Twelve months hence: the second Brisbane Type-in

It’s been a year since I started this blog. On March 14^th 2013 I made A Confession to all and sundry that I had become rather obsessed about typewriters. In that post I shared my experience of the first ever Brisbane Type-in. One year on and 31 posts later, I am still rather obsessed with typewriters and I’m going to use this anniversary post to blog about my experience at the second ever Brisbane Type-in.

My story about this year's Brisbane Type-in actually begins the day before it happened. Scott K phoned me up in the afternoon, confirming that he would be eating Mexican food that night with one or more interstate typospharian. One train later and I was soon tucking into some rather limp lettuce (n.b. don’t order salad at Mexican restaurants) in the company of Scott, Natalie, two typewriters and two children. The typewriters belonged to Scott, but the children didn’t belong to any of us. They had come over from another table to see what these cool noisy writing machines were. Us three and the kids all had a great time, staging races to see who could type a line the fastest (first to the margin bell wins), a spelling contest, all sorts of fun stuff and the kids even had two short stories written for them.

Later on in the night, I held a secret impromptu ninja type-in on my front deck. Some of you might call it inviting two friends around for a cup of tea. Others might call it a platform from which to shamelessly boast about my typewriter collection... I call it an impromptu ninja type-in. Because there were typewriters, there was stuff typed and the minimum number of participants for a type-in was satisfied (refer to the comments section of Robert’s Canberra Type-in post for discussion about the necessary prerequisites required before a gathering can be declared a 'type-in').

 

 

 

The next morning I packed the car with 5 typewriters and two chairs. The chairs didn’t fit in the boot and I could only be bothered getting 4 out of the car. Nevertheless, the event was a great one. All sorts of cool and rare typewriters from a tiny Bijou with a Russian keyboard, to a massive, massive war-time issue Hermes Ambassador, to a near mint condition Fox, to Robert’s USB Underwood, which was connected to a laptop. 

 

Equally cool and rare were the people present, who had made the pilgrimage from far afield as Perth (Steve K), Darwin (Nat Tan), Canberra (Robert Messenger), Kooralbyn (John Lavery) and of course the suburbs of Brisbane (Scott, Rino, Louise and I). Over five hours in that park we yacked on about all sorts of stuff, solving at least half of the problems facing society in this day and age.

 

All up the day was a roaring success; good weather, a speed-typing contest, fish and chips, story-telling and knowledge sharing. The only slight dampener for the day was the regrettable fact that the half-time entertainment that I had previously advertised; the great Geoff Boycott, had to pull out due to unforeseen circumstances. His exciting new range of stovepipe trousers remains unseen in Australia to date. However, this was perhaps a good thing, as we hadn't quite had time to set up the catwalk for him. 

Prior to setting sail back to the real world, several of us came away with our own copy of “101 Great Typewriters” personally signed by the author himself.

Typewriters eh... what aren't they good for?

Brisbane Type-in- THIS SUNDAY!

Roll up, roll up, to the biggest event on every Australian typewriter collector's calendar- the annual Brisbane Type-in!! This year is shaping up to be even better than last year's. Come and immerse yourself in the friendly clatter and ping of typeslugs in an idyllic outdoor setting under the Story Bridge. In order to set the mood, we are in the process of constructing giant 40ft high paper mache scale models of various typewriters to be perched upon and hung from the bridge, pending council approval. Even more exciting, we have just visited the hardware store and bought a quantity of plywood sufficient to construct a portable cat-walk such that former English cricketing legend Geoff Boycott can showcase his fashionable new line of stovepipe trousers as part of the type-in half-time entertainment- his only Australian appearance.

You'd be mad to miss it. Bring a typewriter (or three), bring a comfy chair and enjoy a morning of typewriter goodness in the company of some wonderful (and some wonderfully knowledgeable) like-minded souls.

11:00am this Sunday 9th of March in Captain Burke Park. Be there.

Three new additions

Akin to the cherished cacophony of raindrops pounding upon a corrugated iron roof, the typewriter-drought that I have been whinging about for a while has now been broken. For ages I had been keeping a close eye on German eBay for something fancy, however in the space of three weeks, three different machines came up within a 15 minute drive.

Hermes 3000- 1969- Serial number: 3532894

I’ve never owned a Hermes before, but everyone raves about them. The Swiss quality, the delightful action, the ambiguous pronunciation of the brand name... This one as it turned out also came with a story. It was one of these awesome experiences where you rock up, open the case and hey presto, you have yourself a perfect little time capsule. The case was solid metal and the typewriter inside was preserved as well as the case suggested it would be. Complete with instruction manual and original Hermes guarantee, I decided I liked this machine straight away.

