11 Ways Typewriters Are Cool Again
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Antique typewriter keys have become popular for use in jewelry, with people buying necklaces featuring the letter of their first name. Vendors like EvaGiftedHands are selling these necklaces on Etsy, starting at around $35 . Other vendors sell typewriter key cufflinks, rings and bracelets.
11 Ways Typewriters Are Cool Again
Spurring creativity and attracting younger fans their popularity is on the rise
Vinny Minchillo often shares his enthusiasm by loaning out his machines. courtesy Vinny Minchillo Before the days of laptops, tablets, texting and email, people drafted their letters on typewriters. There was no spell-check or delete button and you couldn't perform fancy functions like copy or paste. While most of the world has moved on to embrace the , some remain devoted to the good old-fashioned typewriter. Others, particularly a younger generation, are newly discovering the appeal. The collectors’ market is thriving and some are opting to put aside digital devices to do their creative work on a typewriter. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Here are 11 ways typewriters are becoming cool again.1 Tom Hanks is a huge fan
Hanks is extremely passionate about typewriters. At one point, he admitted to having over 250 in his personal collection — 90 percent of them in working order. In lieu of a computer, Hanks uses typewriters for the majority of his written communication: “I type almost every day. There is usually a memo I am sending to someone or a question or a thank-you note or an actual response,” he's said, joking that he hates getting email thank-yous and that typewritten letters mean so much more. Actor Tom Hanks is a typewriter collector and visited owner Kirk Jackson’s Nashville Typewriter shop. courtesy Kirk Jackson The two-time Academy Award–winning star wrote a book of short stories, each featuring a typewriter. And he recently visited where he spent three hours with owner Kirk Jackson. “We nerded out over typewriters pretty much the whole time,” Jackson says. “Tom bought two: a Smith Corona Enterprise and an Underwood Four Bank, both green." Hanks told Jackson he's been giving some of his typewriters to mom-and-pop typewriter shops in recent years to help jump-start business. And he's always trying to inspire those around him to give these vintage typing machines a try. “If somebody says, ‘Geez, I'd like to have a typewriter to write letters,’ I'm there. It's on their desk within 48 hours with a note from me explaining the typewriter to them,” Hanks said during his appearance in the 2016 California Typewriter documentary.2 Other creative types are embracing them
Best-selling author A.J. Banner says, “I type all my first drafts on typewriters.” This includes her forthcoming book In Another Light, which debuts Oct. 5. She and her husband have more than 100 completely restored and usable machines and even have their own repair guy. Singer-songwriter John Mayer likes to type his lyrics out on a typewriter, as does Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder. “You're at sort of a safe distance where you can express yourself openly without having to edit yourself at the same time,” Mayer said in the California Typewriter documentary. And two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning writer David McCullough uses his 1960s typewriters to compose manuscripts.3 Typewriters promote mindfulness and creativity
California Typewriter director Doug Nichol says using a typewriter is a great way for people to focus on a writing task without unnecessary distractions. “When we're on the computer, we can start listening to music or go see what's on Twitter or Facebook, all these other distractions that pull you,” Nichols says. “What's nice about a typewriter is there's nothing except you and that machine and writing." Paulette Perhach, cofounder of the mindfulness and writing group , calls a typewriter an “anti-distraction machine.” with Vinny Minchillo, 59, they see him sitting in front of his personal typewriter collection. It's sparked a lot of conversation and given the Plano, Texas–based creative director a chance to share his enthusiasm with others. “I've got a couple of really weird ones that are in the background,” he says. “I've got one that we call a batwing, an Oliver 5. It sort of looks like a little tiny pipe organ.” Entertainment $3 off popcorn and soft drink combos See more Entertainment offers > Minchillo gladly loans his typewriters to people to try them.5 They ve gone Hollywood br
There are plenty of older movies and television shows where typewriters play a central role (Misery, Citizen Kane and The Shining come to mind), but you can see these machines in more recent fodder, too. That California Typewriter documentary follows a Berkeley, California, typewriter repair shop and charts how people are making typewriters relevant today. The 2015 Oscar-nominated movie Trumbo, about a 1940s Hollywood screenwriter who is blacklisted for being a Communist, wouldn't be the same without scenes of star Bryan Cranston pounding the keys of his Underwood 5. And Amazon Prime's Good Girls Revolt, which follows a group of women in a 1969 newsroom trying to get treatment equal to their male counterparts, puts typewriters front and center. “It's an excellent series with typewriters in every scene,” Banner says.6 They have hard-core fans
Rock Harris, 55, runs a typewriters group in Missouri called and organizes local “type-ins.” While full meetings have been on hold during the , Harris recently gathered a few new members and is gearing up to relaunch. “The idea was people come, they can either bring their own machines or I would bring a set of machines. And then people just sit and type whatever they want on them,” Harris said. “I usually get out one of the more interesting models from my collection and talk about it a little bit." Richard Polt, who published The Typewriter Revolution, detailing the second life that typewriters are having in the 21st century, recently attended an event in Athens, Ohio, where people brought typewriters and exchanged stories about their collections. The group even found a way to blow off pandemic steam when they teamed up to destroy a cheap, new-age typewriter. "We just took baseball bats to it,” he says, joking that the events are typically peaceful. AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe in the homes of those looking for a dose of nostalgia.Antique typewriter keys have become popular for use in jewelry, with people buying necklaces featuring the letter of their first name. Vendors like EvaGiftedHands are selling these necklaces on Etsy, starting at around $35 . Other vendors sell typewriter key cufflinks, rings and bracelets.