Herman's 2017

You meet the nicest people here, and they all seem to have excellent shirts ...

And then there is Herman's little typewriter collection. Here are a few of my faves ...

Don't be too jealous, one of these is a reproduction ...

Even Herman's junk is fascinating.

We assembled in the driveway for awards, auctions, raffles, and presentations ...

Our gracious host invited everyone to sign a basketball:

We agreed that, as the leader of our band, he deserves this bandleader's cap from the Remington company band, discovered by Peter Weil:

Several items were auctioned off to benefit hurricane victims and raise funds for the Early Typewriter Collectors' Association. I confess that I ended up the owner of the monster Torpedo in the foreground:

The annual QWERTY Award went to Doug Nichol for directing the wonderful "California Typewriter":

The presentation of the award:

Peter Weil and Martin Howard discussed their Kleidographs:

What's a Kleidograph? This is:

Glenn Gravatt tells us about Remington firearms:

Bryan Kravitz (Philly Typewriter) told us about his ambitious plans to open a store in Philadelphia (he's been working out of his home) and host a typewriter festival there next summer:

I gave a presentation about customized typewriters like my Purple Prose Producer and Herman's giraffe-print Smith-Corona, both of which were present in the flesh.

The beauty contest attracted the curious to see curiosities in the pool room:

"Shabby chic":

Meanwhile, outdoors, there were typewriters galore for sale ...

... and typewriters that people put out for show and tell.

An Olivetti M40 War Version with German keyboard is a very unusual find in the US, but Monica Corwin snagged one on the road to Herman's:

An unusual Royal Electric with a low serial number looks like a giant Quiet Deluxe. Unfortunately, I didn't have the brains to take a picture of the typewriter itself, just these details:

Now it was time for the typing contest!

Some brave souls used 19th-century shiftless machines. Here's Ian Brumfield on his Caligraph (formerly mine), which isn't even QWERTY.

I used this Yost No. 4, but there wasn't enough ink in the ink pad for me to see the results clearly. Behind it is a Smith Premier.

I did my best to count my errors and came up with 27 wpm.

Do you think we sound as good as the Boston Typewriter Orchestra?

After pizza, as many were watching the first of two showings of "California Typewriter," I retreated to my hotel room to relax and write this post. 

You may have noticed a gorgeous burgundy Selectric in the beauty contest. This was customized by the expert hands of Brian Brumfield and is among the treasures I'm taking home.

Good night!

London miscellany and “Populaire” review

London: a twenty-first-century city haunted by many ghosts ...

... including the ghosts of typewriters ...

(seen in a Soho storefront)

Modern architecture in London includes some winners and losers. The Shard (left, finished thought it looks unfinished) is the city's highest building, currently mostly empty.

One place where 21st-century architecture is particularly on view is the south side of the Thames. This composite panorama shows both sides of the river, photographed from the Millennium Bridge, a pedestrian bridge. (Click to enlarge, but it's still not very big. If you want the really big size, e-mail me with a request.)

In the evening, the Thames can be magical.

This morning I went to the famous Portobello Road, which is a good place for antiques on Saturday mornings (get there before 10 to avoid the worst crowds). The scene below is more impressive when you realize that each entrance leads not to just one shop, but to an arcade or gallery holding a variety of booths, sometimes on several levels -- an intricate warren of vendors.

Items for sale include lots of glass, porcelain, books, and cameras:

Typewriters? Not so much, although this gentleman was selling two Good Companions for a stiff £125 apiece.

Other sightings included a Petite toy, an understroke Remington (probably no. 6 or 7), a Royal 10, and a Scheidegger Princess-Matic like mine.

And now the movie review:

The Cincy Typing Challenge this month marked the 125th anniversary of a legendary contest in Cincinnati that pitted Frank McGurrin (Remington 2) against Louis Traub (Caligraph). McGurrin's victory proved the advantages of having a shift key. The event included a typewriter display with machines from Herman Price's collection, my collection, and WordPlay; showings of "The Typewriter (In the 21st Century)"; and contests on typewriters, computers, phones, and the new TrewGrip mobile QWERTY keyboard, whose makers sponsored the contest.