TYPEWRITER TOUR: How I ended up with 17 typewriters (story time) 

I use to sell Smith Corona typewriters for 25 years. When they exited the typewriter business, I now continue to sell photocopiers. There is a lot of similarities between the two industries. Smith Corona now manufacturers and sells labels.

This is not only extremely adorable, it’s also such a reality for the collector-minded! Loved watching this video! Typewrite on with yourself, girl!

Thanks for showing your collection. I'm not a typewriter collector (I only have three that I found super cheap at a local Goodwill, and they all work like new; I only had to buy a new ribbon). I have an Underwood-Olivetti Lettera 22 (from the 1950s), a Smith Corona Super Silent, and a Royal KMM (from 1940).

oh, heck - you're just starting out. You'll have a few more years before you have the willpower to keep below 60 typers. :D

I used to have a similar obsession with old synthesizers. Apparently that's a thing now. The novelty wore off in my 20s. I could see myself getting back into typewriters. Been a long time. I never did buy a printer for my 8 bit. I'd recommend not moving home too often. It's easier to grow a collection that way. 😁 I still have cassettes for learning other languages. Lots of them. Now it's all about out of date computer programming books. Someone has to save them.

I just got my first typewriter! My BF found it at his grandpa's and they were going to throw it in the trash!!! So now it's mine. She is a 1947 Remington Model 5 and her name is Margaret. I am soooo glad I've found your channel because you are so funny and real!! Keep up the great work!

I can see why Dame Maggie Smith kept you up at night. She’s beautiful! I’ve collected typewriters since I was 14. But my collection has grown ridiculously since moving to Finland. Flea markets are everywhere here. So now I’ve got everything from 1940s Adlers to electric Olivettis filling the apartment 😊

woooow... I'm from Brazil, a true vintage lover (laugh) that's amazing to watch !!! I'm a big vintage's things fan. I reached here by chance. I'm an enthusiast writer, and these days I just got an Olivetti Lettera 35 from a friend as a gift. I made the enough adjustments and put it working again. It made me feel the taste for writing again... Congratulations... your typewriters collection is amazing. I'm happy with mine so far. As soon, I hope I can increase my collection too with some really old ones !!! Indeed, the feeling of writing in atypewriter is a magical one !!!

BTW I thought it was just me but I’m finding out more and more typewriter enthusiast have a slight addiction of not being able to pass up a Type Writer in the wild LOL. I started with a couple and now they are taking over my home. There is nothing wrong with people like us, it’s simply a passion and I love it. Keep collecting👍🏾

I am almost 50 years old, and halfway through high school (I graduated in 1990) our high school “evolved” from typing classes with manual typewriters to word processing classes on computers. I didn’t go straight to college right after high school - I actually held out until 1995. By then computers were the norm and the World Wide Web was blowing up. I was an English major, but I couldn’t afford a desktop computer like most college students had back then, or even a still relevantly new laptop. What I could afford was an electric Brother word processor which was basically a plastic, lightweight typewriter with a two line screen. That word processor served its function, but it also got me interested in old school manual typewriters that I actually used to hate during my early years of high school. I wouldn’t say I’m a rabid typewriter collector as I’ve managed to only acquire 22 of them all these years, and I’ve yet to make even one of them fully operational. I have had a few that were semi operational and I gave most of those away as gifts to younger people who showed any sort of interest in them. The truth is that I just love having them displayed especially in my art studio for I view them as readymade works of art, but I wouldn’t mind having at least just one of them in full working order to write on of course.

I was born in 1965 and I remember having one of those Tom Thumb typewriters. I collect typewriters, mostly IBM.

I started out the same way, watched the documentary and I was hooked. I got my first machine for $33, now two years later Ive got 32 , nearly all from ebay. Only two need taking apart but apart from tightening screws and oiling, they now all work. I know what you mean, you dare not say no incase they never appear again. Thats how I got the latest addition, the Patria.

