FeedCity: Chris Aldrich

Chris Aldrich
07:06 • Chris Aldrich

Typewritten message that reads: "AND INTERACTS WITH IT'S ENVIRONMENT* - BUT, it quickly adds up in complexity and file size. Well, alright! Let's us try out this Indieweb and Webmentions thing that's been going around. Hello, Chris & Tom - I'm not sure why your webmentions aren't showing up here, but I did see Tom's on Chris's blog. We'll try this post and see if it works for a specific post..."

Thanks for your reply Ted. I’m putting some text here in the case that your site filters out img tags the way most WordPress comment sections do. Clicking through to my site will provide the photo of the typed response if this is the case. Tom has a snippet of code which may help this … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
00:57 • Chris Aldrich

Okay Typosphere, Who else is using their typewriter to converse with others via web and Webmention?

White index card with blue typed words: "A new typewriter feature ENABLED: @mentions on the web!"

As I was scrolling along yesterday, a post about the lovely Professional Elite typeface popped up in my feed on Reddit. It linked back to Tom Fasano’s website, so I read the original there. I noticed a syndication icon at the bottom and stopped dead in my tracks! Had I run into a fully featured … Continue reading Okay Typosphere, Who else is using their typewriter to converse with others via web and Webmention?

Chris Aldrich
00:57 • Chris Aldrich

A typewritten index card nestled in to the keyboard of a green Olympia SM3 which reads: "Tom! Surely a first in technology history: My green 1959 Olympia SM3 with the Professional Elite No. 41 typeface is saying hello to your Bron Olympia SM3 with a similar Professional Elite face from my website to yours by way of webmention. What can't a typwriter accomplish these days?!? Perhpas they'll meet in the near future in-person at a type-in? Warmest regards, Chris"

Tom, a hello from my typewriter to yours!

Chris Aldrich
21:39 • Chris Aldrich

A visit to Helmut Schulze at Rees Electronics/Star Typewriter

Even more shelves jam-packed with typewriters. They just don't end in this shop.

Usually I’m so busy chatting and marveling when I visit Helmut that I totally forget to take a few photos. Fortunately someone stopped in for some ribbon on a Hermes yesterday, so I took a moment to document some of the density of typewriters in Helmut’s spectacular typewriter shop. I only got photos of about … Continue reading A visit to Helmut Schulze at Rees Electronics/Star Typewriter

Chris Aldrich
07:30 • Chris Aldrich

What words could we use to better describe the soul of a typewriter?

Close up into the gleaming soul of machined metal that is the typebasket of a fine typewriter which is threaded up with some juicy blue and green bichrome typewriter ribbon

Hot take: Is it just me or has the word “snappy” ceased having meaning within the typosphere? I’ve heard “snappy” applied to the best typewriters, the worst typewriters, and nearly everything in between. While almost everyone uses it with a positive connotation, the noise of the depth and breadth of machines it’s used to describe … Continue reading What words could we use to better describe the soul of a typewriter?

Chris Aldrich
00:15 • Chris Aldrich

What is the prettiest typewriter typeface?

Typewriten sample of 7 typewriter typefaces on the same page including an art deco Royal Vogue, a slightly italic, san serif and smaller Professional Elite No. 41, a san serif Hermes Epoca, a serifed Italic Pica No. 31, a blocky serifed Congress Elite No. 84, a crisp, san serif Clarion Gothic, and a computer-esque, san serif Numode No. 61.

I often see typewriter enthusiasts “debating” over which is the prettiest or best typeface, and often, they’re making their judgement on one machine they happen to have or really wish they had. Rarely are these judgements made with multiple typefaces on the same page for easier direct apples-to-apples comparison, so I threw together a small … Continue reading What is the prettiest typewriter typeface?

Chris Aldrich
12 Sep 03:15 • Chris Aldrich

A typewriter case in an airport's personal item measuring device with meme description at the top which reads "If your typewriter doesn't fit as a personal item" and the meme description at the bottom which reads "Tell them it's your emotional support typewriter".

Phrase of the year: “emotional support typewriter”! h/t Elisa Cristina Makoon-Singh

Chris Aldrich
29 Aug 20:12 • Chris Aldrich

Cook Books Published as Recipe Cards

4 x 6" wooden card index with dovetailed edges sitting on a library card catalog and in front of a Royal KMG typewriter.

What I wouldn’t give to have some popular cookbooks like Rombauer’s The Joy of Cooking, Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, Better Homes & Gardens’ New Cook Book, Brown’s Good Eats, America’s Test Kitchen books, or Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street published as recipe cards in 4 x 6 inch index card format. While their book formats … Continue reading Cook Books Published as Recipe Cards

Chris Aldrich
28 Aug 04:39 • Chris Aldrich

Royal Standard Typewriter Collection

A wire metal shelving unite on concrete in front of a grassy yard with some bushes and flowers in the background. On the 5 shelves are a collection of Royal Standard typewriters with three on each shelf except the top which only has two.