The seller I’d spoken to on the phone said she was selling it for her mother and was in the process of painting her house when I arrived. She came out dressed in paint-speckled overalls and was closely followed by the aroma of turpentine. An elderly gent sat on the porch sipping tea. She said that her mother had bought the typewriter brand new from Melbourne before they moved up to Brisbane in 1970. I assumed that it was part of a deceased estate, but to my delight, the very mother she spoke of emerged from inside the house. Similar to her husband who was still drinking his tea on the porch, this thin white-haired lady looked to be in her late 80's. I chatted to her for a short time about Melbourne, typewriters, Swiss engineering and how to pronounce "Hermes". She said she had used it for general correspondence and sometimes lent it to her kids for them to type up the occasional school or university assignment.  She mustn't have used it all that much though, or at least had it serviced it regularly, as it's in splendid condition. The sticker on the back is from a highly reputable Brisbane office machines company from whom she’d bought ribbons and had it serviced. Apparently it had been idle for many years and in the middle of a clean out the daughter had decided to sell it and was pleased it was going to a good home. 

N.B. Being able to convey the goodness of one’s home is a very useful skill to have when buying typewriters. 

Once home, I was interested to learn that the Hermes 3000 series progressed over three design iterations and mine was number two in this progression. For a comprehensive look at three iterations, see: http://www.typewriters.ch/collection/hermes_3000.html. However, to quickly summarize, the designs went from the delightfully rounded, delightfully green spaceship-esque first design...

Source: http://www.typewriters.ch/collection/hermes_3000.html

 ...To my slightly boxier, slightly more modern looking second iteration (also featured by Richard Polt here)...

...Through to the very computer-age looking third iteration showcased by Scott K here...

 

Source: http://filthyplaten.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/universe-is-balanced-with-hermes-3000.html

I love the progression, as it is a great little showcase of changing design trends through the 50's, 60's and 70's. Not having used one before I now appreciate what many before me have raved about; my Hermes 3000 types as good as it looks; nice snappy crisp action, quiet, precise and comfortable. A sample of its work is the typecast of my previous post.

Royal Portable Model O- 1936- Serial number: O-623857

This shiny little thing came up locally on eBay, with a loud disclaimer in the description that it was lacking a vital component that rendered it inoperable. Irrespective of whether or not I can get it going again and irrespective of it being a very common model, it knocked me for six when I first opened the case. If I can't get it going, it will pass off very nicely as a vanity mirror, it's that shiny. I'm also a huge fan of the positioning of the touch control on the Model O's: smack bang in the middle of the front of the typewriter, as if shouting "Look at me!!" On later machines when touch control became more commonplace, it is more likely to be found hiding beneath the ribbon cover or as a discrete dial on the side, but I love it how on these Royal Model O's, the touch control is such a focus of the machine, such a celebration of the new technology and such a selling point.

  

I can offer no history on this machine other than its previous owner imported it from America expecting a working typewriter. I can also offer no sample of its work, as it isn't working.

Remington Envoy- Serial number: can't find the bloody serial number

The last in my quick succession of drought breaking typewriter purchases was more a case of "why not?" The machine in question is an uninspiring Dutch made Remington Envoy which came up locally on Gumtree. I have no particular affinity for most late model plastic-cased typewriters, but the price was right and the drive was short. What I didn't expect however, was the condition. I honestly wonder whether this machine has been used more than a handful of times in it's entire life. There's no eraser shavings on the base, hardly any grit or dust at all, no gunge in the type-slugs, no markings on the case or the cover and it sports the most supple rubbery platen I think I've ever encountered. 

Not being able to find the serial number (any clues?) and due to it's immaculate condition I originally thought it was late 70's, but Robert's blog post on Dutch made Remingtons (here) leads me to believe that it might be early 70's or even late 60's.

That also wouldn't have happened to a typewriter (Part 2)

Side note: There exists in Australia (and I’m sure in heaps of other countries too) a culture of finders-keepers when the local council runs the twice yearly 'kerbside collection' for the pick-up of large objects that won’t fit in the regular wheelie-bins. People drive around in their utes or vans, looking through the piles of junk people place on the kerb before the council trucks get there, seeing if there is anything useful to them. One man’s trash can be another man’s treasure. The same goes for skip-bins, which show up when people are moving out, or renovating or building and they hire a skip-bin to dispose of large amounts of rubbish. As long as it’s placed beyond the property boundary it’s fair game and people will often have a sticky-beak as they walk past to see if there’s anything interesting in there.

While I'm getting excited about rubbish, here's a few examples. I'd be interested to hear of inter-continental differences in terminology.

 

Aaaaaanyway...

Left: 2009 model- exploded and fried. Right: 2014 model, didn't work, needed a warranty claim

 

Left: 1934 model- working. Right: Another 2014 model- working

Typed on the latest edition to my collection