5 ms·

Goa’s last typewriter repair shop defied the digital age

108 points by EB-Barrington 5y ago

quartz 5y ago
There was and I believe still is a fantastic typewriter repair shop still operating in Arlington, MA (just outside Cambridge): http://www.cambridgetypewriter.com/ http://www.cambridgetypewriter.com/ I had them do a tune up on a 1930's Royal Quiet Deluxe typewriter I bought while living in the area and was blown away by how they were able to bring the machine back to like-new operation. There were once entire schools dedicated to training typewriter repair and now the art is almost completely lost for some of the older mechanicals.
- underseacables 5y ago
  Cambridge Typewriter is heaven. I’ve had my machine fixed there, the owner is the sweetest man.
- spoonjim 5y ago
  The last typewriter shop in the United States will probably be in the Greater Boston Area.
- mncharity 5y ago
  > www.cambridgetypewriter.com Non-broken link to Chronicle story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjapP3tNKOU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjapP3tNKOU . There's a blog[1] and more active facebook[2]. [1] http://cambridgetypewriter.blogspot.com/ http://cambridgetypewriter.blogspot.com/ [2] https://www.facebook.com/pg/cambridgetypewriter/posts/ https://www.facebook.com/pg/cambridgetypewriter/posts/
optimalsolver 5y ago
Semi-related: Guy who became a Reddit meme because he took his typewriter to the park (he explains why in the linked article) describes what its like to be ridiculed on the Internet. https://www.theawl.com/2013/09/i-am-an-object-of-internet-ridicule-ask-me-anything/ https://www.theawl.com/2013/09/i-am-an-object-of-internet-ri...
- jamil7 5y ago
  Thanks for sharing this. Reddit really is an awful place, I’ve personally seen comments inciting violence like this there so often.
- kshacker 5y ago
  Fantastic reading, although from 2013 it seems. Never heard of this before. Thanks for sharing.
- imgabe 5y ago
  This is fascinating, you should submit this as its own post. I read So You've Been Publicly Shamed[1] recently which detailed more stories like this. It should be required reading in every high school. The Internet mob is a cultural phenomenon of the current moment that we aren't going to look back on fondly. [1]https://www.amazon.com/So-Youve-Been-Publicly-Shamed/dp/1594634017 https://www.amazon.com/So-Youve-Been-Publicly-Shamed/dp/1594...
  - OJFord 5y ago
    Someone now has: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27457618 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27457618 (I just mention it to avoid dupes, and maybe further discussion is better there than as a tangent here.)
- 3v1n0 5y ago
  I'm quite sure there's an Italian street artist that is doing this for some years already
reaperducer 5y ago
For the curious, there are still at least a hundred typewriter repair shops in the United States. From Bremerton Island to Albuquerque to New Jersey. New typewriters out of China run about $200, but most people would rather spend $600-$1,300 for something vintage made in America, Spain, Brazil, or the UK. Not too long ago there was an article in the Sun-Times about one in Chicago that is kept in business repairing typewriters for the police department because many CPD forms still have to be done in paper, and in triplicate.
- OJFord 5y ago
  > New typewriters out of China run about $200, Yeah, I was curious about that when I saw the caption on the article's leading photo: > [...]. The last typewriters in the world were made in India.
- crispyambulance 5y ago
  There's a "typewriter shop" near where I live in Philly. It's very charming and run by a guy who, it appears, did make a living as a typewriter repairman back in the day. The thing is, these are now more of a hipster lifestyle accessory. There's nothing pragmatically useful about typewriters. They can be beautiful things and have great object appeal just sitting on a (large-enough) desk. I expect that the majority of typerwriter shops in the USA are focused on the aesthetic concept of typewriters rather than their actual utility. There's something magical about an Olivetti Valentine typewriter, for example, it reminds one of a more civilized era (even though it's ridiculous to say that about the 60's). It evokes dreamy romantic visions of writing eloquent prose, effortlessly, without batteries without spell-check. (https://www.massmadesoul.com/olivetti-valentine https://www.massmadesoul.com/olivetti-valentine) The earlier IBM Selectrics, a very different but also magical machine but decidedly not romantic like the Valentine. It uses a metal ball of fonts and has a pleasing motion every time you slap down a letter. It was supposed to be all business and even the colors were drab, but there is something joyful about it. But as writing instruments? F-that! These things suck for writing. They great at cocktail parties though... "Hey, check it out, I got a TYPEWRITER, let's TYPE a LETTER and MAIL IT!"
  - 5y ago
chewz 5y ago
I have met older guy from US in Bagan, Myanmar in 2011. He started traveling in 1980s and among many funny stories told me that initially had been lugging a typewriter in his backpack in order to write a diary...
thordenmark 5y ago
Berkeley Typewriter is one of the most fascinating shops I've been to. They have a great collection of typewriters from late 1800's to the end of the typewriter era. They are also experts at repairing. https://berkeleytypewriter.com/ https://berkeleytypewriter.com/
hoppyhoppy2 5y ago
There's a great recent documentary about a little typewriter repair shop called California Typewriter. It was a fun watch! For anyone interested in typewriters in general, The Typewriter Revolution is a fun book.
- underseacables 5y ago
  There is also a journal called the Early Typewriter Collector.
avemuri 5y ago
I've been to this shop. Interestingly, his 'new' business is also something of a relic of the past. At some point in history the post office in Panjim started insisting that it is mandatory for international packages to be sewn into a linen enclosure to protect the package. I remember this being a common practice a few decades ago everywhere in India but I haven't seen anyone do this in Delhi or Mumbai for at least the last 20 years. Yet it continues to be 'mandatory' here, and he has a monopoly on serving this market.
- valarauko 5y ago
  > Yet it continues to be 'mandatory' here, and he has a monopoly on serving this market. I don't know if it was mandatory, but I had packages sewn up in Hyderabad as recently as a few years ago. There's a bunch of guys who sit outside the GPO that do this. Show your package to the clerk inside before to make sure its kosher, and then the guy will wrap and seal it for 20 rupees.
noisy_boy 5y ago
Tangential anecdote: my dad sent me to a typing institute(!) during my summer vacation because he had no hopes of me being able to do anything beyond clerical work and knowing typing would be helpful in that area. Decades later, I am grateful for that experience because being able to touch type is a gift that never stops giving.
terramex 5y ago
I did recently find a different kind of a repair shop that successfully defied the digital age - manual lens and cameras repair shop. I needed Canon nFD lens fixed and found out that only one out of dozens camera repair shops in my area still touches manual lenses. When I went there I chatted a bit with the owner and he said that in the past few years they are overwhelmed with repairs as other technicians knowing how to repair those are simply dying out or retiring. At the same time the rise of mirrorless cameras made adapting of old glass to new cameras super easy and cheap, especially for videographers. And now I have to wait 3 weeks for a simple repair.
Mediterraneo10 5y ago
In the Maghreb and West Africa a decade ago, there were still some scribes in public squares who would type up correspondence, because literacy was so low. I wonder if some of them are now working with laptops or tablets.
mncharity 5y ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/ https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/

