Independence Day: an excerpt from Evertype

From my novel Evertype. Illustration by Trent Reker.  

A double gothic font

 For all you goths out there ...

Now available on The Classic Typewriter Page.

Interview with Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader (born 1934, still active today) is a consumer advocate and political leader who interviewed me for his radio show in 2016. Typospherian Elizabeth L. kindly typed up the following transcript recently and shared it with me.

Source: Ralph Nader Radio Hour, January 24, 2016 (starts at 43:16, ends 57:44)

Discussion with Richard Polt, author of The Typewriter Revolution

ANNOUNCER/STEVE: Now, as most of you know, over the course of the last fifty years, Ralph has written a lot of books.  I mean, a lot of books.  And probably thousands of columns.  What you may not realize is that every single one of those books and columns have been written on a typewriter.  Well apparently, according to our next guest, Ralph is not behind the curve—he once again is ahead of the curve.  Dr. Richard Polt is a professor of philosophy at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.  His main interests are the metaphysical and ethical problems of Greek and German philosophy.  He has taught lots of courses on a variety of topics, including Plato, Aristotle, Kant, German idealism, existentialism, slavery, time, and Heidegger.  But today he’s here to talk to us about one of Ralph’s great loves: typewriters.  Welcome to the Ralph Nader Radio Hour, Dr. Richard Polt!

POLT: Thank you very much.

NADER: Indeed, this is a delight! I have five Underwood standard typewriters, I only use a standard typewriter.  One of my favorites years ago was the Smith-Corona Skyriter, what a durable typewriter that was, that was first sold in 1949.  I typed a lot of senior theses for Princeton seniors in the 50s, in order to pay for some of my expenses.  So it’s a delight to see that someone has written a book, Richard Polt, to be exact, a professor, called The Typewriter Revolution: A Typist’s Companion for the 21st Century.  And it sort of reminds me of neckties.  Never throw away a necktie.  You get a broad necktie, a narrow necktie, it goes into fashion, but if you hold it long enough all neckties will come back into fashion.  Now what you’re saying, Professor Polt, is that typewriters are coming back into fashion.  Why?

POLT: It’s true.  Well, it’s sort of full circle, except they don’t mean what they used to mean, right?  Because they still do the same thing mechanically, but the world has changed around them, so now I think their meaning has changed quite a bit.  Now, the typewriter is sort of... like you, a sort of rebel and an individualist, and they’re also perceived as something personal and even romantic sometimes, sentimental, people like to write poetry on them, and they’re an alternative to the standard, which is now, of course, to do things digitally.

NADER: You know, you have a wonderful statement, which basically is titled, “Ten Non-Hipster Reasons to use a Typewriter Instead of a Laptop.”   And before we get into that, you claim that you are one of the experts consulted about the fake George W. Bush typewritten documents that fooled “60 Minutes.”   Could you explain that?

POLT: Yeah.  You might recall that this is the scandal that eventually brought down Dan Rather, unfortunately.  But “60 Minutes” ran a story during the 2004 election that questioned the legitimacy of President Bush’s military service, and they produced these documents supposedly written in the early ‘70s ... When I first looked at them, my initial reaction was immediately, well, that was done with a word processor.  And a lot of people had the same reaction.  It turned out to be a little bit more complicated because in the early ‘70s you did have some very sophisticated typewriters that could do differential spacing so that not every letter takes up the same width, and so on, so it got quite technical, but when all was said and done I had no doubt at all that that was made with a Times New Roman font on a computer.  

NADER: Yes, and it was unfortunate because the essence of Dan Rather’s report, that George W. Bush received preferential treatment when he joined the Air Force Reserves, which was not about to head for Vietnam, and was stationed in the South, was true!  It was an accurate story, but it had that side to it that was unfortunate [that] you just described.  Now I want to go through just a few of the reasons for using a typewriter instead of a laptop, and I want to say that one of the reasons that I use a typewriter is that I don’t like to write a lot of drafts.  And when you use a typewriter, you have to erase.  And I don’t like to erase.  So it imposes a discipline on me to have my first draft as close to my final draft as possible.  Whereas when you’re on a computer you can so easily change things and rearrange things so that early drafts may be sloppier than they would otherwise be.  Also, when the lights go out, computers shut down.  We’re still working—right, Professor Polt?