In the printing shop that I have run for 30 years dad had two IBM Selectrics. He loved his that came with proportional spacing and a gothic type ball. I don’t have the Selectric any more. I wish I still had it. IBM no longer serviced them. Your interesting video made me remember dad in his splendor as a recognized entrepreneur typing a letter to a customer or to a provider, then us walking together to the post office in San Jose, Costa Rica to mail it! That Olympia is a true Teutonic gem of precision and toughness! IM glad that you managed to repair it!

I learned to type 40 years ago on the robotic entity known as the IBM Selectric. It's quite fun to see you geek-out over these machines and give them new life. You may have learned also how you can cut and superglue o-rings together to make them longer or shorter, as needed, as you have a mechanic dad who seems extremely helpful as well as encouraging. I really hope that you continue this journey of fulfilling discovery!

I used to have a IBM Selectric 2, beautiful engineering but was so complex, i miss my typewriter. Saw California typewriter on Tubi TV, pretty cool documentary, absolutely loved it

My first typewriter was a 1914 Royal model 10 if I'm not mistaken and I still have it to this day and just cleaned it up yesterday and it works perfectly

The thing I like about typewriters is that they come from an age (not too long ago) where things were made to last and were, to a reasonable degree, fixable by the user. Once things like smart phones and laptops reach a certain age there's not much you can do. And if you look at Apple they prevent you from repairing stuff at home and become obsolete. Lots of other things are made to be disposable and snap or whatever. Whereas these machines will outlive us all.

I just purchased my first typewriter and so looking forward to learning more about them!

Finally I have the time to watch this. Pure gold.

I have a 1931 Royal 10. But when I'm really writing manuals. I use a Quill and Acrylic Ink :)

The thing with typewriters-- they break. A lot. And when they do, they are extremely difficult- often impossible- to repair.

Oh my goodness, just discovered your channel because I picked up a 1950's Underwood at a thrift store (paid $100, not sure how you are able to find them for $25.) I love that you name your typewriters, so I am thinking of a name for mine! I will be giving it a good cleaning this week. Incidentally, I learned how to type on my mother's 1950s Remington, and took typing classes in high school in the 1980s, using IBM Selectrics, so I kinda want to find one of those, but I really, really don't want to turn into a collector! (no room!)

I remember when I had 12 or 13 typewriters-about a year into my collection back in 1982 when I was 14. BTW: typewriters do often hitch rides with me all the way home. Oh yes, my pet is my 1952 Royal HH manual upright named Eydie . She used reside in a school I went to as a boy.

I love typewriters! Personally, I have never really typed on a typewriter, but I have one. It belonged to my grandfather. It is a Remington Deluxe Model 5, I am guessing sometime from the 1940’s, and it is in bad condition. It is slightly rusted, the paint is chipping off, and everything seems to be working a little less properly due to the amount of dust and rust on the inside. I believe that it will be fixed, so it will definitely be taken to a typewriter repair shop. :3

I enjoyed this, thanks for taking the time to make this :)...I have nothing to say...I'm at 26 and holding....for now. I have my grandchildren apprenticing in repair&refurbish. Ages 7 to 12. Having a blast. Thanks again for taking the time to do this. By the way I name all my machines....Were working on Audrey at the moment.....Watch breakfast at Tiffany's....you'll see her.

I just recently got my first Olivetti Studio 45, can't wait to finish restoring it to its full potential before getting more :D

I have 18 of them, and counting... Love your channel

Love your channel! Keep on spreading the typewriter itch. I've been collecting typewriters myself for the past few years and I'm glad to find another girl my age is doing the same. I just found a Coronet Super 12 electric typewriter and I'm obsessed 😍😍 Happy typing!!

"... and I stupidely said yes." I am actually the friend dragging my gang into typing on those machines. On our way to setup a little typist club !

Love the story here. I have a Smith-Corona Corsair with the same SCM logo that you have on yours, which was the first typewriter that I bought. I had originally tried an electric Brother many years ago, but wanted a manual one. Even though I love my Corsair (non-deluxe version), I did need something a bit more portable that could work without a typing mat underneath it to stabilize it. A bit of a search later landed me in a 1959 Hermes Rocket, which I also like a lot. :) I do suspect that the typewriter collection might grow more than the fountain pens, which is at 17 pens approximately.

