Chris, Mum and I went to an 'Heirloom Sale' yesterday and there it was... an old sit up and beg Underwood typewriter!! I learned to type on something quite similar to this and the price tag was $25 so Chris bought it for me... and then had to carry it to the car... and I had sort of forgotten just how heavy these things were!! It is now plonked
(quite unceremoniously, I might add as Chris had also forgotten how solid they were and is now used to carrying a super thin laptop) on my scrap desk. I promptly went into ' the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog' mode.... but the ribbon is pretty dried out.... hmmmm, wonder if I can still get ribbon for it? I have an idea... just a little idea... of steampunking it for my scrap room... think it might look pretty cool then, don't you? I'm still looking for a smallish old dolly... couldn't find one at the goodwill!!
It's kind of sad in a way... that things I used to earn a crust or two a couple of decades ago (oh alright... maybe more than a couple of decades ago) are now deemed 'vintage' and 'heirlooms'.... I suddenly feel very old....
That is an amazing find ...how things have changed??? .... brings it all home how much technology had changed out lives....cant wait to see what you will do with this.
ReplyDeleteit is the ribbon that is a problem - here's what I am going to try, rather than trying to find replacement ribbon (nigh on impossible) I am going to try to reink and rewind the ribbons so I can keep manually typing,
ReplyDeleteotherwise I would destroy it and use every bit in a grand remaking...
it really should not just gather dust?..
the doll is made and posted to blog will mail as soon as I can,
Dx
I never used a typewriter after I learned how to type in high school. I went directly to a PC and it was like having to learn to type all over again. The key locations hadn't changed, just the way we touched the keys. But of course, I know what it's like to go from a PC that only had floppy disks to one whose mouse and keyboard are wireless. And that makes ME feel old.
ReplyDeleteI love this typewriter. I got one that I also can't carry myself from my previous next door neighbor's estate sale. Her son brought it to my house and plopped it where it now still sits. The ribbon is gone from mine, too. At the time I got it (at least five years ago), you could still buy ribbons from the company. Mine is also an Underwood. I had planned to dismantle mine and use the pieces in assemblages, but chickened out when I realized how well made it was and still in perfect shape.
I know you will do something awesome with yours not just allow it to become a dust collector.
What a brilliant piece of kit!A great find.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see what you do with this!! Not very easy to manipulate it though!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about things being "heirloom". We have a Vintage Clothes shop near where I work with dresses from Laura Ashley in which I remember having!! Yikes. I am not even 50 yet!!
uauu bela aquisição
ReplyDeletee bela recordação!
eu tenho uma remington de 1928!
abraços
Ana
Gorgeous typewriter!! Keeping my fingers crossed you find ribbons :D
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful find.
ReplyDeleteToni xx
Oh dear, you have taken me back into an era long long ago when I first learned to type on one of these wearing mini skirts - those were the days. What a fabulous find. Can#t wait to see what you do with it as I love Steampunk and I love your work.
ReplyDeleteHugs, Neet
Me again. I hope you don't mind but I have borrowed one of your ideas with the lovely concertinering of papers and linked your blog on my posting!! Hope it meets up to your high standard! LOL!
ReplyDelete