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Vintage typewriters lure all ages to event
By Capi Lynn
Salem, Ore., Statesman Journal
The first Salem Type-In was a royal success.
Salem bookbinder Max Marbles organized the event, which more than 50 people attended on Saturday, Dec. 5, at the Mission Mill Café.
Some brought their own manual typewriters, while others used what was provided.
“We had a blast,” Marbles said. “Nobody wanted to go home.”
I was invited but unable to attend, bummed to miss out on an afternoon filled with the nostalgic sounds of click-clacking keys and carriage-return dings.
I’m young enough to have learned to type on an electric machine, but old enough to appreciate the old-school appeal of a manual. Early in my journalism career, I got my hands on an antique Royal typewriter, circa 1940s, but used it primarily for decoration. I still regret parting with it during one of my purging stages.
Some writers who started using manual machines never stopped. Today, collectors and artists are just as interested in vintage typewriters and all their retro chicness. Some call it the romance of the ribbon. For those too young to know, the ribbon is what transfers ink to paper with each key strike.
Marbles promoted the Salem Type-In on Facebook as “fun for kids, writers, poets, Luddites and techies.” He had no idea how many people would show up, organizing it on a whim and in a short amount of time.
He has been interested in old typewriters for all of about a month. He checked his browser history to see when he first typed Royal typewriter in a search engine box, and it was Nov. 7.
“For the next week, any spare time I had I was totally obsessed, bidding on eBay, scouring Craigslist,” Marbles said.
He read somewhere about type-ins and thought it would be fun to test the waters in Salem to see “if there are any other people as whacked out as I am about this thing.”
“Within a couple weeks, I could feel a buzz,” he said. “I was getting requests, emails and Facebook posts from people I had never heard of.”
:::The first Salem Type-In was held Saturday, Dec. 5, at the Mission Mill Cafe in Salem. (Photo: DENNIS GALLOWAY / Special to the Statesman Journal)
By the time the event rolled around, Marbles had acquired five of his own typewriters, which he provided for use on that day. He estimates more than 30 machines made appearances, dating from about 1906 to the mid-1970s. The age range of people who attended was 6 to 86.
Attendees were invited to participate in a couple of fun activities during the four-hour event, including a "continuing story," in which each person typed a few sentences or paragraphs and continued to add to the story.
“I don’t think the story was that great, but it had moments,” said Marbles, insinuating that the blown hole in the ribbon could have slowed the plot.
There also was a speed typing contest, with participants using the text of Charlie Chaplin's speech from the movie "The Great Dictator." A dozen contestants signed up, and Jason Cramer was the clear-cut winner.
“He had hardly any typos and more lines than anyone else,” Marbles said.
There also was a raffle for a Royal KMM donated by Larena Myers, wife of Marion County Sheriff Jason Myers, which raised about $130 for the local community radio station KMUZ. The winner of the typewriter was Kathy Shen.
:::: Sandy Morrison is one of the participants in the first Salem Type-In held Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015, at Mission Mill Cafe in Salem, Oregon. (Photo: DENNIS GALLOWAY / Special to the Statesman Journal)
For those like me who missed out, we may be in luck. Marbles said he and Kylie Pine of Willamette Heritage Center have already discussed the possibility of doing another event around International Typewriter Day, which is June 23, and combining it with an exhibit of vintage office and business equipment.
“My real goal in this whole thing is I think this town needs to be shook up a little bit,” Marbles said. “It isn’t radical, it’s not political, but it gets people out of their skin a little bit in a fun way. I just wanted to make a ripple on the pond of complacency. That was my goal, and I think we accomplished it.”
“Forward This” appears Wednesdays and Sundays and highlights the people, places and organizations of the Mid-Willamette Valley. Contact Capi Lynn at clynn@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6710, or follow her the rest of the week on Twitter @CapiLynn and Facebook @CapiLynnSJ.
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2015/12/08/vintage-typewriters-lure-all-ages-event-salem/76954408