I’ve just got my second and I love it! My first belonged to my grandfather. I love how you name, I’m inspired xx

This was so cool to watch. I hope you do this again after your next round of acquisitions. I bought an old Corona 3 a few months back just to type notes and labels. I now have thirteen machines; Royals, Underwoods, Remingtons, the Corona and a beautiful Blickenderfer 7 with a wrap-around space bar. I’m hoping to stop at 15 machines but that won’t be easy now that I know about this whole sub-category of toy typers. What an odd addiction this is.

I just bought my third one. Since I live in Sweden it’s easiest to find typers made by the swedish company facit. So I have 2 facit privat, 1960s ish and 1 olivetti underwood 315.

If there's a consortium of typewriter collectors out there that nominates an ambassador for the hobby, I think they should nominate you. You have a wonderful way of personalizing and even humanizing your typewriters - including naming them and acknowledging their unique quirks and characteristics - that you make the idea of collecting them alluring. I'm probably around the same age as your parents (one of my daughters is just a year younger than you, maybe less), so I grew up with typewriters and could hardly wait to learn how to type when I was a kid, so I've always found the machines interesting. The only reason you haven't compelled me to start collecting some of my own is that I would first have to clear out a whole lot of stuff, including things I need for my IT consulting work, to make room for a typewriter display.

Very good vídeo, nice collection. Congratulations.

I have my Dad’s Smith Corona typewriter that His parents gave him for his college graduation in 1946. I used it to type my papers in the late 1960s - 70s.

Hello Sarah, I almost hesitate to mention this😊 Have you ever seen a Keaton Music Typewriter? I was so impressed when I discovered they existed. Then Lillian Pavey invented a newer model of this in the 60s😊 I would imagine it would be challenging to find a music typewriter but an interesting addition to your collection😊 Great job on the channel!

I love how the longer your video went on, the more you acknowledge that you might have a problem. And honestly, same... 😅 I only own two and even though I don't need them I often find myself researching other models and wishing I owned them.

That’s awsome! I just started about a month ago and I have 3. None of them are too old, my oldest it a Sears President 12, it’s manual. I have a Smith Corona Two Eighty XL, which is electric. And a Smith Corona DX 3500. Which is also electric.

Love the names. Great fun.

Just wanted to say it's cool to see a girl being so much into typewriters. Seems more like hobby/interest that attracts masculine audience yet you're here and with such amount too. Great if you can afford to keep them all without running outta space to keep them. I barely have space on desk for one, which in my case is circa 1935 Continental Standard, and some more tucked away as I can't have all nearby nor can't really use that much at once. But reviving one from the slumber of many decades is indeed exciting and is what I just did now, which in turn led to look up other people's typewriter vids. Personally I very much prefer the older non-plastic ones but I took whatever was given to me as well so have 7 at current moment.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who names my typewriters. I have two now, both are Royals. A Quiet De Lux and a KMG (Mazey & Gandalf the Grey). I am on the hunt for a decent Hermes, but would love to own a Smith Corona too.

Nice! My first real purchases were (2) Royal Futura 800's (one for parts, one that was working. Having picked up 3 more since then, I have to say- the Futura is still my favorite! Exact same color scheme as yours BTW- the parts model was Salmon-y and just didn't work for me. May try and paint her chrome just for fun.

Love your channel! Keep it up.

Great video, even better than your documentary. I have 27... and counting. One of them is a Royal Futura 800. Keep up the good work!

I've had my moms 300 deluxe 12 for 20 years and it still works

Oh you already know about California typewriter! Love your channel lol

I went in an antique store looking for an old chinese cabinet. I left with a Royal 10.

Hi! I'm Simon, and I just started collecting typewriters, I enjoyed this video very much, and funny enough we share the same birthday!

You should get more type-balls for your Selectric, you won't believe how many different type styles were made for the IBM Selectric.

17 typewriters. YES!! You are my hero.

I’m new and subscribed, I’ve always loved them but know nothing. Just bought one so hoping to learn how to use operate and maintain. Thanks for sharing this video . Take care and stay safe

The Olivetti Lettera 35 and 45 were workhorses.

