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Typewriters experience a comeback
upi ^ | Dec. 19, 2011

Posted on 12/20/2011 6:00:06 AM PST by 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."


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KEYWORDS: typewriter
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To: abb
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.
61 posted on 12/20/2011 9:13:52 AM PST by KarlInOhio (Herman Cain: possibly the escapee most dangerous to the Democrats since Frederick Douglass.)
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To: Daffynition

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;..


62 posted on 12/20/2011 9:21:03 AM PST by ken5050 (Support Admin Mods: Doing the tough, hard, dirty jobs that Americans won't do...)
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To: ken5050

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


63 posted on 12/20/2011 9:27:50 AM PST by Daffynition ( *Socialism, has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore it*)
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To: MHGinTN

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


64 posted on 12/20/2011 9:29:34 AM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Mater tua caligas gerit)
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To: JoeProBono
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.


65 posted on 12/20/2011 9:34:14 AM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: MHGinTN; Daffynition

The Rockola Master Rockolite aka the Luxury Light-up


66 posted on 12/20/2011 9:35:31 AM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Mater tua caligas gerit)
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To: JoeProBono

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


67 posted on 12/20/2011 9:39:05 AM PST by DonkeyBonker
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To: KarlInOhio

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.


68 posted on 12/20/2011 9:46:04 AM PST by SamAdams76 (I am 45 days away from outliving Marty Feldman)
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To: abb

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.


69 posted on 12/20/2011 9:49:10 AM PST by Oatka (This is the USA, assimilate or evaporate.)
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To: RegulatorCountry


70 posted on 12/20/2011 9:49:21 AM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Mater tua caligas gerit)
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To: Oatka

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.”


71 posted on 12/20/2011 10:40:09 AM PST by abb ("What ISN'T in the news is often more important than what IS." Ed Biersmith, 1942 -)
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To: JoeProBono
A stroll down memory lane.
72 posted on 12/20/2011 10:46:44 AM PST by Daffynition ( *Socialism, has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore it*)
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To: Daffynition

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


73 posted on 12/20/2011 11:01:33 AM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Mater tua caligas gerit)
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To: Johnny B.

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


74 posted on 12/20/2011 11:32:10 AM PST by miss marmelstein (Still heartless after all these years...)
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To: left that other site
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.

75 posted on 12/20/2011 11:33:40 AM PST by Calvin Locke
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To: Cheburashka

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!)


76 posted on 12/20/2011 11:35:09 AM PST by miss marmelstein (Still heartless after all these years...)
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To: JoeProBono

Kewl!! Groooooovy!!!!


77 posted on 12/20/2011 11:42:14 AM PST by Daffynition ( *Socialism, has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore it*)
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To: Calvin Locke

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!


78 posted on 12/20/2011 11:45:55 AM PST by left that other site
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To: JoeProBono

BEST TOY EVER!!!


79 posted on 12/20/2011 11:55:43 AM PST by Roccus (Obama & Holder LLC - purveyor of fine arms to the most discerning drug lords. (202) 456-1414)
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To: Roccus

80 posted on 12/20/2011 12:07:43 PM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Mater tua caligas gerit)
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