sales ranging from about $10M to $100M. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/46 "2014-03-26T13:18:47Z")
There’s no particular reason to require an original for a contract (of any value) that does not require a notary seal. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/47 "2014-03-26T13:46:58Z")
The _New York Magazine_ Contest was still requesting “POSTCARDS PLEASE - TYPEWRITTEN IF POSSIBLE” well into the 90s. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/48 "2014-03-26T14:59:04Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Couldn’t you just send it via aero mail to the Prussian Consulate in Siam? Are you too late for the 4:30 autogyro? Sorry, horse threw a shoe. Now we’re going to lose the kingdom, I expect. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/49 "2014-03-26T17:14:09Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > Owning typewriter = stupid hipster I own two. Don’t know if they work, as they haven’t been turned on for 20 years. One of them was the one I used to type of college papers, back in the days before word processor programs were ubiquitous. I do remember composing my first paper on a word processor in my senior year, and how crappy it looked printed out in dot matrix. But not having thrown something out from 30 years ago makes me a hipster I guess. Don’t have to read your other posts to agree with **Kimballkid**. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/50 "2014-03-26T17:15:49Z")
> [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](#): > > Down at the office had to fill out the forms, > A pink one, a red one, the colours you choose, > Up to the counter to see what they think, > They said “it doesn’t count man, it ain’t written in ink”. _It’s no fun, being an…_ ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/51 "2014-03-26T18:55:20Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > Owning typewriter = stupid hipster Gee, I never thought of myself as a hipster, stupid or otherwise. I live in the house my family lived in since 1958. I occasionally discover things that have been forgotten for decades. Among these are photography and darkroom equipment from the 30s, a set of wooden bowls from Tsarist Russia, and yes, an antique typewriter - the kind with ornate golden decorations. They all go very well with a wicker baby buggy from the 1890s, and an actual tombstone from 1830. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/52 "2014-03-27T01:27:20Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > I own two. Don’t know if they work, as they haven’t been turned on for 20 years. One of them was the one I used to type of college papers, back in the days before word processor programs were ubiquitous. I do remember composing my first paper on a word processor in my senior year, and how crappy it looked printed out in dot matrix. > > But not having thrown something out from 30 years ago makes me a hipster I guess. > > Don’t have to read your other posts to agree with **Kimballkid**. Oh don’t take offense I’m just being silly. If you’ve had them for 30 years you’re too old to be a hipster - that’s what I tell people when they accuse me of being a hipster. I read somewhere that being over 35 disqualifies you, but I forget where. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/53 "2014-03-27T17:15:53Z")
[Woody Allen still types all his stuff on the only typewriter he’s ever owned these past 60 years, an early 1950s manual Olympia SM-3.](http://www.openculture.com/2013/01/woody_allens_typewriter_scissor_and_stapler.html) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/54 "2014-03-27T18:55:05Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > [Woody Allen still types all his stuff on the only typewriter he’s ever owned these past 60 years, an early 1950s manual Olympia SM-3.](http://www.openculture.com/2013/01/woody_allens_typewriter_scissor_and_stapler.html) I’m surprised he likes to bang away at something so old. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/55 "2014-03-29T02:40:58Z")
To the OP who said, “I wouldn’t even know where to find a typewriter anymore.” Check out this link. They’ve done fine by me. [http://www.losaltosbusinessmachines.com/Typewriters.html](http://www.losaltosbusinessmachines.com/Typewriters.html) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/56 "2014-03-30T00:56:05Z")