Greetings to all. Today I have bought my very first typewriter: LECTRA 520. So far I'm loving it and I find that I'm really, really, REALLY excited. I think this is going to become one of my favorite RU-vid channels.

Oh, how fascinating to find another typewriter enthusiast who is sharing her excitement! Well... I must ask: What about... umm... fountain pens?:) I myself have four typewriters (Underwood Portable, Underwood Noiseless Portable, Groma Modell N and a Silver Reed from the 1970s). And after that I discovered fountain pens. In any case: good to see that you got interested in typewriters. Keep it up, yea!:)

I have Webster's twin! The only thing is, I don't know if it's a girl or a boy - typewriters are more difficult to sex than kittens. But it does look like it may be a male, because it's gray and black. Very Cary Grant. And maybe that should be the name! I enjoyed seeing your collection so much. These machines have brought so much joy into my life and I just love using them. Please show us the next one you get. And believe me, there will be a next one! Thanks so much! 🌸 (Why is there no typewriter emoji?)

I've got 4 typewriters at the moment with different alphabets. Watching your video, I'm just thinking, "I'm on the right track!" :D

I love typewriters esspecially mine it’s an underwood and it’s beautiful

What a cool video!

This was an amazing video. I've been wanting a typewriter since I learned how to use them 30 years ago. I keep looking but I find them expensive and also I'm afraid if I have to fix it I don't know how and im always worried about how easy it is to find the ribbons. BTW Holden is a very handsome guy lol. Thanks for sharing your experience, very interesting.

Just bought a royal futura 800 americano rare color and I am so excited for it to come. my last two typewriters were flops. The first one I bought was an electronic Smith Corona dictionary 800 but it was so broken it couldn’t be repaired so the next typewriter I bought was a beige Royal Safari I had so much hope but sadly Fed ex lost it in the mail. I just really hope this one will work and I will have a lot of good times with it.

Hahah I had the exact same thing happen. Found one at a second hand shop for 30 bucks and took it home. Then a week later, found another one... then another. Then I was the guy who had typewriters so I ended up with people giving me them or alerting me to the fact that there's another one for sale locally. I think within about a 6 or 8 month period, I wound up with about 15 or 16, all of them working, a couple with some quirks and a couple of ones that need a bit of work.

I'm bought myself a blue Montana Montanina for my birthday, I'm picking it up tomorrow and I can't wait!

The IBM selectric 2 was the first one I ever had and I got it from when my mom bought a desk and the seller included it because no-one wanted it

That isn’t a 1957 Smith Corona electric. It looks like a 1967 Smith Corona electric. Oh they did have portable electric machines in 1957, but they were all manual return and they looked like Silent Supers with huge lower mandibles. Great typers all!!

Cool. It‘s very US-centric collection though. Try some of the great ones. Olympia, Princess, Olivetti portables, Japanese made Adlers and Brothers.

Loved California Typewriter. Sadly, the documentary was not enough to save the store.

Love your videos. I collect typewriters myself. I have a total of eight so far.

Mam I am from india and my grandfather has owned the typewriter shop but In india typewriter life is from 1921-2003 now in india I think their only 1000 type writer left maybe in government place we miss it so much

Leon, as in Resident Evil?!? Brilliant!

i don't know if you take video recommendations, but i have been trying to find places on the internet on how to use a typewriter, (maybe make series bc you have so many?) I have a Smith-Corona Pacemaker from the 1960s as you said that i bought from a friend who didnt want it for 35 dollars and i really want to make it last. so glad i found your channel!

I just got a 1913 Royal #5 typewriter (flat bed) am so excited!!

Just my opinion, I enjoy listening the channel is real and honest and you do a great job only complaint is the music type which is distracting the listener and fighting to hear u. Even if it was lower in the edit, the style music is too much and distracting. But keep up the great work👍🏾

I’ve been contemplating this for a few years but storage is an issue in my little home. Where/how do you store or display your collection?