POLT: That’s right.  That’s really satisfying.

[they laugh]

NADER: Okay, one reason you give, sustainability.  Briefly, what do you mean by that?

POLT: Well, if you look at how our digital devices are produced and how long they last, if they are made in these factories which often do have some questionable environmental and labor practices, and then they’re obsolete within a couple of years, you know a five-year-old computer or smartphone is a piece of junk.  And what happens to that junk?  Well, it turns into e-waste and it’s actually treated in a very hazardous way, and along the way of course it sucks up a lot of electricity, so...  I’m not a teetotaller about digital devices at all, but they’re certainly not the green machines that people pretend they are.  Whereas a typewriter was made a long time ago, and if it’s a manual it’s not going to use any electricity, it doesn’t have to use a lot of paper—there’s a lot of unused or recycled paper that you can just pick up—so it’s very good for the planet, I think.

NADER: And the second reason you give: focus.  You say, focus.  The typewriter was made to do one thing: type.  Explain that.

POLT: Well, this is a really important one for me, because I do teach philosophy, and in philosophy you have to think through an idea and often the going gets tough, intellectually.  If I’m on a computer my temptation is to say, Oh, I’ll just check my email, or I’ll check eBay and maybe buy a new typewriter.  But if I’m just at the typewriter it’s waiting for me to do one thing, which is work through an idea.  And that’s why I like to brainstorm at the typewriter and just see where it takes me.  So it’s very good for sustaining attention just on the task of writing.

NADER: Whereas at a computer there are so many distractions.  You could even take off and play a video game or something.  Or shop.

POLT: Sure.

NADER: Or shop for something.  So that’s what you mean by focus with a manual, regular typewriter. Another point you make is privacy, comparing computers with typewriters.  Explain that.

POLT: Well, we’ve made a lot of compromises, haven’t we? I think we’re realizing this, thanks to the efforts of Edward Snowden, for instance, we know that anything you do digitally either is, or it can be,  automatically collected and analyzed by the government, or corporations, or hackers, and even if they don’t end up misusing your data, and in most cases they won’t do anything with it, not that you know, it still creates this sense that somebody’s looking over your shoulder.  I don’t think it’s good for your consciousness.  So I, I like to do things that I’m just doing to do them, not in order to be seen a certain way by somebody.  So if you really want to be private, I would never put anything really intimate in an email, say, that somebody had typewritten. Or, for that matter, a handwritten letter is still the best way.

NADER: And you point out, “It’s no wonder that top secret agencies, from the Kremlin to MI6, rely on typewriters today.”  The next one would make Ralph Waldo Emerson very happy.  Self-reliance.  Compare typewriters with computers.

POLT: Well, I can understand my typewriter.  It took me a while because I’m not a mechanically gifted person really, but I got a little bit braver and started taking typewriters apart, and thinking about them, I found that, yes, I can understand exactly how this works and I can fix it and keep it running for decades.  Whereas you really have to be a very specialized expert to understand all of the hardware and software in one of the devices that we use every day.

NADER: Not to mention the fine-print contracts you mentioned.

POLT: Oh, yes, absolutely.  So we sign these agreements.  Every few days they get updated and how many of us actually read them? 

NADER: Another one deals with correspondence.  I love this one.  Explain correspondence.  Typewriters compared to digital communication.

POLT: Well, again, I’m not a teetotaller, and so I use Facebook, to a limited extent. There’s actually a typewriter lovers’ group on Facebook, which is a lot of fun, you can exchange information and pictures and so on, but are those people really my friends?  Well, in some cases I have met them, and they are.  And in others they’re basically just names to me.  So, as I say, we’ve never had more “friends,” but a real friend is hard to find.  And a very nice thing to do to a real friend is to send them a unique letter that you’ve typed on your typewriter, and they will be just delighted before they even read the letter, because they know that you went to some trouble.

NADER: For more lore on typewriters there’s a wonderful book that Professor Polt has just put out, 382 pages, called The Typewriter Revolution: A Typist’s Companion for the 21st Century.  It’s attracting young people who are turning off the digital world, and getting back to something they can feel and control, and not have their privacy invaded, and on and on, you give a lot of reasons, but I have two quick questions.  One is, a criticism of your book—and it’s not you, it’s the designer.  Because when I’m leafing through your book, the type is very tiny, and the type is very light, except for the boldface paragraphs and quotes.  How did you allow that to happen?  I mean, someone as sensitive and as philosophical as you, Professor Polt, will basically tell people, elderly people in particular, Get ready to squint if you want to enjoy my book!

