The HH in Advertising

If you've read once, you've read a thousand times that I love the Royal Standard HH. Apart from being the most amazing standard desktop machine, it was also the subject of some of Royal's most mid-century advertising. Each one is rife with the subtle sexism of the decade, but it makes them no less enjoyable. So, please enjoy this little gallery.

Pink typewriters improve office morale!

Romancing the Royal.

Is it a little troubling that I want one in each color?

Put an HH on the back of your Vespa and that'll be the end of you.

It'll Be A Blast!

Yesterday my email account had four RSVPs for the Typewriter Round-Up. So far it looks like we are on-track for almost twice as many as the last event!

Summer Typing

There is no holiday for the typewriter!

As the regular school year winds to a close, the Classroom Typewriter Project winds to a close too. I've started dusting typewriters, taking out ribbons, and packing up the typewriters in their cases. All of this work was going fine until I found out that I was hired for summer school. This means that the machines will get some use in the month of June.

Summer school in our district is credit-recovery, so the class will be filled with Juniors and Seniors who happened to fail the first semester of Junior English. Right now, I have 18 registered and that means we will be nearly 1:1 in terms of typewriters. With this kind of typewriter to student ratio I can start to really construct an idea of how low-performing students can benefit from using a typewriter in class.

There is a type of writing instruction called Writer's Workshop. The idea of this pedagogical approach is to give the students greater freedom in selecting the subjects for their own writing. Academic and creative writing are given equal weight. I think that this is how we will approach writing this summer, but I am going to add the typewriter twist. Workshop does contain a reading component, however when it comes to literature, we will keep it traditional.

The summer might be time off for some, but in my little classroom you will still hear the clack of typebars. I guess I better start unpacking those typewriters.

Blickcast II: Wherein the Blick is Blasted and Outfitted Anew

Blickcast I: Wherein the Author Hunts & Pecks

When you know where the keys are you can focus on the writing rather than where the letters are.

Isn't that question mark great?

Phoenix's Typewriter Repairman Video

Bill Wahl, a local typewriter celebrity, was featured on a segment on Arizona Highways TV this Sunday evening. Take a look at the video embedded below.

Bierce, The Mexican Desert, and Shiny Olivers

When people think of authors who use typewriters Ambrose Bierce isn't often mentioned. Maybe he's too sarcastic for lists, but looking for information on him I came across this typed letter from 1911:

Maybe someone can tell what type of typewriter he used, but it's clear that Bierce was comfortable using one. He even makes a typo by omitting a word. That makes me feel good. I am sure that by 1911 using using a typewriter to write wasn't that unusual. But not many authors were embedded in Panco Villa's army in Mexico.

Mexico was a land of Olivers. Especially, Olivers that are nickle-plated. Like this typewriter from the poet Ramon Lopez Velarde. (Fun lit fact: Octavio Paz studied Velarde and wrote a great deal about his influence in post-modern mexican poetry.)

Oliver realized that Mexico had been overlooked in the market and sent a man by the name of Parker to change that. Parker was able to introduce the country to the typewriter and the Oliver. At this point in 1911 if you wanted to buy a typewriter in Mexico it's likely you were buying an Oliver. They were used in all levels of the post-revolution republic. LC Smith did have some offices, but I think many companies were more concerned over the perceived danger of early republican Mexico. Richard Polt has a blog post about a nickle LC Smith that includes a mention of nickel Olivers. 

The mystery is: did Bierce use a nickel Oliver or did was he supplied a typewriter by his American editors? I am going to investigate this information further. It should be interesting whatever I discover.