I'd buy that for a dollar, or three.

I felt slightly jealous of some of the ultra-cheap typewriter finds that Ted and and a few other typewriter lovers recently posted about. Or at least until.... 

(pardon my sloppy english). 

The Adler.... It looks a little worn an beaten, but may prove to be an excellent typewriter yet. 

* * *

Oh, but it didn't end there... 

That's right. 12 typewriters. That makes them $3 each. The photos did not provide much in the way of information on these machines, as the seller had basically just crammed whatever he could into three photos without attempting to make any effort to display what he had. 

As such at least 4 of the typewriters were going to be a bit of a 'lucky dip' selection. But I did spot a very familiar case on one, that I was certain would make this worthwhile. 

The problem is, that my collection had already burst at the seams as it was. I just simply don't have storage space to put them. Suddenly adding another twelve to the mix is going to be interesting. 

The morning that the auction ended, I went over and collected the horde of machines and loaded them into Ruby the Exxy with the assistance of miss Jane. It was essentially a deceased estate, as these machines belonged to the seller's late father. 

"He was trying to fix them and sell them" the seller told me. "But I think he was asking too much for them or something". The seller was ex-army. He struck me as the kind of guy that would have been a 'plantie', an engineer that would operate or maintain heavy machinery used in construction. His car was adorned with army stickers, and the less tasteful  car 'breasticles', a variation of 'Truck testicles' that looked like breasts hanging from his tow-bar. 

Either way, the collective of machines were both filthy, and in disarray. A couple of the machines were flat-out just nasty, with wasp nests and rust giving the collection a texture that made one feel compelled to get a tetanus shot just for handling them. 

I had been emailing both John and Steve about these typewriters, and we'd agreed grab whatever we particularly wanted the most from the collection of machines. As I drove out from the seller's house, I called Steve and asked him if he would like to take a look. 

I laid out the collection on Steve's front lawn, and we were soon going over each machine with something of a cursory inspection. John had already expressed that he wanted the big Remington standard, and I wanted the particularly green coloured typewriter that I had spotted as just a case in the photos. 

More typewriters growing from Steve's lawn? 

No prizes for guessing which machine I gave my immediate preference to. 

As you can see, there's also a box of Adler branded ribbons. I have no idea as to what condition these are in, but I'm curious to find out. 

There was really only two machines that I at this stage feel are irretrievable. The rest of them I am certain can still have another life yet. But I may find some disasters await me when I start to have a much closer look. Either way, at $3 each typewriter, there's really nothing to cry about. 

The big Olivetti Studio even had its cover, and interestingly a list of songs that looked like it was for a country music christmas celebration. I immediately had the mental image of some RM Williams clad man with an Akubra hat on, tapping out the list of his favourites on that big ol' Olivetti. Trouble is that the machine's design had 'space age' written all over it, so far as it even had a 'techno' typeface. As such it just didn't seem to be the right typewriter for the part. Not to mention that a woman had signed off on the list with some christmas wishes. Not that women don't cruise around wearing RM's and big hats. 

Fragments of the past. Oh... hang on, there's some familiar names here.

Steve grabbed out of the collection an Olivetti 32, and a Underwood 310. I'm certain with a bit of a clean the 310 would come up looking quite beautiful with its striking cobalt blue ribbon cover and trim, and vibrant white shell. I think he's got a worthwhile machine there. 

We loaded the 10 other machines back into the car and Jane and I made our way home. I've now got 10 more typewriters that need assessing and, well, probably urgent attention, sitting in my shed. That's 11 typewriters in total this week from just the local countryside.

It must be fruit-pickin' season. 

A visit to Tom's typewriter shop.

"There's a couple of repairers in Melbourne" Territz said to me as we walked around the corner of Lygon street and down Elgin street. "There's a guy that lives a lot closer to me that I've had look at a typewriter. But Tom's different. Tom just seems to have that edge. His work just seems to be just that bit better than the other guy's". 

There's not a lot of repairers out there that still have an operating shop. And none that is as close to a cultural hub as Tom's is. 

less than 200 meters away from Tom's shop is La Mama Courthouse theatre. La Mama started out a little further around the corner at a different location, and was a theatrical workhouse where writers - many of them quite famous, could workshop their plays and other literary works. I'd worked on many performances in the Courthouse theatre myself, and I still have a love for the place. Add to that the nearby university of Melbourne, as well being in walking distance to the vibrant Lygon, Brunswick and Smith streets and you have a typewriter shop in the middle of where pretty much it is all happening in Melbourne.