POLT: Ralph, I’m sorry to hear that.  I have had one other complaint, but just one.  I don’t find it difficult to read myself, but it is a sans serif font and for some people the fonts with serifs, I think regardless of size, are just easier on the eye.  

NADER: What’s interesting is the pages are not as clearly written as a typewriter with a modestly new ribbon.

POLT: Well, I’m sorry to hear that that’s your experience of it.

NADER: Okay, well maybe in the next edition you can get together with your designer.  By the way, this is a very common situation with designers of published material now.  In order to highlight the little quotes in the pages with dark type, they go to the opposite and produce very light type for the bulk of the words on the page, so it’s not just a criticism of your designer, it’s true all over at the present time, where art interferes with function.  Now here’s a practical question.  Some of our listeners, who use typewriters or want to use typewriters, what about getting, a, ribbons, b, repair services, and c, carbon paper.  Are they available other than online?  I know you mention it in your book.

ANNOUNCER/STEVE: Antique shops, maybe, Ralph?  Could they be in antique shops?

NADER: I just bought my latest typewriter from an antique shop.  But other than trying to get this online, are there repair shops reasonably scattered around the country?

POLT: Well, they’re scattered, but they do exist.  Unfortunately, if you don’t want to use any online information it becomes more difficult.  I do have a website called The Classic Typewriter Page where I have an updated list of repairmen—they’re usually men—around the world, and I have about 200 people in the U.S., so more than you might think, and some of them still have typewriter shops that only do typewriters.  It’s a very traditional model, there’s just a few left, others have branched out into other office machines, and others are retired and working from their garage.  But they’re out there.  And ribbon can often be found at your local Staples or, of course, online, and I think carbon paper can also still be located.  So these supplies are not impossible to find at all.

NADER: Anybody under thirty, you say “carbon paper,” they say, “what”?

POLT: Yeah, there’s really kind of an antique...

NADER: Steve, did you...

ANNOUNCER/STEVE: I was going to say, it’s delightful hearing both of you “geek out” over typewriters here.  I happen to know that there’s a celebrity, I don’t know if you know about this, Doctor, that Tom Hanks is a big typewriter aficionado.  Were you aware of that?

POLT: I was.  I’ve never gotten a chance to meet him and talk to him about it, unfortunately, but he will write letters to people on his typewriter, he’ll keep score at baseball games on his typewriter, and I hear he’s planning a book of short stories that no doubt he’s going to write on his collection of hundreds of typewriters.

NADER: I think you may have touched on an important point.  When I send letters to people they know it’s on a typewriter, and they feel flattered.  It’s like, “Oh!  He actually typed the letter to me!”  And I think you can get through to people more if you actually type a letter to them rather than do it digitally.  What do you say about that?

POLT: Oh, absolutely.  It’s very impressive.  Because part of the message the typewriting sends today is that you took the trouble to do something in a way that’s a little bit slower, a little bit harder, a little more individual, and people appreciate that.  Another thing that comes to mind is another celebrity who I recently discovered loves her typewriter is Lady Gaga.  The famous musician.  She has been photographed composing lyrics on her Underwood portable.

NADER: Well, more people are going gaga over typewriters, Professor Polt...

POLT: That’s right.

NADER: And your book is going to help this.  I can’t even describe how delightful the book is, it’s got pictures of typewriters old and newer, it’s got cartoons, it’s got quotes from people, it’s got so many things.  You can just read a little at a time and you’re in a completely different world than you’re being enveloped in the digital virtual reality world.  So it’s a refreshing exploration.  For those of you who are so modernistic that you pooh-pooh this, just think of it as you would think about exploring a cave.  Call yourself a spelunkering explorer of the world of typewriters.

POLT: [laughs]

NADER: Thank you very much, Professor Polt.

POLT: Thank you, and happy typing to you.

NADER: All the best to you.

