Typewriter Heaven

I sat down to write this blog and decided to type a little bit of it on my wonderful green Voss typewriter that I first blogged about last year.

I haven't had the typewriter out for quite awhile and it's just been sitting quietly on a shelf in my office. I did use it to type a note to Missive Maven as well as the daughter of a friend last year when I first purchased it.

So I dusted it off and loaded it with paper and typed a quick note.

Part of the reason I'm doing this now is to show off these couple pictures I had taken last May at the National Stationery Show. This company buys and sells typewriters as well as supplies them for photo shoots and movie sets. 

You can visit the kasbahMod website to see pictures of their current inventory. They also sold typewriter ribbon for $15, so I picked up one for my old Voss, but haven't had the heart to change it yet. Looking at these couple pictures makes me wish I had taken more. Why oh why did I not?

I also love the business card they handed out at the stationery show. Very cool! They do actually have a name and email on the card, but I have it neatly hidden behind my handmade "Your name here" sign.

Silent Type II

'Silent Type II' was published in October 2010 by Strikethru and I was lucky enough to get a copy of this in the mail. If you're not familiar with Strikethru, it is a blog about 'typewriters, typecasting, ephemera, Moleskin blogging, junk cameras, notebooks, stamps, writing, paper crafts, and other curiosities.' Visit and enjoy!

 It made my day to sit in a comfy chair with a cup of cinnamon flavored coffee at my side and leisurely peruse this gem of a zine.

 The high quality of the paper (smooth and glossy) added to the colorful pages and enhanced the captivating images used throughout the publication.

 Both editions of Silent Type are available for free in PDF format at the Strikethru blog. Just look in the left navigation bar for their covers.

A Typewritten Note

Some of you asked to see what the cursive font looks like on my new typewriter. I typed up a small sample, but the ribbon is not very fresh so the words are faint. I have joined a typewriter group on yahoo to learn a little bit more about this hobby and to decide if I want to invest in buying a new ribbon (probably) and learn how to install it properly (hopefully). We shall see.

Thanks for your lovely comments. It's so nice to share with others who appreciate the fascination with they typed and written word.

You can click on the image to make it larger if you are having a hard time reading the words.

Typewriter $4

This lovely typewriter was a $4 find at a garage sale. I haven't had a typewriter for years, but lately I had been intrigued by them from following Strikethru's blog and purchasing her zine 'Silent Type: A Retrotech Journal.'  I also recently received the typewritten 'Thank You' note from Lily that I blogged about.

The best part of this Voss typewriter (besides the fact that it works and only cost $4) is that it types with a cursive font! What a delightful and unexpected surprise.

 Olivander on Flickr

Growing up we had a behemoth black typewriter. As a young child I loved to spend afternoons  sitting at the desk and typing away.I think I just copied things out of a book. Sometimes I tried to create stories, but I was too slow at getting out the words.

 

In college I used an electric typewriter. What I remember about that was the endless hours trying to format and NOT make a mistake. Now with computers and formatting and font selection, it is truly a whole new world. But sometimes it's fun to use stuff from the old.

Typewriter + Thank You Note = Happy

This

This lovely typewritten note came to me last week as a thank you from Lily Greene.

Lily, whose story is featured at Letters & Journals this month, collects postage stamps. I save most of the stamps from the mail I receive, so I sent her a few of the cute, funny or more obscure ones that I have.

And she was sweet enough to send this adorable and quite original thank you note.

Are you inspired?