At the venerable Duttenhofer's, near the University of Cincinnati ...
... a lonely prisoner stares through the glass, hemmed in by volumes ...
... a Remington Rand Model 1 that probably hasn't been typed on for many decades.
Years ago, I offered to restore it to working condition for free, but my offer was promptly dismissed. What do you say? Should the Typewriter Liberation Front stage a raid and give this elegant machine a new chance to do what it's been longing to do?
Freee-eee Remington Mandela!
ReplyDeleteI bet Kempton Bunton could liberate it, if he was still around. (Just seen an excellent movie called 'The Duke", about Bunton selling a portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London - all for a good cause!
ReplyDeleteTypewriter Insurgency to the Rescue! Start a Free Remington movement, post on Instagram, Twit about it and protest in front of the store. ...gee that sounds radical.
ReplyDeleteThe prompt dismissal is somewhat surprising. I might have suggested that you note to them the publicity they would stand to gain via your coverage of said restoration among the ever growing number of typewriter fans (many of whom are also passionate about books, some of which might visit Cincinnati in the future).
ReplyDeleteAt this point, perhaps a coordinated attack of typewritten letters to Duttenhofer's Books from insurgents around the world might be in order. Were we to all inquire about what they have against restored typewriters in working condition, it might give them something to think about. Worst case scenario — nothing happens. Best case scenario — not only does Duttenhofer's end up reaching out to you, ultimately taking you up on your generous offer but maybe someone, somewhere out there in the world receives a letter in return. Hey, a person can dream, right?
How could anyone refuse free typewriter restoration from THE Richard Polt? That's a huge loss on their part. Maybe they just didn't want to move all those books out of the way to reach the typewriter. :-)
ReplyDeleteNice video on the place here:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyPcUXNcI10&t=17s&ab_channel=ZacharyGerberick
If there is one thing I know, it's used bookstore owners. They tend to be...prickly. But that's part of the joy of such places.