I’m slowly closing in on a completist collection of Royal standard typewriters. Here’s most of my collection so far. Only a few major must haves left, but also still a few to finish refurbishing. Seven are fully refurbished, though two still need some small tweaks; all type but two need some reasonable work, and the … Continue reading Royal Standard Typewriter Collection

Chris Aldrich
23 Aug 02:57 • Chris Aldrich

View down onto two similar looking greenish boxy-shaped typewriters from 1971

1971 was a year of change. It brought out boxier typewriter designs like the dense plastic body shells of this French manufactured Hermes 3000 and a very similar, but rarer Sears Newport, which was manufactured by Messa in Portugal. Which one would you have chosen?

Chris Aldrich
19 Aug 20:42 • Chris Aldrich

A greenish gray 1971 Hermes 3000 with a boxy plastic body sits on a library card catalog next to three gift bottles of Scotch.

Purchased from from Jan M. Macho in Pasadena, CA. This was the personal typewriter of his father John J. Macho, Sr., an émigré from Czechoslovakia who was in regional sales for Paillard in America and sold millions of Hermes typewriters. Jan Macho, Sr.’s grandson Chris Macho eulogized his grandfather on Instagram: This is a Hermes … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
13 Aug 20:45 • Chris Aldrich

Groups, Fields, and Galois: Part 1 | UCLA Extension

Majestic green tree in front of the 3 story brick building that is part of the Math Sciences Building at UCLA

Dr. Michael Miller, a retired researcher at RAND, has been teaching upper level undergraduate/graduate level math courses for fun at UCLA Extension for over 50 years. This fall he’ll be introducing the areas of groups, fields, and Galois theory from abstract algebra to those interested in abstract math: Groups, Fields, and Galois: Part 1. His … Continue reading Groups, Fields, and Galois: Part 1 | UCLA Extension

Chris Aldrich
13 Aug 00:41 • Chris Aldrich

Found at The Predecessors while typewriter hunting in Anacortes, WA. It was paired with another similar green Olympia SM3, but I immediately picked this one up because of its beautiful and uncommon typeface. It’ll need several new parts including rubber, but this portends to be a fantastic typewriter.

Chris Aldrich
12 Aug 01:09 • Chris Aldrich

Wooden letter tray with box joints sitting on an oak library card filing cabinet next to a black typewriter

Papa’s got a brand new in-box. Picked up at thrift for $3.30.

Chris Aldrich
10 Aug 00:09 • Chris Aldrich

A Stopgap Repair Solution for Impatient New Olympia SM3 Typewriter Owners

A green crinkle painted Olympia SM3 with chrome highlights, green plastic keys, and a greenish-brown space bar sits on a sun dappled table next to a small potted plant. Off to the side are a small notebook, mechanical pencil and green coffee mug creating a very cozy morning atmosphere.

You just picked up a dusty, but somewhat functional Olympia SM3 and you know that you need to replace the rubber body bushings to prevent your carriage from hitting the body panels and scratching the paint job. The problem is that you’ve got a lovely new-to-you typewriter in front of you, and you don’t have … Continue reading A Stopgap Repair Solution for Impatient New Olympia SM3 Typewriter Owners

Chris Aldrich
25 Jul 00:03 • Chris Aldrich

A small, gray metal business card-sized card index sitting on a library card catalog next to a black enamel 1930s Royal KHM typewriter

I picked up this vintage card index meant for filing business cards on July 20th for a fantastic $1.50. I hadn’t seen a card index this small before and suspected that it was designed as a sort of Rolodex for storing 2 x 3.5″ standard business cards. It makes an excellent storage for those as … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
21 Jul 01:15 • Chris Aldrich

A cellophane-wrapped bunch of gray tabbed dividers in 8.5 x 11" format sitting on a library card catalog next to a black enamel Royal KHM typewriter from the 1930s.

I saw these while browsing through a thrift store and correctly clocked them as thick tabbed dividers though the person who rang them up for $1.50 thought they were folders because of their heft. I’ve been wanting some for use with 8.5 x 11″ index cards, but thought that most major stationers had quit manufacturing … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
09 Jul 02:25 • Chris Aldrich

I’ve been thinking about typewriter stationery and carbon copies lately, as has our friend Joe Van Cleave. Has anyone used or had NCR paper stationery made for themselves? I tried some half-sheet stationery at the International Printing Museum not long ago and that seemed like a lovely way to write and keep copies of typewritten … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
03 Jul 08:45 • Chris Aldrich

oblique angle onto the front right corner of a Sears Newport typewriter there's a button on the corner of the hood that reads "COLOR". On the right side is a white indicator showing that the ribbon is on the black setting.