ANNOUNCER/STEVE: We’ve been speaking with Dr. Richard Polt, author of The Typewriter Revolution.  For more information go to typewriterrevolution.com or the Typewriter Revolution Facebook page.  So that’s our show.  A transcript of this episode will be posted on ralphnaderradiohour.com.  For Ralph’s weekly blog, written on a typewriter, go to nader.org.  

Xenia type-in

Trevor Brumfield at work:

Two big '70s Royals ... but the one on the left is really an Adler.

Absorbed in a Voss (formerly mine, now Gery's):

Fabulous decals designed by Erin Williams:

Erin's Torpedo was made in West Germany and sold in Hong Kong:

 

The Manifesto in Uruguay

On Typewriter Day (June 23), a typospherian in Uruguay who prefers to remain anonymous took the initiative to leave typewritten notes of encouragement in public places.

Here's an example:

"When troubles overwhelm you and challenging clouds threaten you on the horizon, don't forget that after every storm there always comes the calm. Happy World Typewriter Day! June 23, 2026." 

He also put up his translation of my Typewriter Manifesto:

Small gestures can have large meanings. Fragile messages can be retyped on other continents. Our insurgency continues.

An interview with Charlene Oesch, typewriter ribbon manufacturer

Many typists, including me, were sad to learn that Charlene Oesch died recently. Her small business, Baco Ribbons, was my go-to source; I used hundreds if not thousands of her nylon ribbons on Underwood-style spools, as well as several big rolls and some specialty items: she could provide narrow ribbons for adding machines, toy typewriters, and more.

Baco was not the last typewriter ribbon manufacturer. You can find some other sources here. But Charlene will certainly be missed.

In The Typewriter Revolution, I published some rearranged excerpts from an interview with Charlene. I thought it would be nice to publish the whole interview here.

Interview with Charlene Oesch of Baco Ribbons, Ballwin, Missouri

April 17, 2013

 

How did Baco Ribbons get started? What is its history?

 

My father came out of WWII repairing cash registers for NCR. He somehow got connected with a man in downtown St. Louis and started to make ribbons. I don’t know where Baco came from, it was whoever had the company before. I just came across a letter my dad wrote to my mother before they were married, dated March 17, 1939. Second generation now. Started with cash register ribbons and typewriter ribbons, then evolved into check collectors, calculators, credit card machines. Also ink rollers.

 

At one time I had 8 women working for me. I’ve consolidated, trying to slow down and move business closer to home. But now I’m really busy. 

 

How many people work there?

 

Now I have 3 part-time women working for me. Never had a salesman, website, ads, just word of mouth. I’ll be 62 this year, I’m trying to gear back myself.

 

Are there other ribbon manufacturers in the US?

 

Competition has died. If they don’t make 100,000 of something they quit making them. Yesterday I sent out 2 dozen green ribbons. Most everything is made in China, but quality is not good ... but at least they’re putting it out and distributing it and it works. Correctype is out of business, Fine Line Ribbon in Texas makes ribbons still.

 

I don’t get into the machines themselves. ... The typewriters of older days, you can’t destroy them. But there are so many fewer men that repair them now ... my dad was involved with junior colleges here and they had an office machine repair department in the school; he helped generate that and he supplied tools, chemicals, etc. We were an Ames agent. There’s no one left to refurbish platens.

 

Dad had a collection of old typewriters. I had an old Hammond, a collector from Connecticut wanted to buy it in ’87, came back later.

 

Tell me about the process and equipment.

 

You buy fabric in reels like you’d buy a bolt, slit it into widths from half inch to 4.5 ... An inking machine is like a wringer washing machine, it has wheels that pick up ink and throw it onto rollers. You change rollers for different degrees of inking.

 

There are spoolers, loaders, stuffers ... Impression-grade ink: the company will not make it anymore, I had to go to a different manufacturer. Suppliers are dwindling. Used to have 5 different spool/cartridge manufacturers that do the molding process, now 2-3. IBM Selectric III cartridges: company just quit making them, no one picked up the mold. To get an impression mold made is $30,000 or so. If there isn’t enough demand out there, it’s not profitable. Xerox ribbons have died. Demand is low. 3D printing could be a solution ...

 

Have you seen a rise in demand?

 

I started to notice a couple of years ago. I’ve had people find me through you, through word of mouth. I have an order right now for Canada. I don’t solicit, don’t go for retail at all, would rather be wholesale.