And I know for a fact that a lot of the writers that circulate around there use typewriters. 

As we approached Tom's shop I was greeted by a familiar sight. A black Corona 4 in the earlier curved and peaked front shape, was pressed against the glass. Tucked in behind it was a very square Continental portable which was flanked by two giant printer/photocopiers that had several other typewriters piled up on them. Standing guard in front of all of this was a cowboy that restlessly kept his eye on the street in front of the shop. 

Teeritz slid the door open, and we were immediately greeted by the strong smell of spray paint and oil. The source of this smell was to be found directly inside of the door; a black Remington 10 that I would later learn Tom had been brought back to life from a very dismal state.

We called out, and soon Tom came out from somewhere at the back of the shop. His eyes lit up as he recognised Teeritz, and he gave me a welcoming handshake. It was a struggle to get around his shop, as it has years of built-up clutter from Tom's trade in repairing typewriters and other more modern office machines. I'm a fan of clutter myself - it always represents an opportunity of exploration, and Tom's held a whole world of promise.

While office copiers and printers dominated the floorspace in the shop, there were typewriters hidden almost everywhere you turned. An old Brother 760TR sat casually placed on top of a pile of other parts, and the familiar shape of IBM selectric machines jutted out of various locations. I kept looking around in the hope of finding a rare gem hiding amongst the clutter, completely un-aware that I had already seen one and foolishly overlooked it as being just another run-of-the-mill machine. 

Tom was very friendly to talk to. He'd been kept busy with Melbourne's repairs for decades, and now many young writers were discovering his service. He had a folder of blogs and articles that had been written about him recently, and he handed copies to both myself and Teeritz to have a browse through. He pulled out one written by Rob Messenger, and then told both of us about the time he met Rob while doing some typewriter repair work at the 'I am typewriter' festival that was held in Melbourne some time back. 

"Do you ever email back to these people"? I asked.

"Nope. I'm computer illiterate. I don't do email". 

It was in Yugoslavia and Germany that Tom had learned much of his trade and he seemed particularly fond of a lot of the German made machines. "Typewriters like this" Tom said as he waved his hand towards the Continental, "They were always the best and never gave people much grief. Olympias, Adlers, Continentals. They were all very good". I suggested that he might find one of my typewriters interesting, so I pulled out my Gossen Tippa for him to have a look at. It didn't seem to be a familiar model to him, but he nodded his head as he looked over it. With his bottom lip turned up in appreciation, he simply said 'That's a good one'. 

Tom was particularly proud of what he had achieved with a Remington 10 that a customer had brought in. "It was his fathers and had been sitting in the bottom of his shed for decades. It was full of mould and rust, and I wasn't even sure I could fix it. But now look at it"! 

"I wish I had a before shot" Tom continued. "The customer will be wrapped with this". 

He excitedly tapped at the Remington's keyboard, showing how well the machine worked. And worked well it did! I'd love to have the machine myself. 

Tom was telling Teeritz and myself about some of the other typewriters he has in storage, which he may sell down the track. So I asked him the obvious question: did he have a collection of his own? 

"Nah" he said before he explained, "I fix typewriters. They're just work to me". 

I didn't realise it at the time, but it wasn't going to be the last time I heard that sentiment that week. 

The shop is actually part of Tom's home. He lives upstairs and owns both the upstairs apartment and the shop itself. As such the shop is a very low-cost operation. Tom leaves the lights off in the shop most of the day, and he doesn't run credit card or electronic transaction facilities. As he often is just a set of stairs away, he can keep very relaxed hours. 

That said, this is one of the few repair shops I know of that still have a fully working shop-front, and Tom is a pleasure to talk to. He showed me some of the other machines he had strewn around the shop - a Royal QLD, a Triumph Adler electric, A cyrillic Hermes baby,  and..... that very interesting little surprise that I was talking about. But I'll write about that typewriter soon. Suffice to say, something came home with me on this Melbourne trip. You can see it just peeking out in one of the photos above.

