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Chris Aldrich

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Musings of a Modern Day Cyberneticist

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For those looking to delve in deeper to gutting books, Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren go into greater depth in How to Read a Book (Touchstone, 1972, 2011) in which they discuss various levels of reading books with which many students are less familiar. They break reading down into various modes including inspectional … Continue reading

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A double old fashioned with a redish looking Boulevardier cocktail in it surrounded by the bottles of the constituents and a Royal FP typewriter in pink all sitting on a library card catalog
A lovely, well-balanced cocktail as I finish up this week’s reading and notes on The Notebook for this week’s book club meeting tomorrow morning. (The lemon twist really makes this.)

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The real question that typewriter enthusiasts want to know is: will the Royal KMM typewriter be making an appearance too?!!! Or will the new Jessica be using some sort of crappy computer laptop? If she does use a typewriter, should it be a similar KMM or should she change it to something else, and if … Continue reading

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White index card with blue ink in a Royal KMG that reads: "Geoffrey Chaucer in The House of Flame on staring at "screens" all day: For when your labour's all done / And you've made all the accounts / Instead of rest and other things / You go straight home / And as dumb as any stone / Sit at another book / Till your eyes are fully dazed

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Index card in brown Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter with Vogue typeface we read: Despite the recent catastrophic fires, I feel like the gods are smiling on me as three independent bookstores have opened within three and a half miles of my home in the past year.

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A copy of The Notebook sits on a desk in front of a Royal KMG typewriter, a drawer from a card catalog full of index cards, some blank index cards, a fountain pen and a Negroni cocktail off to one side.
The next book for the Dan Allosso Book Club is Roland Allen‘s The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper (United Kingdom: Profile Books, 2023). For those interested in intellectual history, here’s a chance to join a long standing book club full of inveterate note takers/zettelkasten-ers, educators, and lifelong learners. Those interested in the topic are … Continue reading

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Index card in large font on a white Olympia SG-3 typewriter which reads "Once Upon a Time..."
Once upon a time…

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Front view of a wide carriage white bodied 1971 Olympia SG-3 standard typewriter with gray keys sitting on a library card catalog
An observant friend knew I was looking for either an Olympia SG-1 or an SG-3 typewriter and got an SG-3 for me for my birthday on July 8th. It arrived on Friday the 11th.  Naturally I was excited to open it up, but I was even more surprised to discover that it was hiding a … Continue reading

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Gray enameled 3 hole steel punch sits on an oak library card catalogue next to some pink flowers in a vase and Royal FP typewrtier
Anna Havron recently mentioned that she had a Bates Hummer punch from years back, so it only took a second’s thought to pick up this $3.99 purchase at the local Acts Thrift store when I ran across it on June 28th It was in pretty solid shape with some heavy dust, light pitting on some … Continue reading

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1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter Restoration

A cameo pink 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter on a library card catalog next to a small blue vase of pink and purple flowers.
During my evacuation from the Eaton Fires, I picked up this 1957 Royal FPP on March 5, 2025, for $31.00. Apparently it had been previously owned by Luke Legg. While it was in somewhat workable shape, it needed a massive clean out. It may be one of the dirtiest machines I’ve cleaned up so far. … Continue reading 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter Restoration

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View into the drawer of a metal index card filing cabinet full of tabbed cards and index cards. The section is labeled "Typewriters / Ribbons / Spools" and the tabs are all typewriter related.
How do you keep track of your typewriter collection? Do you keep a simple typewritten list? Do you use a spreadsheet? The Typewriter Database? A period-appropriate card index?  Tags on your machines on the shelves? Via your blog or web page? All of the above? Keep track?!? I enjoy tripping over them all over the … Continue reading

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My commute patterns changed dramatically last year and the Eaton Fire catastrophe has decimated the first half of 2025 for me, so I’m trying to get back to my old Huffduffer habits for more focused content consumption versus doomscrolling. Sadly, it seems the tagging system has been disabled/disappeared? It was one of my favorite discovery … Continue reading

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A red Negroni cocktail on an old fashioned glass next to a brown Royal HH standard typewriter on an executive tanker desk.
Negroni paired with a Royal HHE for tonight’s writing. 

