"you know how easy it would be to pick up an old typewriter at a flea market, garage sale or estate sale."
Oh, I don't know. I've been trying to corner the market on eight track tapes and eight track players for some time now. :-)
You'd be surprised how few of them there are in playing condition.
No, if you remember eight track tapes and players you wouldn't be surprised.
I was just at an estate sale a couple of weeks ago with 8 tracks and a working player, 3 typewriters. Each of them went for under $5 bucks.