Typewriters experience a comeback

upi ^ | Dec. 19, 2011

[JoeProBono]

NEW YORK, - New York typewriter sellers said the low-tech machines are experiencing a comeback among writers who like to avoid distractions.

Paul Schweitzer, 73, whose Gramercy Typewriter Co. was founded by his father Abraham in 1932, said he started working on laser printers when typewriters fell out of fashion in the 1990s, but he has lately had many customers bringing in old typewriters to be restored, the New York Daily News reported Monday.

"They have their computers, they have their blackberries or iPads or whatever it is, but they still would like to have a typewriter. They like the idea of pressing the keys and having the words hit the paper," Schweitzer said.

Donna Brady of Brady & Kowalksi Writing Machines said she and her partner have had a lot of interest in the typewriters they sell at Brooklyn Flea.

"The more disconnected we get from other humans because of electronic devices ... the more we kind of want to get away from those gadgets," she said. "A lot of people still want to be productive, but would like to get away from the screen."

[KarlInOhio]

The fun of creating slugs of lead without a backspce etaoin shrdlu etaoin shrdlu etaoin shrdlu
The fun of creating slugs of lead without a backspace key or even a way to easily delete a line.

[ken5050]

and with every typewrite you buy, they throw in a package or carbon paper, a roll of Correct-type, and a jar of White-out;..

[Daffynition]

Heh. I threw out several of those correct-tapes ...shoulda put them on eBay. ;(

[JoeProBono]

Company History Believe it or not, the name Rock-Ola is actually derived from the name of the company's founder. It also happens to be a real cool name for a jukebox, implying a "rock 'n' roll' play on words.

David C. Rockola was born in Canada and as a young boy worked as a mechanic in a shop that repaired coin-operated devices. By 1926 he had his own company manufacturing coin-operated scales.

In the 1930s Rockola moved into pinball games and many other devices. As the demand for coin-operated phonographs increased the temptation to enter the jukebox arena, Rockola purchased a mechanism from a man named Smythe. Rockola reengineered this 12-select mechanism and started making jukeboxes in a big way (1935 Rock-Ola).

Farny Wurlitzer viewed this a huge threat to his business based on Rockola's success in other machines. Wurlitzer tried to convince David Rockola that there was no room in the industry for another manufacturer.

Wurlitzer then filed a $1 million lawsuit claiming patent infringement on the Smythe mechanism. Rockola eventually won the suit but not until he had spent half a million dollars in legal fees

. This hurt Rockola but didn't kill him. He continued manufacturing and in 1939 introduced a series of very successful jukeboxes called "Luxury Light-Up".

David C. Rockola (with glasses) with his attorney Louis Piquette

[RegulatorCountry]

They actually have done such a set, special limited edition, could be had for $170 but now they're wiped out at retail and going for $599.00 online if you can find one.

[JoeProBono]

The Rockola Master Rockolite aka the Luxury Light-up

[DonkeyBonker]

State of the art! That is how I learned to type.

[SamAdams76]

That photo just brought me back in time to 1977 and that picture tells a thousand words right there. That’s exactly how most offices looked back then. Women doing all the work and men in suits coming back from lunch and getting their messages from the secretary on the way in.

[Oatka]

That photo is a trip down memory Lane as I was a typesetter from 1955-1967.

The machine in the foreground looks something like the old Linotype #18, with a 28-channel side magazine for special fonts. A tad later design though.

The machine was a marvel of engineering and I loved working on it. I half suspect I’d go back to it if they ever came back.

The max speed was seven lines of straight matter (news) a minute. I had some friends who worked on porno books and said they pushed the machine to the max because they wanted to get to the end of the story before a shift change.

[JoeProBono]

[abb]

Since mid-2009, when I became a real, live working reporter for my own newsblog (I cover local government as a hobby), I have been studying and reading quite a bit of journalism and communications history.

It took huge amounts of men and machinery to put out a paper. Lots of history there. One of my favorite Bogart movies is “Deadline USA.”

[Daffynition]

A stroll down memory lane.

[JoeProBono]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT_QNC6o24E&feature=related

[miss marmelstein]

Sorry, your Selectric didn’t work out. Perfect for envelopes.

[Calvin Locke]

LOL, no, but when I stopped by his office, his secretary was using the typewriter for envelopes.

I was kind, and showed her how to use the Word envelope feature and the laser printer.

[miss marmelstein]

Thanks for all those beauties. If it was a “buy it now” at a responsible price, I’d definitely go for it (as long as it had all the proper balls, you should pardon my expresion!)

[Daffynition]

Kewl!! Groooooovy!!!!

[left that other site]

I remember when the IBM Selectric was the ULTIMATE. In the office where I worked, we all had old clunkers, and they were being replaced slowly by the Selectric.

We also had a room FULL of TTY machines EEK!

[Roccus]

BEST TOY EVER!!!

[JoeProBono]