The last quarter of 2025 was a lot of fun, and a lot of work. Conferences! Holidays! Birthdays! It occurs to me that I with the life I’ve built, I don’t know how to do things any other way. I don’t like sitting still. I need to nurture an ability to relax though, as I […]
Archive for the ‘typewriter’ Category
1943 Royal Quiet De Luxe
September 4th, 2025 by pleia2
In August I was surprised by a heavy gift that was shipped to my doorstep: a typewriter! Specifically, a 1943 Royal Quiet De Luxe with a serial number of #A-1152926. Many thanks to the friend who sent it my way, it’s going to have a great home here. 1943 was obviously an inauspicious year. Two […]
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Hunt for the Olde English Selectric Typewriter Ball
February 21st, 2025 by pleia2
A while back I was on a typewriter forum (Facebook group? Reddit? I don’t remember!) and someone was showing off a typewriter they had that had an “Olde English” font. It was stunning! The suspicion was that it was owned by a church or similar that wanted to type that kind of style. In the […]
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An electromechanical calculator
April 5th, 2024 by pleia2
Back in August, Adam and I came across a mechanical calculator while picking up my freshly repaired IBM Selectric II from Berkeley Typewriter. I knew mechanical calculators existed, but I didn’t really know anything about them. Still, I filed it away in my “maybe some day” list, if I happened to come across one. Fast […]
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Resurrecting an Oliver 9 Typewriter: Part 1
March 5th, 2024 by pleia2
Back in November I got to type on my first Oliver 9 at a type-in, and I mused about it: It was lovely and fascinating, and given how much I’ve thought about it since meeting that one, I’m quite certain that one will eventually enter my collection. In January, one popped up on Facebook Marketplace. […]
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An exquisite 1940 Smith-Corona Sterling
January 28th, 2024 by pleia2
Last year posted about the acquisition of an Olympia Traveller de Luxe. That’s when I received a message from my co-author of The Official Ubuntu Book and friend of mine that started out: “I have an old portable manual typewriter (1940s/50s, I think, offhand) in excellent condition…” You know where this is going, right? By […]
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My first type-in, in Philadelphia!
November 27th, 2023 by pleia2
According to Wikipedia, “The first Type-In was held on December 18. 2010, in Philadelphia, at Bridgewater’s Pub in 30th Street Station.” So it’s fitting that my first type-in was in Philadelphia! On November 18th I went to Legend of the Type-In at Cartesian Brewing, put on by Philly Typewriter. I knew I wanted to go […]
Changing the font… on a typewriter!
October 5th, 2023 by pleia2
If you’re at all familiar with mechanical typewriters, you know that changing the font isn’t really an option. That changed with the emergence of some of the most popular electric typewriters, the IBM Selectrics. These are notable for being driven by a typing ball which can be easily swapped out. Voila, new font! Many models, […]
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I finally came home with an IBM Selectric II
September 4th, 2023 by pleia2
I have a small collection of vintage typewriters. Until very recently, they were all completely mechanical and I’d avoided getting anything electric. But since I work at IBM, I routinely get asked if I own an IBM Selectric. The Selectric used to be ubiquitous in offices in the US, and it is memorable because it […]
Critters, typewriters, and cable cars
August 29th, 2023 by pleia2
Our summer adventures have continued with a lot of trips to the zoo. We got an Oakland Zoo membership a couple months ago, and I quickly learned that our boys love going to the zoo, and since it’s less than 20 minutes away, it makes for a nice late afternoon getaway if I leave work […]