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thank you so much for sharing....
I use to love that clack-clack sound too....doesn't sound the same on a computer....
posted by
_Symphony_
on March 15, 2006 at 1:30 AM
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Nanaroo
I remember my grandmother's typewriter, actually, I still have it! That's the first thing I would pull out when I went to her house. Unfortunatley, I don't have my stories anymore. 
posted by
shelly_b
on March 15, 2006 at 1:04 AM
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Nan~
Looks like you were mature for an 11 year old....
Remember when "Word Processors" were the next Big Thing?
posted by
AC_Allyn
on March 14, 2006 at 8:40 PM
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Nanaroo...
I hatid my tiperytter, it culdnt spel for sowrl oul you know what, and no spel chek, eether!
posted by
food4thought
on March 14, 2006 at 7:58 PM
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shypettite
oh, what nice music!!!!
posted by
Nanaroo
on March 14, 2006 at 6:37 PM
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I have in my memory some warm thoughts about my family home
and my Dad old typewriter, Merceres. I remember this sounds of klik klak, klik... He was writing a lot, it was my night lullaby. I used to fall asleep with this music from behind the wall.
posted by
shypettite
on March 14, 2006 at 6:33 PM
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...yes...
...and the silly part is.. I'm still moving that old antique everytime I change apartments! M.
posted by
MasonGarrett
on March 14, 2006 at 2:40 PM
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Nan---- Hope you are enjoying more of that "peaceful mood" these days.
posted by
Jazwolf
on March 14, 2006 at 1:15 PM
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Obviously, Nana...
You aint done lived yet!
DM
posted by
Dennison..Mann
on March 14, 2006 at 12:51 PM
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DM
I've used lipstick and eye pencils as writing tools... but never charcoal!
posted by
Nanaroo
on March 14, 2006 at 12:41 PM
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Nana...
You had pen and pencils?
Cripe! I remember a time when we had nothing but the charcoal on the end of a stick from the fire and the cold, uneven surface of a dark cave to write on!
DM
posted by
Dennison..Mann
on March 14, 2006 at 12:07 PM
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scoop
doesn't it seem amazing that there were times when typewriters were the only things to write with other than pen and pencil?!
posted by
Nanaroo
on March 14, 2006 at 11:59 AM
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Pretty good writer for your age back then
(not that you are not a good one now) but the way you expressed yourself. I still have an old black Underwood and a portable Royal that I wrote on for years, my dream years, dreams of being a columnist or fledging reporter. Never thought much about the mistakes and the number of bottle of correction fluid I use back then and as so many get nostalgic as they get older, I would never want to go back to that way again.
posted by
scoop
on March 14, 2006 at 10:45 AM
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way to go, DM!
posted by
fourcats
on March 14, 2006 at 10:41 AM
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DM
thank you for that wonderrful story. I can just see that gleaming typewriter!
posted by
Nanaroo
on March 14, 2006 at 10:40 AM
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Blanche
thank you for your kind comments. I knew there would be a lot of typewriter lovers around here!
posted by
Nanaroo
on March 14, 2006 at 10:40 AM
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Nana...
Several years ago a real estate developer rolled their bulldozers onto the property across the street from where I lived and I knew what was coming: restricted age community of houses. Sixty four of them to be exact. The developer had three old houses back in the woods to plow down but before he got started, I asked him if I could rummage through the houses for anything of value.
He gave me permission and about three days before the wrecking ball arrived.
Well, I found a few things of value but nothing astonishing except for a 1928 Underwood typewriter (with inked ribbon) and only one stuck key. I yanked that sucker out of the trash heap that had gathered in the basement, brought it home, rubbed it with some clean rags found myself with a regular piece of art!
Well, I checked on eBay and found that it really wasn't worth my effort to sell it at the time and I put it in the trunk of my car to maybe hawk at the local flea market. On my way to the market I stopped for a scheduled brake maintenance on my car...the works! Entirely new brakes, fluid, tire allignment and balancing...everything that had to do with the wheels of my car.
After the mechanince (a guy I'd known for a while) finished with my car, he wanted to make sure I had a good spare in the well of my trunk...where that Underwood happened to be. When I opened my trunk, the guy about knocked me over to get a better look at that gleaming typewriter! He asked me what I was doing with it and I related the flea market plan to him. Before I could fiinish, he offered to take the thing in trade for all the mechanical work he had just completed. (It was actually a fair deal!)