Seeing typewriters in museums makes me feel old. Adding machines too. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/57 "2014-03-30T01:24:22Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Gee, I never thought of myself as a hipster, stupid or otherwise. > > I live in the house my family lived in since 1958. I occasionally discover things that have been forgotten for decades. Among these are photography and darkroom equipment from the 30s, a set of wooden bowls from Tsarist Russia, and yes, an antique typewriter - the kind with ornate golden decorations. They all go very well with a wicker baby buggy from the 1890s, and an actual tombstone from 1830. I’m in the process of cleaning out my late in-laws house to put it on the market. One of the things we found was a 1978 era Smith Corona electric typewriter, the kind with the cartridges, just like the one I used to own that got stolen in 1986. Well, mine was a Sears knockoff, but other than the color and nameplate they were the same. The case is broken, maybe if I’m lucky I can pick up a case on ebay, and some ribbon cartridges. What I really miss is the Correcting Selectric II’s I used as a secretary in the early-mid 80’s Those things were awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/58 "2014-03-30T01:30:28Z")
I also liked being able to swap out different fonts with the Selectric element balls. ---
**Author:** ![Toledo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@Toledo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toledo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/59 "2014-03-30T04:50:40Z")
I have a MontgomeryWard ball typewriter (Brother clone copy of IBM Selectric). I use it for taxes, and not much else. When I saw the handwriting on the wall, I bought up all the ribbons, correction ribbons, etc. I could find. I also have six or seven type balls. Works fine. (I also have two boxes of printer paper, the fanfold kind with the holes down the sides. My Epson FX printer doesn’t work anymore) ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500/60 "2014-03-30T17:17:58Z")
I’ve got typewriters. Portable manuals, maybe 15 in all. The style known among typewriter collectors as small flat portables. [Hermes](http://typewriterdatabase.com/img/g9_63_1360213096.jpg) [Rocket](http://talkbabble.rambly.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/hermes.png)/[Baby’s](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S1XKTgZxukY/TjbO0E7u__I/AAAAAAAACj8/5tdXqn_lo_M/s1600/00049.jpg), [Groma Kolibris](https://www.google.com/search?q=groma+kolibri&espv=2&es_sm=122&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=vEo4U7_dEuOs2gXBj4Fw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1746&bih=878), [Royal Parades](https://www.google.com/search?q=royal+parade+typewriter&espv=2&es_sm=122&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=n0k4U8O9GeSd2QXIsoCACA&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1746&bih=878&dpr=1.1), [a Lettera 82](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H-TOv0gIWHM/UoQCOKVSe-I/AAAAAAAA6mg/UXUYsaiV8uk/s1600/Lettera+82+005.JPG) ( in this exact color from Oz Ebay), [a Lettera 32](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U8sCf2ImrdA/TfgkoI6H34I/AAAAAAAAAHI/hsXy9ylfX1M/s1600/DSCN9705.JPG), [a Smith Corona Skyriter](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ShY4-ruYp8U/UqjDvC6735I/AAAAAAAAEWs/atSssvkKWSE/s1600/IMG_1595.JPG), and others. They’re pretty to look at, fun to play with, and challenging to restore. Every once in a while, they come in handy for filling out forms. I also use them for creative writing, because they are lightweight, compact, don’t need electricity, and don’t have expensive screens to break or circuits to short out. They only do one thing, and do it reliably while offering no distractions. Once the pages are done, I scan them into my laptop while using the OCR function. Low tech and high tech can augment each other in useful, unexpected ways. I would never use a typewriter exclusively. That would be a nightmare. I do like them for niche uses. Ribbons for common models like mine are readily available online, and at typewriter shops. There’s also a method for re-inking old ribbons with stamp pad ink. [Typewriter Talk » Re-Inking Typewriter Ribbons](http://typewriter.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=25) [http://scheong.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/getting-the-most-out-of-your-typewriter-ribbons/](http://scheong.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/getting-the-most-out-of-your-typewriter-ribbons/) I’m too old to be a hipster, and too young to have grown up with manual typewriters. Although I’m sure I must have seen one as a kid, my parents never had anything but an electric. By the time I was in high school, we had a Tandy IBM box. In college, it was all Macs and work stations. There’s a thriving online typewriter culture in the States and Europe. It’s niche/hobbyist rather than the work and school staple it once was. In other parts of the world, typewriters are still very much a mainstream thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-typewriter/684500.md?page=4)