type and tell: live video!
/Erin and I are totally geeking out with our typewriters, technology and tweeting. I said, "We should upload a live video of you typing a tweet!"
And so there it is!
type and tell: in the moment
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My brother Marc just sent in this photo of typewriters he spotted on a walk in NYC.
A mystery gentleman stopped by UPPERCASE headquarters and wrote this haiku.
@rosygyoza tweeted this instagram photo of her machine.
type and tell: a true story
/This story about a typewriter rescue was submitted by Jennifer Morell. (Though The Typewriter book won't have personal stories like this, I do enjoy hearing them and sharing them with our readers.)
The weight of the keys, the deliberation of action, the satisfying tap tap tap, the charming ding: typewriters have always fascinated me. Despite the fact that my family owned an old Commodore computer, I found my grandmother's antique typewriter much more intriguing. It was a simple process: insert paper and reveal my secrets, stories, and wishes.
Read Moretype and tell: typewriter art
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An image from a typewriter poetry event I attended a few years ago.
The Caseroom Press is also working on a typewriter book; theirs is an anthology of typewriter art.
"All work produced on, with or by Typewriters is eligible for entry in the book. Photocopying, photographing and carbon copying is also acceptable. No work produced digitally will be considered."
See their website for full details.
typewriter update: 65%
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As of this morning, The Typewriter book project is at 65% funded. Thank you to the 149 people who have placed a preorder or purchased a level with perks! There's still a ways to go to reach 100% of the goal. The money raised in this campaign is going towards the cost of the book's print production: the print bill and the cost of freight. Above and beyond theses costs, there is also significant investment in pre-press (image scanning is a big undertaking! purchasing image rights, procuring artifacts, research and editing costs... ) Creating a book of this caliber is expensive, that's for sure! Every bit of your support helps and is much appreciated. I am committed to producing this book, no matter what level of funding is reached.
Place your preorder here for $45 (includes shipping in North America). If you want to receive one of the "perks" such as an art print, authentic memorabilia, typewriter tins or even an actual working typewriter from my collection, there are higher levels of support (but limited quantities of these perks!)
Please help us reach 100% of the goal by September 15. I can then concentrate on working on the book rather than diverting time to the fundraising campaign. Preorders will continue to be available, but once the goal is met, the perks won't be offered again.
An example of the typewriter tin perk at "The Royal" level of support ($125).
"The Selectric" level at $150 includes an authentic artifact, such as this beautiful package of typewriter paper.
"Type Strong, Type Happy" The UPPERCASE Typewriter Club mirror is included in pledges of $75 and higher. Its design is modelled after an old advertising mirror by Remington. Mirrors were popular incentive items since they appealed to the lady typewriter.
"The Super-Riter" level includes a life-time subscription to UPPERCASE magazine!
type and tell: spotted in Brazil
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Pata Macedo, a Brazilian graphic designer and instructor living in Montreal, took these snapshots of some old typewriters discovered on a recent trip home to Brazil.
To find out more about the Hammond and the Gundka 5, visit the Virtual Typewriter Museum.
type, tell & tweet
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Summer has flown by and it's time for September's First Thursday. Join us for Type, Tell & Tweet and celebrate our book project The Typewriter: a Graphic History of the Beloved Machine.
Thursday, September 6 from 5pm–8pm
UPPERCASE headquarters in Art Central
If you can't come by in person, please participate in our first Twitter party! Join us this Thursday (September 6) to share your typewriter thoughts, memories, memorabilia and love. Follow our feed @uppercasemag and use the hashtag #typewriter to participate. The best tweets will be typed on one of our typewriters and shared in a curious mix of analog meets digital.
Etsy & UPPERCASE: typewriters
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“Nothing makes me swoon at a flea market like a shiny Royal typewriter. And if it happens to be my favorite shade of bubblegum pink, I’m a total goner. It’s not an unusual sentiment—despite their bulk, price, and high-maintenance needs, typewriters inspire adoration from vintage lovers everywhere.”