So, I took the deal. And while I can appreciate the beauty of that Underwood, I can't say that I regret letting it go. I had no personal attachment to it and it brought me something I needed...all for free!
DM
posted by
Dennison..Mann
on March 14, 2006 at 10:35 AM
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Nanaroo,
You wrote that at 11 or 12? You had a lot of insight into your own moods and feelings then. I'm an only child, but I can imagine what it'd have been like to want to build a wall down the middle of your room. My grandmother had a big old fashioned typewriter, but I never used that one. She wouldn't let me play on it. Which I understand.
But I did have a tinny little portable that you've just reminded me of, and writing stories.
posted by
Blanche.
on March 14, 2006 at 10:12 AM
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Typing Class That Had No Letters on Key Board
We really had to learn from the basics!! Nice post!
posted by
Dr_JPT
on March 14, 2006 at 9:15 AM
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BlackPearl
wasn't typing class fun?! I have a funny story about mine that I'll tell soon...
posted by
Nanaroo
on March 14, 2006 at 8:51 AM
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fourcats
that's right, you are a Libra too... I must have been feeling my Libra-ness even at a young age!
posted by
Nanaroo
on March 14, 2006 at 8:50 AM
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Nanaroo,
Good stuff on those pages. It makes me think of when I learned to type in junior high, on typewriters with the hard return bar. That was back when people actually typed with all 10 fingers. :)
posted by
BlackPearl1
on March 14, 2006 at 8:44 AM
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ah, the smudgy off-set type
of the old typewriters. love it. as a fellow libran, i enjoyed the "who am I" piece. well i'm this but i'm also that!
posted by
fourcats
on March 14, 2006 at 8:29 AM
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ginnieb
thank you!
posted by
Nanaroo
on March 14, 2006 at 8:26 AM
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That's good writing for that age!!!
posted by
ginnieb
on March 14, 2006 at 8:24 AM
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brettnik
That's wonderful, I'm glad you are keeping your son's writing too. Looking at my young scribbles is fun- some of the stories are more than 50 pages long!
posted by
Nanaroo
on March 14, 2006 at 8:17 AM
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Great Stuff! Isn't it wonderful to read your old writings?
My mom kept all of mine, too! Now I keep my sons' writing and way too many of their drawings. You obviously loved to write even then.
posted by
brettnik
on March 14, 2006 at 8:07 AM
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doxbaby
that's a sweet story
posted by
Nanaroo
on March 14, 2006 at 7:20 AM
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babe
that's amazing! I've never heard of a blank keyboard- that must have been difficult!
posted by
Nanaroo
on March 14, 2006 at 7:19 AM
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You were always a vivid writer, I see :) I taught myself to type at about age 10 because my mother's typewriter had a blank keyboard (no letters) so I couldn't use the hunt and peck method. I went through the exercise book she had used in business college before she went to work for the IRS.
posted by
babe_rocks
on March 14, 2006 at 7:15 AM
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WOW! How wonderful to have access to such a tangible record fo your childhood. I shared a room with m younger sister(5 years younger) and at one point we not only shared a room but a bed. I sympathize about the idea of a wall. It's funny when I was a kid I could wait to get away from her "bothering me". Now, I cant get enough time with her. I wish I could build a wall to keep us closer now!
posted by
doxbaby444
on March 14, 2006 at 7:14 AM
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ginnieb
(p.s. I think I was about 11 or 12 when I wrote that)
posted by
Nanaroo
on March 14, 2006 at 7:13 AM
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ginnieb
that's a really good idea! I'd love to see them!
posted by
Nanaroo
on March 14, 2006 at 7:12 AM
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Haha Nanaroo..that's fabulous!!
I love the part about the cement wall!! How old were you when you typed those? My typewriter memories are when my sister got one for Christmas but mostly it was me who used it. My father used to write plays and his sister would type them up on her typewriter, making many copies by using carbon paper..I have them all now. We should all publish on blogit a poem or journal page from our past. I have loads of 'em!
posted by
ginnieb
on March 14, 2006 at 7:07 AM
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