108 points by EB-Barrington 5y ago

There was and I believe still is a fantastic typewriter repair shop still operating in Arlington, MA (just outside Cambridge): http://www.cambridgetypewriter.com/ http://www.cambridgetypewriter.com/ I had them do a tune up on a 1930's Royal Quiet Deluxe typewriter I bought while living in the area and was blown away by how they were able to bring the machine back to like-new operation. There were once entire schools dedicated to training typewriter repair and now the art is almost completely lost for some of the older mechanicals.

underseacables 5y ago
Cambridge Typewriter is heaven. I’ve had my machine fixed there, the owner is the sweetest man.
spoonjim 5y ago
The last typewriter shop in the United States will probably be in the Greater Boston Area.
mncharity 5y ago
> www.cambridgetypewriter.com Non-broken link to Chronicle story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjapP3tNKOU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjapP3tNKOU . There's a blog[1] and more active facebook[2]. [1] http://cambridgetypewriter.blogspot.com/ http://cambridgetypewriter.blogspot.com/ [2] https://www.facebook.com/pg/cambridgetypewriter/posts/ https://www.facebook.com/pg/cambridgetypewriter/posts/

optimalsolver 5y ago

Semi-related: Guy who became a Reddit meme because he took his typewriter to the park (he explains why in the linked article) describes what its like to be ridiculed on the Internet. https://www.theawl.com/2013/09/i-am-an-object-of-internet-ridicule-ask-me-anything/ https://www.theawl.com/2013/09/i-am-an-object-of-internet-ri...

jamil7 5y ago
Thanks for sharing this. Reddit really is an awful place, I’ve personally seen comments inciting violence like this there so often.
kshacker 5y ago
Fantastic reading, although from 2013 it seems. Never heard of this before. Thanks for sharing.
imgabe 5y ago
This is fascinating, you should submit this as its own post. I read So You've Been Publicly Shamed[1] recently which detailed more stories like this. It should be required reading in every high school. The Internet mob is a cultural phenomenon of the current moment that we aren't going to look back on fondly. [1]https://www.amazon.com/So-Youve-Been-Publicly-Shamed/dp/1594634017 https://www.amazon.com/So-Youve-Been-Publicly-Shamed/dp/1594...
- OJFord 5y ago
  Someone now has: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27457618 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27457618 (I just mention it to avoid dupes, and maybe further discussion is better there than as a tangent here.)
3v1n0 5y ago
I'm quite sure there's an Italian street artist that is doing this for some years already

reaperducer 5y ago

For the curious, there are still at least a hundred typewriter repair shops in the United States. From Bremerton Island to Albuquerque to New Jersey. New typewriters out of China run about $200, but most people would rather spend $600-$1,300 for something vintage made in America, Spain, Brazil, or the UK. Not too long ago there was an article in the Sun-Times about one in Chicago that is kept in business repairing typewriters for the police department because many CPD forms still have to be done in paper, and in triplicate.

