Going, going, gone--typewriters?

Berkeley Typewriter co-owner Jesse Banuelos is emphatic that, appearances to the contrary, the store’s floor-to-ceiling shelves of semi-disassembled typewriters are not junk. Components for these old machines are hard to come by, so the word “hoarding” doesn’t quite apply. After all, where else are you going to find a replacement spacebar for that 1926 Corona portable? Banuelos, who owns the business with his brother Joe, immigrated to the United States from Mexico at 13 years old and soon started working on typewriters. He spent years at IBM, but was laid off and took the opportunity to spend a decade riding his motorcycle around the country. When his rambling days were done, he joined his brother Joe, who also grew up in the typewriter trade, and became a partner in his business.

Long gone for the most part are the snappy sounds of keys striking bonded paper curled around a semi-hard rubber roller. Well, I still have my Royal upright and use it frequently. My style has not changed in 45 years...still the "hunt and peck" method and often cursing, in the quest of an error free and eraser free, perfect paper. In the early 1970s assorted typewriters could be found by the 100s in junk and thrift stores--now there are none, replaced by junk computer components.

"Meet the Last Generation of Typewriter Repairmen"

by

Matthew Shechmeister

May 31st, 2010

Wired

It’s easy to forget how much time computer word-processing programs have saved the writing public. Before computers, any typewritten document that needed revision had to be retyped again and again. And that’s hardly the end of it. Total up all the hours that people spent whiting out errors before the Delete key … how many zeroes would the final figure have? Combine the surface area of every lumpy smudge of liquid paper: Would it cover the country? The world?

Despite these inefficiencies, there are a few places where typewriters still clack away. New York City police stations, the desks of a few stubborn hangers-on, and, increasingly, the apartments of hip young people who have a fetish for the retro. Mechanical devices with a lot of moving parts, typewriters require maintenance by technicians with specialized knowledge and years of experience. A surprising number of people still make their living meeting that demand.