Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Calling the Typosphere: Divestiture

Space considerations have me needing to pare down my acquisitions by a large number; there's simply too many machines around here, and not enough places to store them. (Attention lottery winners: if you're in the market for a New Best Friend please drop me a line.)

Some of the more modern portables are earmarked for our local homeschooler's group, at least one is a likely donation to Ryan's Classroom Typewriter Project, and a couple are most certainly staying with me*, but I'm looking for good homes for many of the others, especially for the older, keychopper-bait type machines. They're pretty! Far too pretty to shove out on Craigslist where they are sure to be poached for retrowear quicker than you can pick up a pair of tin snips.

I'm still shuffling around the pile, but generally I do these things as a "low cost + shipping" deal, where the shipping component is by far the largest part of the cost. I've shipped a few typers within the U.S. via UPS Ground and had good luck with them adding an outer box + packing to my own inner box + packing. I'm in the San Francisco area, if that helps you estimate costs, and I'm sure we can work out some kind of installment plan if you're short on cash but long on typer-desire.

So, hit me up, Typosphere! Check out the adoption page and see if there's something you like. Drop me a note in the comments or via email or Google+ and we'll chat. I'm mpclemens on teh Googles if you want to say hello. I promise not to cause too much of a weepy scene.


* Very likely the Olympias, so don't ask, sorry. :-)

11 comments:

Sheena said...

By any chance are the Erika or the Champion available?

Sheena said...
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Sheena said...
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TonysVision said...

I love the looks of that lovely 1938 Underwood Champion. I am near Auburn (just outside of Sacramento) and would jump at an excuse to visit The City - save you all that boxing. It would have a good home here. My keepers are daily typers, (see my typers in the Typewriter Database) used for correspondence with my many children and grandchildren. So they must be a pleasure to use, without onerous quirks - looks like that Underwood would fit well into that category.

Cheers,
Tony dot mindling (google)

Ted said...

So Morticia and Gomez won't be leaving then? :D

mpclemens said...

@Sheena and @Tony: the Champion does have disintegrated feet, if that colors your decision. I haven't been able to (yet) source replacement feet for it, but that typically means just wandering around the hardware store to look for something suitable that will fit. It's got two 'tall' feet and two 'short' feet if I recall correctly, so it's beyond the usual challenge of "find four rubber bumpers."

@Ted: Unlikely, if only because of the naming theme. :-)

wordrebel said...

That Corona Standard sure is a beauty....just sayin'!

notagain said...

lovely items there. I too am in love with the Erika, but as I'm late to the party, I don't have hopes. Somehow the Brother Signature is speaking to me, even though I gave a similar one to the CTP a couple years ago. Go figure. Maybe it's all the posts by Ted, the Brother brand ambassador.

Ted said...

heh, I was eyeing the Signature a little, but I do have Lazarus, so I don't need to get greedy. I wonder if Michael has it on his "keep" list anyway? They tend to grow on ya. (:

Anonymous said...

Hi Michael! I'm in San Francisco and would love to discuss adopting one or two of your babies. The Hermes Baby, specifically, perhaps the Remington Monarch. Of course the old '30s models are nice as well.... Oh heck, email me?

Also, if you have anything with a sans serif font, I'd love to know about it.

carolee dot gilligan at gmail

jahearn said...

Hi,

I'd love to rehome #38 on your list, the gray Smith-Corona with eraser shavings included at no charge... :) (I am still cleaning eraser crumbs out of an otherwise perfect Lettera 32 that I own--always pink, always legions.) The hitch is I live in Austin, TX, so the machine would have to be shipped. If you are up for it, cool, I am happy to send PayPal. If not, and you want to look for a local new home, I get it. Feel free to contact me at joeahearn at gmail dot com.

Best,
Joe