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Longer shot of Rob Reiner with a black suite jacket and matching black baseball hat and a blue outline of a typewriter. In the foreground he's talking to Ebraheim whose back is to us.
In season 4, episode 3 “Scallop” of The Bear (FX, 2025), the inimitable Rob Reiner shows up as a business consultant by the name of Albert Schnurr. In his introduction, he’s wearing a black baseball cap featuring a typewriter. A line drawing/outline, it looks a bit like a Corona 3 to me. It’s definitely not … Continue reading

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Close up of black cast iron 3 hole punch with a silver metal page guage slider and a heavy metal handle.
Swung through the thrift store today and found this fantastic beast. $3.82 was absolutely too little for such a lovely vintage piece. Not sure of the age, but definitely manufactured to last. Twenty minutes of cleaning and a light oiling and it’s almost as new as the day it came off the factory floor. Handles … Continue reading

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Typewriter Repair Costs and Valuation: Professional Shops versus Collectors versus First Time Buyers

Close up of a naked 1952 Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter seen from an oblique view.
I often see people asking questions about the value of vintage typewriters. Questions like:  Is it really worth $550 to buy a clean, oiled, and adjusted typewriter from a repair shop? What about the cheap typewriters I see for $20-50 on Facebook Marketplace? Are they any “good”? What’s with the dramatic difference in prices? Am … Continue reading Typewriter Repair Costs and Valuation: Professional Shops versus Collectors versus First Time Buyers

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Two typewriters on a wooden bench in front of a large book case. Surrounding it are 7 more standard typewriters of various makes and models
Happy International Typewriter Day!  Today commemorates the date in 1868 when Christopher Latham Sholes was granted a patent for the first commercially successful typewriter. What are you doing to celebrate? I’m writing about the typewriter market to help out beginning collectors.

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Oblique view onto the right side of a yellow and gray bodied 1961 Royal FP typewriter on a wooden surface
Acquired in April 2025 from a bank in Idaho Falls. I spent way more on shipping than the pittance I spent on the machine itself. I had modest hopes that purchasing it as an ex-bank machine that it would have a non-standard typeface and my bet paid off. It was all bonus points that it … Continue reading

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Grey Royal KMG typewriter carriage with typed quote on a white index card which reads: The secret to life is to waste time i ways that you like. ---Jerry Seinfeld

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Tom Hanks’ ingenious custom typewriter covers/mats

A green canvas cover with brown leather trim covers a green metal typewriter on a small wooden desk
We often see typewriter cases and/or simple typewriter covers and people will post photos of how they display typewriters, but I saw a clever method on Saturday at a local type-in in Southern California. Aaron Therol of Typewriter Connection brought along a signed Voss from Tom Hanks’ collection which included a sturdy green canvas typewriter … Continue reading Tom Hanks’ ingenious custom typewriter covers/mats

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The Typewriter You Probably Don’t Want to Buy

Caveat Emptor One of the biggest of the very few companies still manufacturing typewriters in the new millennium is the Shanghai Weilv Mechanism Company.  Sadly, for the hobbyist space looking to get into typewriters, while these are easy to find online, they are notorious for dreadful quality control, lots of plastic, and poor type  alignment. … Continue reading The Typewriter You Probably Don’t Want to Buy

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Vintage Typewriters Take Center Stage at Type-In Celebration in Pasadena

Approximately a dozen people sitting at 8 foot folding tables typing on typewriters at a Type-In on the second floor at Vroman's Bookstore
The local newspaper covered our recent type-in at Vroman’s Bookstore.  I hear that we made the cover of the monthly print edition.