How could I not pick up his avocado beauty at Acts Thrift for $17.36?! A day’s worth of cleaning ought to bring this bad boy up to snuff. I’m most shocked at the fantastic design of its case. This is a re-branded Messa typewriter manufactured in Portugal with other known re-badgings as the ABC 3001 … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
01 Jul 07:45 • Chris Aldrich

I really ought to get back to bookmarking things on my own site again…

Chris Aldrich
30 Jun 00:04 • Chris Aldrich

Typed 4 x 6" index card in the carriage of a grey typewriter with black/red ribbon. The card reads: "Little known fact: Typewriter manufacturers didnt put an explicit exclamation key on their machines because they felt that anything worth of the expression ought to be truly created de novo and hand crafted. Thus you're required to put the extra emphasis by typing out your period followed by the backspace and then an apostrophe! Of course if you take the widdershins philosophy, for added emphasis you can first type out the apostrophe followed by the backspace and finally the period. This method provides a little bit more finality and emphasis for when you really mean it!!!

Chris Aldrich
29 Jun 05:40 • Chris Aldrich

Clack! Analog Attitude for the Digital Age – Vol. 1 – Summer 2026

Issue No. 1 of Clack!, a colorful zine in red, yellow, and blue with a cartoon-like illustration of a Corona flattop typewriter on the cover sits on top of a 20 drawer library card catalog next to a black lacquer Royal KHM standard typewriter

Yesterday at the QWERTY Typewriter Festival in Carson, CA, Bryan Mahoney of The Typin’ Pint released Issue 01 of his new zine Clack! I’ve just finished reading it this morning (from cover to cover, though I admit I haven’t finished the crossword yet) and it is truly fantastic! There’s so much to love inside its … Continue reading Clack! Analog Attitude for the Digital Age – Vol. 1 – Summer 2026

Chris Aldrich
23 Jun 20:27 • Chris Aldrich

Spring 2026 issue of Etcetera magazine on a library card catalog next to a Royal KHM and a gift bottle of scotch.

The Spring issue of Etcetera: Journal of the Typewriter Collectors’ Association arrived in the mail today! Just in time to celebrate National Typewriter Day tomorrow on June 23, 2026.

Chris Aldrich
22 Jun 01:33 • Chris Aldrich

Close up of the front side of a Woodstock typewriter crate. It features the Woodstock stylized name over the words "The Typewriter" sandwiching an image of the typewriter itself.

I acquired this Woodstock Typewriter crate earlier this month to pair with my 1938 Woodstock No. 5 standard typewriter. Usually it’s only portable typewriters that come with cases. But often unseen and unsaved are the “cases” that came with the larger standard typewriters. These are usually unseen because they were heavy wooden crates that standard … Continue reading

Chris Aldrich
16 Jun 20:16 • Chris Aldrich

Type-in at Typewriter Muse on June 13, 2026

Bernstein Writing Room at Typewriter Muse with

Chris Aldrich
16 Jun 07:45 • Chris Aldrich

Tonight, I noticed you can’t spell typewriter in German without IBM: SchreIBMaschinen. Surely that ran across someone’s mind before in an advertising campaign, right?

Chris Aldrich
13 Jun 00:11 • Chris Aldrich

A 1977 Olympia Report de Luxe electric typebar typewriter with an index card in the carriage that reads: "Now listen to this. The gentle and soothing lullaby of a piece of machinery so perfect--"

Chris Aldrich
13 Jun 00:11 • Chris Aldrich

Black Underwood SS standard typewriter sitting on a wooden desktop in front of a window with greenery outside. There is a typed index card in the carriage.

Chris Aldrich
11 Jun 20:11 • Chris Aldrich

Jose Siri gets Shohei Ohtani out while using an Index Card in an MLB Baseball Game

Close up of Siri wearing sunglasses and a white index card in his mouth. His right arm is swung across his chest after having just thrown a fly ball back to the infield.

Shohei Ohtani, a designated hitter and pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is one of the biggest superstars in baseball right now. If you’re Jose Siri on the Los Angeles Angels, you know that to get Ohtani out, you’re going to need some serious notes on an index card to score the out. The problem … Continue reading Jose Siri gets Shohei Ohtani out while using an Index Card in an MLB Baseball Game

Chris Aldrich
10 Jun 17:50 • Chris Aldrich

Last year’s event was fantastic, so I’m looking forward to all the things on “tap, tap, tap” for this year. Come and celebrate National Typewriter Day in Southern California.