You already know about our love of all things typewriters here at UPPERCASE. The Etsy Blog also celebrated this beloved machine with a post by Lisa Butterworth. An Etsy search for typewriter can yield some fascinating results—from jewellery to pop-cards and actual machines. You'll also stumble across the modified typewriter below.
berkeley typewriter
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I was in Berkeley today, so I paid a visit to Berkeley Typewriter. I will share extensive images soon (when he saw the typewriter on my business card and found out I was visiting from Canada, the repairman let me take pictures in the back room!), but for now here is a tantalizing instagram.
typewriter infographic
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UPPERCASE friend Rose Zgodzinski, who recently shared her experience at a folk art festival, created this infographic. It is lovely to see how excited everyone is about our typewriter project—I've watched the video more than I care to admit.
<carriage return>
type(writer) tuesday
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In issue #12 we introduced you to Jennifer Collier in the article My Life With Paper. We shared the image of her typewritter (left) but our intrepid reader Shelley Davies found some detailed shots that are worthy of examination.
“My practice focuses on creating work from paper; by bonding, waxing, trapping and stitching I produce unusual paper ‘fabrics’, which are used to explore the re-making of household objects.”
girl friday: kiss my...
/…typewriter.
Please help fund my DIY crowdfunding campaign for The Typewriter: a Graphic History of the Beloved Machine. thank you!
it's at 59% now... let's get to 100%!
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The Typewriter project is at 59% — thank you to the 124 people who have backed it so far. I would love to reach 100% of the goal by September so that I can take my focus off of the campaign and onto working on the book content.
(little) girl (and boy) friday
/I have a fondness for babies using typewriters. My son was introduced at an early age—when he was a little baby, I would tickle his stomach by pretend typing... type typa typa typa... and then a little surprise ding! on his nose. It worked every time. Still does.
in thanks to a champion or two
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Thanks to some fine folks who have supported all of my endeavours both big and small, I am happy to report that The Typewriter now has backers at the Super-Riter $1000 level and at the ultimate $5000 level, The Champion. This brings the project to 57% of its goal. THANK YOU!!!
The photo above is from My Typewriter website, a shop for top-quality machines.
typewriter woodcuts by Kathryn Hunter
/I'm really enjoying the typewriter stories that people have been sharing with me.
Kathryn Hunter of Blackbird Letterpress writes: "I'm SO excited about the typewriter book!!! I have 5 in my own small collection. My favourite being the Hermes Rocket. I started a series of woodcuts several years back with women and their typewriters, all with the theme of communication." Thanks, Kathryn for sharing some of these images with us and for your support of The Typewriter: a Graphic History of the Beloved Machine.
Stay tuned for the next update in the crowdfunding campaign! It's a big one!
girl friday: just the type
/Curiously, this postcard is missing a few legs... from the chair and the desk! I do suppose those would be quite distracting... For an intriguing NSFW visual survey of women and the typewriter "at work", Paul Robert's illustrated book Sexy Legs and Typewriters compiles over 100 photos and advertising images of "women in office-related advertising, humor, glamour and erotica." A (full frontal) preview to make you blush is over here. >>>
true (typewriter) love
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Linda Zacks (featured in issue 11) has a wonderful story about why she has a particular fondness for her typewriter.
tin typer
/Thank you to the fine folks behind Bakary Café who snapped this picture of a toy typewriter at the Brighton Toy and Model Museum.
girl friday: Miss Millicent Woodward
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In the spirit of Olympic competition, this Girl Friday is Miss Millicent Woodward, Champion Speed Typist of Europe. Excelling at speed and accuracy was a desirable trait in a typist and competitions to highlight the best of the best were popular. Typewriter manufacturers used the opportunity to promote their own machines since the winners' talents were enabled by the fine mechanisms of their chosen machines. For the record, from the back of this postcard:
Miss Millicent Woodward's Records
Dictation … 173 words per minute
Copying and carrying on a coversation at the same time … 152 words per minute
Dictation whilst blindfolded … 169 words per minute
Memorised Sentences … 239 words per minute
These are the latest records of Miss Millicent Woodward, and although she secured the Championship of Great Britain by means of her wonderful versatility, she was only able to create what are now recognised as THE RECORDS and become the European Champion by using the ROYAL MASTER MODEL TYPEWRITER.