I was glad I took the time out to visit Tom's shop, and to be honest I really did need Teeritz to show me where it was. It is the kind of place you'll miss if you blink - and is very modestly advertised. But if you need a repair in Melbourne, Tom's shop strikes me as a good first port of call. 

Elite Office Machines Co

Typewriter Dealers & Repairers - Carlton, VIC

188 Elgin St, Carlton VIC 3053

Random thinking during an Australian dusk.

I strongly suggest you click these to enlarge them. 

Well, I did mean 'serviced' Hermes 3000, but I had the book 'Zen and the art of Motorcycle maintenance' in mind while I was writing this. 

So - let's take a look at another Hermes 3000 70's.

Okay... So... following the Hermes 3000 that I was so excited about a couple of weeks ago, I purchased another 70's era Hermes 3000 for a whopping - bank breaking $9.50. Which officially makes it 50 cents cheaper than my previous cheapest typewriter acquisition from ebay. 

Australian 50c coin - featuring our coat of arms. 

AKA: The big coin that busts up your wallet. 

Again, I really didn't need another typewriter, but as I couldn't see myself using a QWERTZ keyboard regularly - and as I was so impressed with the feel of the previous unit, I felt a QWERTY unit would be... nice to have. And at $9.50 - why not. 

But typewriter geeks... That's where the logic of this story ends. 

May I present to you - The hungarian made Hermes 3000. 

Where as the previous unit didn't label it's origin, this one sure does. While the serial number is only 200,000 units different, the quality of this typer feels quite varied. 

But firstly - let's talk about what the seller described as a "perfect" typer. Hit the shift key and the basket locks down. Gummed up? Probably. The ribbon is drier than sandpaper, which is roughly the same way I would describe the texture of the platen. 

But it types. Or at least will once I shuffle in a new ribbon... and crank the shift key by hand. 

Having said that, I feel that every time I type - the family of dust-bunnies that are living inside this unit are being tormented by the hammering sound of the keys slapping the near rock-hard platen. It must be tough for them. I bet they have nightmares about someone writing poetry as they sleep at night. 

There's the obligatory sticky key... D to be exact, but I get the feeling others are close to being home stuck bodies too. Which brings me to the next point - The sharp and accurate magic of the key presses of the other unit, just... well.. don't seem to be here with this one. I don't feel that tiny ratcheting so much, or the same quick movement that my other unit has. Some of the keys are perfect in action still, and do have the quite same feel. So I'm guessing that the problem could be dust and gunk in the segment. 

It's not that it is bad. I just feels a bit more.... average. The 'force' is not strong with this one. Must have less midi-chlorians. 

WARNING: Midi-chlorians are copyright Lucasfilm 1999. And are also known as 'The all time worst superfluous plot point in cinema history'.

The plastic itself is quite sun affected, and as such has become something akin to that 80's era computer beige. 

Further more - the smooth and silent operation of the carriage on the QWERTZ unit, isn't quite so silent on this one; it ratchets - although somewhat quietly - when shifted. 

I can't help but feel that this machine wasn't made to quite the same quality standards as the other unit I purchased. It sure hasn't been looked after as well. And it even has the 'Dataprint' sticker on it from the store that sold it here in Australia. So this doesn't even have an interesting story behind it.

Although... what's this on the side? 

Another address label! This time, it is clearly a pharmacy label. These H3K owners seemed to really love labelling their typewriters. 

The label on this occasion has two addresses. One for the pharmacy business that the label came from, there other for - what I suspect is the owner's address. The Owner's house also appears to be currently for sale.  Or was that the address that the typewriter was loaned to? 

The city that this address is located in, although it isn't specified on the label - is Melbourne, my old home (and honestly quite missed) town. The Pharmacy is no longer there. It has been bulldozed to make way for a toyota dealership. 

Looking at the label, the phone number listed on it is pre-early 1990's when Australian phone numbers changed from a 7 digit number, to an 8. 

Oh well, I hate to say it... but this typewriter is destined to become a project writer of my own. It'll be interesting to see what I can do with the plastic shell of this unit, and I'm looking forward to having a bit of fun with it. Certainly the other problems are potentially resolvable, so I'll keep you up to date with what I manage to achieve with this - $9.50 typer. Clearly I won't be able to turn this unit into a 'Silver surfer' 

Corrrrr.... $9.50. Really... I can't believe it.