“A typewriter has quite as much individuality as a man’s handwriting.” – Sherlock Holmes

Yes, I did it. I bought a vintage typewriter. Seriously I must be living in the past – I love bookbinding, handwritten letters, fountain pens and now typewriters. I recently shared that we watched the documentary “California Typewriter” and I had definitely been toying with the idea of getting a typewriter and then for Christmas my husband got me a couple of books on typewriters and I thought, that’s it. I’m getting one.

Of course I had a typewriter back in the late 80s but it was an Brother electric typewriter. I think I eventually gave that to one of my cousins at some point. Anyway over the holidays I spent hours looking for the right one. I knew what I wanted and I found it on Etsy.

Please meet my Olympia SM3 from 1956. It’s in great working condition and I’ve been having a blast playing with it. Granted, I think I didn’t realize how tiring it is to write on one. I type around 75 wpm but a manual typewriter takes a lot more energy to strike those keys.

For a bit of trivia, the Olympia typewriters were originally made in Berlin, Germany in 1903. The SM3 model has been favored by writers including Woody Allen, Don DeLillo, Robert Penn Warren, John Updike and Patricia Highsmith.

I’ll have to take a better picture of it later but right now my studio is a mess. As usual books and papers everywhere.

If you are curious about typewriters and would like to learn more I highly recommend watching the film. If you want some books to read on the history and see examples of different typewriters you can’t go wrong with The Typewriter Revolution or Typewriter. For a great read about how a typewriter in a bookstore led to building a community, check out Notes from a Public Typewriter.

Let me know if you’ve used a typewriter before and do you remember what kind it was? Would you ever use it again?

It’s no secret that I love paper and today I just wanted to share some paper goodies that have brightened my days recently.

First off, isn’t the lovely lady and the quote from Betty Smith great? In case you can’t quite read the quote, “the world was hers for the reading.” Behind her there is a shelf filled with books. Not only is this artwork from the very creative Jenclair, but when you unfold it there’s a handwritten letter and what’s so cool is that she drew/wrote on a vintage enveloped postmarked October 6, 1933. I love this!

Speaking of letters, next up is Hippocampus, Volume 2. This zine is produced by The Paper Seahorse, a stationery shop in Tampa, Florida. They sell some great paper goodies and if I’m ever in Tampa I’ll definitely check them out. The edition of this zine has articles on improving your handwriting, how to start a local letter writing group and other articles on creativity.

And, if you love stationery stores and all things paper then, I highly recommend the latest issue from Uppercase. This magazine which promotes itself as “for the creative and curious” never disappoints. This edition is a special guide to stationery and paper goods and to highlight the small businesses pursuing their paper-related passions. I tell you, I would love to check out all the places mentioned in this issue. No doubt, I’ll be visiting some of these virtually and doing a bit of retail therapy.

Finally, there is Flow Book for Paper Lovers, No. 8 published by Flow Magazine. I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about this countless times. I love the magazine and collect these special editions. I’m only missing one of them which I believe was never available in the States but maybe I’ll find it one day. This chunky book has everything… stickers, postcards, specialty papers. It’s just so much fun. The only bummer is that I’ve heard that Flow Magazine is no longer going to be publishing an English language edition due to COVID-19 challenges in the worldwide distribution. Hmm, may be time to resume my German practice as I believe they are still publishing the German language edition.

Now it’s almost the weekend and I’m very excited because I have a three-day weekend so hopefully I can catch up on some reading. What about you, any plans? Hope you have a great weekend ahead and more book talk soon!