 

Who is buying typewriter ribbons?

 

Law offices, people with forms to fill out, Jones Typewriter in St. Louis. I met Bill at Mesa TW Exchange. Lots of interesting people around the US ... it’s sad because a lot of repair men used hazardous chemicals, and a lot have had cancer. Over the years—I’m not a doctor, but my dad was friends with a lot of people in the industry. A lot of the cleaning chemicals are considered hazardous. Big wash tanks for chemical baths ... that chemical isn’t sold anymore. It’s like asbestos or the stuff they put in the popcorn, you never know what you’re subjected to. 

 

My dad had arch—second-generation—competitors like Bushnell Ribbon in California. Now the son and I talk all the time. The competition’s gone, they’re on that side and I’m in the middle. Competition is usually on the East and West coast, because that’s where the products come from—fabric, ink. But now I’ve had a corner on the market being in the middle of the US. 

 

My dad was a member of the ICRDA, International Cash Register Dealers Association. Groups of people in the same industry got together and had conventions. That was my vacation when I was little, we’d travel around the US going to conventions all the time. 

 

Do you yourself type?

 

No.

 

Do you see any obstacles to continuing ribbon production? If people get desperate, can they make typewriter ribbons themselves?

 

Lots of people want to buy the ribbon in bulk, a big reel of inked ribbon. Some manufacturers make time clock ribbons.... You can’t evenly ink fabric on your own. You need special formulated ink that doesn’t dry.

 

There was a lot of friendship and camaraderie that’s gone. Back when we had a bigger facility they told me I should open up a bar in the back of the building. It was fun because everybody knew everybody in St. Louis. Now I have very little walk-in business, I keep my doors locked. 

 

How long do you see yourself continuing?

 

I think I can still do this from a wheelchair. I have to pay my health insurance. Have to make it to 65 ... I can foresee someday moving this to my basement and just operating out of my house. 

 

How big is the equipment?

 

When I moved I put a lot of it in my basement. The inking machines are in my basement.

 

I don’t get vacations, I just take a Friday or Monday and forward calls to my cell. It’s depressing to not be able to enjoy life. You just have to be there for your customers. 

 

The machines should be preserved; they are definitely antiques, no one makes that kind of equipment. Some rollers need to be recovered. The rollers have a shoulder on the edges, are 10-12” long with shoulder of 2” on each side and in the middle it’s recessed so the fabric can run through. Rollers run on the shoulders. Hardened steel. They get worn after a while; a machine shop has to grind it down, put new hardened steel on it. Most of the time they look at me and say “you want me to do what?” It’s down to the millimeter as far as the tolerances go. 

 

Could someone come in and run your business? 

 

I don’t think so, it’s such a specialty. One machine is run by touch. Some are run by air compressors, some by motors. The touch, the feel, the degree of inking is so specific that no one else could do it. I’ve seriously thought about videotaping myself doing it so there are some references. 

 

My son is an engineer, he has absolutely no interest in the business. I got a degree in teaching, my mom died and Dad said you take over the business or I’m going to sell it. In ’87 there were no teaching jobs, so I took over and have done it since then. 

 

It was all in my dad’s head, and it’s all in my head. Nothing is written down, there’s no reference material. I have not put out a catalog, have not put out a price list.

Recovering the platen on a Fox 23

The Fox Typewriter Co. of Grand Rapids produced some of the finest and most beautiful typewriters ever (much more here). I have the good fortune to own a lovely Fox no. 23, made in 1908 and still in near-mint condition, with a few exceptions. Its typebar rests, consisting of leather-wrapped sand, became brittle; its feet are squashed; its fragile ribbon vibrator broke and has been repaired with a little metal tape; and its platen was rock hard. (I believe I had it redone by the late Ames Co. around 25 years ago, but if I did, either they used rubber that was too hard, or it hardened over time.)

I decided to get the platen recovered by J.J. Short. This required some disassembly, which I've decided to explain on this blog for the convenience of future Fox owners.

The platen easily pops out of the typewriter when you slide back two pieces at either end that hold it in the carriage. 

The left end of the platen looks like this:

Now let's take it apart. (I recommend storing the pieces in a sealed bag.) Disassemble the left end by unscrewing the platen knob. (Note that the left and right platen knobs are not interchangeable.) Under the knob there is a flanged bushing that slips over the platen shaft. It slips off easily. 