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Typewriter Use and Typewriter Maintenance for Beginning to Intermediate Typists

Analog office set up featuring a stick leg metal desk, a Royal KMG typewriter, a few card index filing cabinets, a typing copy stand, and a paper supply organizer.
Two common questions I hear from those just starting out into the typewriter space are frequently about the basics: How do I use a typewriter? How to take care of typewriters or do basic maintenance? Naturally there is a ton of colloquial advice you’ll receive on these topics from social media and YouTube, but it’s … Continue reading Typewriter Use and Typewriter Maintenance for Beginning to Intermediate Typists

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Why Another Typewriter?

A wire shelving unit on wheels with a variety of 20 typewriters on it. There are four standards and a variety of other portables in a panoply of cases. It sits in a driveway in front of a cinderblock wall.
Recently Paulo philosophically asked me, a typewriter collector, “Why another typewriter? I haven’t been able to find an answer yet.” (My attempt at a translation/synopsis from his Portuguese.) In addition to answers from the collector’s perspective, bonus points for answers that are also directed to answering this question which comes from your significant other who … Continue reading Why Another Typewriter?

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Restored 1951 Remington Super-Riter Standard Typewriter

Angle down on a 1951 Remington Super-Riter standard typewriter in a military green crinkle paint with green plastic keys. It sits on a round wooden bistro table in a porch setting.
Earlier this week I started stripping down my recently acquired 1951 Remington Super-Riter typewriter. The machine’s serial number puts it into the 15th month of production of the Super-Riter which replaced the storied Remington 17 and the Remington KMC. Features of the Remington Super-Riter A nearby manual for the Super-Riter can be found in the … Continue reading Restored 1951 Remington Super-Riter Standard Typewriter

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Game: Name that naked typewriter

A typewriter stripped down with all the exterior panels, keys, and identifying portions removed. We only see the internal mechanical portions remaining.
Just for fun, let’s see who can come closest to a make, model and year for this lovely typewriter I’ve got on the bench this week for restoration. Please, no more than two guesses per player.  Answer to be posted Friday.

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The Rules for Typewriter Club

Two Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriters sitting on top of a library card catalog at angles to each other. One on the left is black with grey trim while the other is gray with chrome trim.
  The first rule of Typewriter club is do not oil the segment. The second rule of Typewriter club is DO NOT OIL THE SEGMENT. Do not ask the value of a typewriter. They are all invaluable. The only rare typewriter is a an unloved typewriter. Always talk about typewriter club. Every chance you get. … Continue reading The Rules for Typewriter Club

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Typed index card in blue ink which reads 2025-05-23 Tonight's typewriter pairing is a 1949 Royal Quiet De Luxe and a shot of Aberlour Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (12 years old). Both are solid classics with strength. The light peaty aroma of the Scotch matches pretty well with the scents of machine oil, ink, paper and light must of the typewri ter. Both are great choices separately. Together they seem a brilliant way to start a long weekend.

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Angle down from just above a paper organizer. We can see a variety of blank paper types and sizes filed into the angled slots . In the very back we see a paint chip brush for dusting a typewriter as well as a couple different eraser shields for typing and error correction.
In an effort to slowly improve my analog office proficiency and productivity, I have heeded Lenore Fenton’s advice to have all my supplies organized at my fingertips. Toward that end I’ve picked up this excellent paper organizer for the top desk drawer of my executive tanker desk. This mid-century marvel is perfect for storing a … Continue reading

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What are the “Rules of Typewriter Club”?

Two rows of four typewriters each lined up on opposite sides of a table.
In the vein of Fight Club, what would the rules of Typewriter Club be? What are the commonly known rules that typewriter users and collectors know that the uninitiated should be aware of? I’ll kick things off with a frequent admonishment: The first rule of Typewriter Club: Don’t “lubricate” the segment with WD-40. The second … Continue reading What are the “Rules of Typewriter Club”?