An ‘Uncommon Type’ Love Story
On the back of his 1950s Hermes Baby portable typewriter, which he took along on his “Travels with Charley” road trip around America, author John Steinbeck etched: “The Beast Within.”
Michael Mariani, a Venturan I wrote about here last week, has his own Beast Within – a newfound typewriter addiction. In addition to a vintage Hermes Baby, he owns nine other portables. His collection dates to 1926 and has at last one representative model from each ensuing decade through the ’70s.
Reading Tom Hanks’ book “Uncommon Type,” a collection of wonderful short stories featuring typewriters, Michael was inspired to get one of his own. In February, in Oxnard off Craigslist, he bought a handsome black-and-gold 1936 L.C. Smith & Corona Standard for about the cost of a tank of gas.
Three of Michael Mariani’s restored vintage typewriters.
Michael wasted no time adding No. 2 the next day, a 1948 Royal Arrow, again locally off Craigslist, and again for a price he considered a song. In the bargain, he learned of an old pro who repairs and cleans these mechanical dinosaurs.
After perusing websites on the subject and reading more books, including “The Typewriter Revolution,” Michael joined the analog insurgency with enthusiasm. More than once, he went to check out one typewriter and returned home with two. By April, he reached double digits.
“I got hooked on the chase,” Michael explains. “These machines are cool. And I can’t believe how inexpensive they are – only two of my typewriters were more than a hundred bucks.
“It actually wasn’t love at first type,” Michael adds, smiling. “After using a computer for 35 years, I quickly learned you really have to push the keys HARD!”
The added effort soon charmed him.
“A typewriter is the opposite of a computer,” Michael allows. “It’s slower. It slows you slow. There’s no delete key. I like that concept – slow down. I’m not a writer, but I use them to write letters and thank-you notes.”
Michael’s home has become a typewriter museum of sorts. Entering the living room, guests are greeted by three beautifully restored portables on display side by side by side: 1936 L.C. Smith & Corona Standard, 1948 Royal Arrow, 1926 Remington No. 1.
In a bedroom now empty of his and Kay’s two grown sons, a table is filled with more portable typewriters: 1958 Smith-Corona Clipper, a favored model by Tom Hanks by the way; 1951 Royal Quiet De Luxe; 1965 Olympia SM8; 1971 Brother Echelon; 1955 Remington Quiet-Riter; 1971 Smith-Corona Super Sterling; and, Michael’s most costly machine at $110, a Steinbeck-favored 1943 Hermes Baby.
“Typing-wise, feel-wise, my favorite so far is the 1965 Olympia,” Michael notes. “I also find it interesting that it was made in Western Germany, not that long after the Berlin Wall went up (in 1961). Typing on it just feels goooood.
“Typewriters, I’ve found, are a bit like dating,” Michael continues. “It’s different for everyone and you just have to see what you like, what you love.”
This is a QWERTY love story, so it is only fittingly that the very first thing Michael typed on his first old-school acquisition was to his wife of 32 years.
“I left it in the typewriter on the counter,” Michael shares. Included in that sweet note was the fact that he could not find the exclamation point – in fact, the 1926 Corona Standard does not have such a key.
Kay typed back: “I love you!” She also added an exclamation explanation – that she used the apostrophe, backspace, and period to make the mark.
Unlike mythological Hermes, the speedy messenger of the Greek gods, Kay had wonderfully slowed down to deliver her message.
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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.