OJFord 5y ago
> New typewriters out of China run about $200, Yeah, I was curious about that when I saw the caption on the article's leading photo: > [...]. The last typewriters in the world were made in India.
crispyambulance 5y ago
There's a "typewriter shop" near where I live in Philly. It's very charming and run by a guy who, it appears, did make a living as a typewriter repairman back in the day. The thing is, these are now more of a hipster lifestyle accessory. There's nothing pragmatically useful about typewriters. They can be beautiful things and have great object appeal just sitting on a (large-enough) desk. I expect that the majority of typerwriter shops in the USA are focused on the aesthetic concept of typewriters rather than their actual utility. There's something magical about an Olivetti Valentine typewriter, for example, it reminds one of a more civilized era (even though it's ridiculous to say that about the 60's). It evokes dreamy romantic visions of writing eloquent prose, effortlessly, without batteries without spell-check. (https://www.massmadesoul.com/olivetti-valentine https://www.massmadesoul.com/olivetti-valentine) The earlier IBM Selectrics, a very different but also magical machine but decidedly not romantic like the Valentine. It uses a metal ball of fonts and has a pleasing motion every time you slap down a letter. It was supposed to be all business and even the colors were drab, but there is something joyful about it. But as writing instruments? F-that! These things suck for writing. They great at cocktail parties though... "Hey, check it out, I got a TYPEWRITER, let's TYPE a LETTER and MAIL IT!"
- 5y ago

chewz 5y ago

I have met older guy from US in Bagan, Myanmar in 2011. He started traveling in 1980s and among many funny stories told me that initially had been lugging a typewriter in his backpack in order to write a diary...

thordenmark 5y ago

Berkeley Typewriter is one of the most fascinating shops I've been to. They have a great collection of typewriters from late 1800's to the end of the typewriter era. They are also experts at repairing. https://berkeleytypewriter.com/ https://berkeleytypewriter.com/

hoppyhoppy2 5y ago

There's a great recent documentary about a little typewriter repair shop called California Typewriter. It was a fun watch! For anyone interested in typewriters in general, The Typewriter Revolution is a fun book.

underseacables 5y ago
There is also a journal called the Early Typewriter Collector.

avemuri 5y ago

I've been to this shop. Interestingly, his 'new' business is also something of a relic of the past. At some point in history the post office in Panjim started insisting that it is mandatory for international packages to be sewn into a linen enclosure to protect the package. I remember this being a common practice a few decades ago everywhere in India but I haven't seen anyone do this in Delhi or Mumbai for at least the last 20 years. Yet it continues to be 'mandatory' here, and he has a monopoly on serving this market.

valarauko 5y ago
> Yet it continues to be 'mandatory' here, and he has a monopoly on serving this market. I don't know if it was mandatory, but I had packages sewn up in Hyderabad as recently as a few years ago. There's a bunch of guys who sit outside the GPO that do this. Show your package to the clerk inside before to make sure its kosher, and then the guy will wrap and seal it for 20 rupees.

noisy_boy 5y ago

Tangential anecdote: my dad sent me to a typing institute(!) during my summer vacation because he had no hopes of me being able to do anything beyond clerical work and knowing typing would be helpful in that area. Decades later, I am grateful for that experience because being able to touch type is a gift that never stops giving.

terramex 5y ago

I did recently find a different kind of a repair shop that successfully defied the digital age - manual lens and cameras repair shop. I needed Canon nFD lens fixed and found out that only one out of dozens camera repair shops in my area still touches manual lenses. When I went there I chatted a bit with the owner and he said that in the past few years they are overwhelmed with repairs as other technicians knowing how to repair those are simply dying out or retiring. At the same time the rise of mirrorless cameras made adapting of old glass to new cameras super easy and cheap, especially for videographers. And now I have to wait 3 weeks for a simple repair.

Mediterraneo10 5y ago

In the Maghreb and West Africa a decade ago, there were still some scribes in public squares who would type up correspondence, because literacy was so low. I wonder if some of them are now working with laptops or tablets.

mncharity 5y ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/ https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/