Royal Typewriter 1938

“Hello, Mister Typewriter. Welcome home.”

Those are the first words typed on my new (old) typewriter, a Royal Quiet Deluxe portable from 1938. I guess I didn’t plan to start collecting typewriters, but I am slightly obsessed. Where do I begin!

Cameron’s Aunt Jann called me over to the back of her van last weekend while we were up in Santa Barbara. She had a surprise for me. And this is what I found inside, protected within a black dust-covered, hardshell case. Incredible.

I brought it home and spent a chunk of time yesterday afternoon cleaning and restoring it to the best of my amateur abilities. Now she shines—free from years of cobwebs, grime and disuse. I imagine it sat in an attic or a garage for many years, but everything is still in perfect working order. The cleaning brushes are also still present, along with documentation that reveals the typewriter originated in Portland, Maine. Except for needing a new ink ribbon—this current one is, understandably, faded—it’ll work like new.

As a writer, the history attached to these things makes me crazy. I love to imagine what letters or documents it’s seen, what mind has put it to use. What happened over the years, nearly a lifetime, before it was brought to me? There’s an infinite amount of romanticism wrapped up in these machines, at least for me. It’s just enough to be near them sometimes, but it’s an honor to now call this one mine.

(Thank you, Aunt Jann. Thank you.)