Thank goodness for high gas prices. Looking hard at my monthly Visa bill made me realize just how much I was spending on fillups, and how (too) often I was doing it, considering my small commute. I made a pledge to myself to swap out my twice- or thrice-weekly thrift-driving with a walk, getting reconnected to old pedestrian-friendly hobbies and spending less time peering into the "collectibles" case for junky clicky treasures (recent acquisition notwithstanding.) To tell you the truth, I've been pretty good, too. I even passed up a yard sale Lettera 32 this weekend that my wife spotted, though the "passing up" had to do more with me going to the wrong sale afterwards.I'm trying to keep focus, shedding or passing up machines that are outside the magic 1950's decade, steering clear of electrics, shunning all things plastic. My resolve shall not be broken, nothing will stray me from my course, I shall... ooo, what's that?
A pristine 1970's SM-9.
Oh hell. Oympia. Why does it always have to be Olympia.
Naturally I lugged the stupid thing back to my office, which then forced a shuffle of all the other machines sitting on the shelf. Scoot over, Smith-Corona, budge up, Royal, there's a new kid in town.
Again.
7 comments:
I never see these yard sales. Ever. An Olympia! Don't you dare feel bad about that one.
What this means, though, is one of your other machines has to go.
You know, to me.
Um, Mike? There's rules about these things. Pics, please.
Good find! I don't blame ya for grabbing it!
My problem is that I have several typewriters that don't work. The eBay ones. Two 50s Smith Coronas that I pretty much got for the price of shipping (and neither from far away), but as it turns out, one has a ribbon advance problem, and the other skips. I've exhausted all of my meager typewriter repair skills to no avail.
I don't do eBay anymore.
Now, I'm stuck with 'em. I won't give them to Goodwill because they'd only be thrown away, I can't sell them locally without feeling guilty about passing on trouble, and I'm nervous enough about shipping them that I haven't seriously researched repair shops. I could drive several hours to Blue Moon in Portland, OR, but I'm scared of city driving.
So they sit there on the shelf, looking at me reproachfully. Poor things...
Monda, don't say that so loud... my beautiful bride might overhear. All of my machines look so businesslike, they'd look uncouth and rough next to any of your machines.
Duffy, I've corrected the situation. I was hoping to get a picture out of the case, but I can't figure out how to remove it.
I realize that I was unclear where this came from: I never found that yard sale, but located this at the same tiny thrift store near my office that's yielded other unexpected treasures.
What a great find!
I think one of my favorite author Paul Auster uses that model.
I think you're right, Duc. I've been looking for a used copy of Auster's The Story of My Typewriter just for the fetishism of the SM9. Now that that actually have one, I may step up my search.
Drive? Doesn't Blue Moon still fix-by-mail? (If not another area shop may: call ahead and ask.)
Blue Moon Camera and Machine: http://www.strikethru.net/2008/03/how-to-buy-manual-typewriter-part-7.html
Other Shops:
http://staff.xu.edu/~polt/typewriters/tw-repair.html
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