Now remove one set screw that holds the platen shaft in place (it fits into an almond-shaped depression in the shaft) and three wood screws. There is also a fourth hole in the platen cap (you can spot it in the two photos above; it's hidden behind the shaft in the photo below). This hole goes over a hole in the wood, but at least on my typewriter there was no screw there. Maybe it's just meant for alignment.

Once the screws are out and you've also removed the right platen knob, you can remove the platen shaft and the left platen cap. The cap fits tightly into the wooden platen. I found that it helped to insert a small screwdriver into the opening and use it to gain a little leverage that helped me pull out the cap.  

Now let's disassemble the right end:

Unscrew the knob. (You will notice that as soon as it is even slightly unscrewed, the ratchet wheel spins freely. This is how you get variable line spacing on a Fox.) Under the knob is a flanged bushing (different from the bushing on the left end) and inside the bushing is a tube (not visible in these photos) that slips over the platen shaft.

The ratchet wheel slips right off, and under it is a platen cap (different from the left one) held on by three wood screws (same as the screws on the left end).

These instructions should be enough for anyone to handle disassembly, but I still recommend taking photos of your own platen as you go. Send the platen off for recovering, and look forward to the moment of its return!

When reassembling the platen, make sure to get the platen caps tightly into the wood. I tapped them with a hammer and screwed the wood screws in tightly (but not so tightly as to ruin the wood). If the caps are not in tightly, the platen will not fit back into the carriage. 

Now I want to use this typewriter regularly!

Calling it quits

A tech guy decides to call it quits.

Thanks to Mark Hurst of Techtonic for pointing me to this post.

Springtime typewriter safari

I just reduced my typewriters by about 2/3: in approximate numbers, I sold 100 machines and gave away 100 parts machines, leaving 100 in my collection. But of course that doesn't mean I'm not interested in typewriters anymore! It's still fun to go on safari and see what there is to be found in the "wild" of the local antique mall. This morning was a great time to do that, right after getting cortisone shots under my patellas (I barely felt it, the doctor knows his stuff).

Well, here's an Underwood no. 6, I believe, with 11-inch platen, that has been through some dramatic price reductions: from $380 to $249 to $199. With the stern warning "please do not type or play," I think it's going to linger longer.

Another reduction: this Sears Scholar went from $95 to $79. It remains a model that will excite very few.

Another Underwood, this one a beefy Master, proposes a price of $97. The rust is free.

A portable Underwood, for a change. ... What's this? A fresh concept in typewriter sales! You can buy the machine for $59.99, and underneath it there happens to be an "Empty typewriter box" that you can get for a mere $22.50! Gee, I wonder what used to be in that case....

Here's a reasonable price, for once: $49 for a Royal FP. With some cleaning and care, this could be a workhorse once again.

Another Underwood no. 6, this one with a 10-inch platen, is offered for $65.

And yes, it's yet another Underwood. Maybe a model S or SS, for $90.

Here's what has been typed on the page. 

Isn't it amazing that "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country" (or "party") is still a familiar sample sentence for many of us? According to Charles Weller's The Early History of the Typewriter (1921), he and others who were early testers of prototypes of the Sholes & Glidden in the late 1860s used this sentence to test the Type Writer! Whether or not this is true, evidently the sentence was a cliché by 1921, now 105 years ago.

At this point my luck changed! In a booth that has never included typewriters before, I spotted an Oliver no. 3 (1902-1907) for $129.99, in typical condition.

Next was ... yet another Underwood. But at least it was a visually interesting Jewell from the '50s. Price: $75. Feel: kind of rickety, like most Underwood portables of the period.

And still another Underwood! A rather "amazing," as the seller says, wide-wide-carriage model for $110.

That was it for the typewriters. No, I didn't buy any of them. If I were a beginning collector, though, I would have gotten the Oliver for sure. How about you?

There was one more item that did tempt me. This Burroughs Calculator is so cute and well-preserved! It's strictly an adding machine, with no other arithmetic functions, and it works quite simply. As you input amounts on the keyboard, the display facing you immediately updates the total. The crank on the right resets the device to zero.

You never know what — or Whom — you'll find at the antique mall . . . . . .