I can't even... this isn't hate or anything btw! This is just so unreal, but so quirky and precious!! I can't even! Enjoying watching this though, very much and unexpectedly! 🤣❤👍

Typewriters will never die!

You need an Erika 10 -- perhaps the only piece of East German engineering that not only competes with but arguably beats the West. I just got a 1958 Erika 10 in Berlin for 125 euros. It's in perfect condition, not a scratch; I felt like I was stealing it from the guy. Typewriterreview.com said: "There’s nothing wrong with most other typewriters, they work, they get the job done, but when it comes to that elusive feel, the Erika has no equal. I’ve used dozens of typewriters, all in the quest for “The One.” That journey just ended. If you’re serious about writing and typewriters, stop looking. Get an Erika 10."

I'm at 5.5 typewriters. (One is a parts machine.) I hope to restore #5 using parts from number 5.5. They all have different personalities, and it's interesting how what I do on each one is so different. So storage is turning out to be the main problem...

How did I end up here? RU-vid keeps trying to find more hobbies for me than I could possibly have time form. But, I guess I can't blame this on RU-vid. Something made me think of searching for typewriter repair videos on RU-vid this morning. I have a fondness for machines in general, and have a few typewriters I haven't done anything with in a while. The first, and the one I was thinking of this morning, is an IBM model B electric. Back in the '70s my father spotted it on a shelf where he worked. He asked around, found out it wasn't used anymore, and got it for next to nothing. It's needed a new drive belt for a couple of decades, and has been out in my garage almost that long. O-Rings won't cut it. It takes a toothed belt. I need to try to find one so I can attempt to bring it back to life. I think its motor also needs a lube job. I tried powering up the motor a while back and it sounded terrible. I also have three other typewriters - one of the later IBM Selectrics, a manual Olympia, and a manual Underwood with a very wide carriage that's probably from the '30s. From a quick measurement it could handle paper about 19" wide. I need to do some research and figure out exactly what models I have. I love the style of many of the older typewriters. In the similar machine category I also have a couple of manual Stenographs that I've never learned how to use.

I have that Olympia typewriter as well! I named mine Gerald!!

Hi just last Saturday i bought an Olympia Traveller type writer , it had its original sales docket taped to its lid from 1977

better with you than just sitting around haha. thanks for the vid

You are so funny. I used to repair typewriters and train others to do the same..

Oh gosh! I’m getting my first typewriter off fb marketplace soon (just gotta pick it up) and watching your video is making me nervous. The guy selling it, doesn’t really know what condition its in and you’re here saying all these things about the interals of typewriters that I didn’t even know existed! I know I can always go to a typewriter repair person but gosh now I feel like should do a lot more research !

I am trying to buy one and use sometimes in house, can you recommend one which is easy to get consumables and easy to maintain. Thank you.

Man, you are getting typewriters for such cheap prices. When I bought my first typewriter at a thrift shop, the seller wasn't there so I couldn't haggle. I paid 180 for it.

I have no idea how i got here but here's a sub

And I have 25 vintage/antique sewing machines! Lol

I have the same B-day as you!

My mom just asked me why I wanted a typewriter so I had to explain how in elementary school I saw the goosebumps episode "the blob that ate everyone" and I really wanted a typewriter. And I didn't get one sooner cause when I remembered I didn't have the money and when I had the money I didn't remember until recently when I got a smith corona super 12 electric typewriter

I’m gonna name my typewriter Anastasia

Loved this- sorry I stole your typewriter. ❤️❤️❤️

I have 7 typewriters. We are not crazy, they are just awesome.

We have the same birthday!!

Can you please suggest me from where can I buy a typewriter and which brand and model of typewriter is good .. please tell me

What about the two typewriters used in THE DARK HALF from 1992

Strangely, I'm getting an obsession with typewriters now. I was in a charity shop last week and I saw this typewriter sitting and I decided to buy it out of curiosity as I've never used one before, and now I'm buying yet another one on eBay. Help me!

I name my typewriters too! I wish they could tell their stories…

It is said that in some countries (in Asia Africa Federaion of Russia) new typewriters are still used - who manufactures them? *

Happy boithday early or late.