Atonement for the typewriter.
written by Julie R. Neidlinger 4 comments link this post
My mother has a typewriter.
Non-electric.
Weighs a ton, and my fingers are too computer-keyboard weakened to make much of a mark on the paper with the heavy keys.
I always felt sad when I drove by the shop in downtown Fargo that had the sign "typewriter repair" in the window. I wondered how it was going, and imagined it was either remarkably bad, or remarkably well (being one of a dying breed). I have no idea if the store is still there.
In honor of the film Atonement (which depressed me to no end, like The English Patient*), I thought I'd share three photos from a series I took of a typewriter. I'm listening to the soundtrack now.
The soundtrack to Atonement has the typewriter mingled with the rest of the orchestration as its own percussive instrument. Highly unusual. If you've seen the movie, you remember the whys of this, and how well it was carried out in the music. There's just something about that snapping sound of a typewriter that I miss.
I'm old enough that I learned to type (not "keyboard") in high school on actual typewriters. Granted, they were electric, but they were still pre-computer. I learned terms such as pica and how to manually center text and what to do when the daisy wheel went amuck.
Good times.
Anyway, here are two more photos: Photo 2 | Photo 3
* Oddly, there are two distinctive passages in the Atonement soundtrack that are highly reminiscent of The English Patient. I always find it jarring when I realize that about a soundtrack. For example, in The Passion of the Christ, there is a chunk of music that sounds like it is from Glory. Go figure.
Labels: movies, music, my life, technology
Copyright (c) Julie R. Neidlinger 5/01/2008 07:53:00 PM
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4 Comments:
Great shots. I learned to type on a manual typewriter -- 35 words/minute!
By 
ThirstyDavid, at
2/5/08 10:45
I learned on an IBM Selectric in the 80s, the ball-type machine. This winter I ran into my typing teacher, after 20 years he still remembered that I looked at my keys but typed 70-90 wpm! I'm faster now, but no longer have to look at the keyboard.
By BismarckMandanBlog, at
2/5/08 21:43
I have to add another comment, that isn't my typewriter, but it might be your dads.
By Judy, at
3/5/08 22:17
a little history about my typing experience...I remember that before school started in the fall we went to the teacher to ask if the typewriter I was choosing was a good choice. I liked typing, Mr. Volden was my teacher, and it was pre 1960. I had an Olympia typewriter, I think it cost about $80. I paid for it by working for my dad, we were farmers and I drove a tractor for him. I got paid $.50 per hour for wages.
By Judy, at
3/5/08 22:24
