I recently had a friends kids over for the evening (14 and 11) and was surprised to see how fascinated they seemed to be with my old L.C. Smith typewriter. (Shown above) I have had this as long as I can remember and used to use it all the time. It has such a decorative, old-fashioned typeface and I have kept it all these years lugging it around from place to place. Needless to say it weighs a ton. Seeing my young friends so enthralled with it inspired me to write about it and to show some other lovely vintage typewriters I've collected photos of. Below is a better photo of one exactly like mine...
I have another typewriter that I love which is from the mid 1960's that I bought in a thrift shop about 20 years ago for $10 or so. Unfortunately it is way in the back of my closet loft so I have found a photo of one almost exactly like it, case and all. It felt very modern to me after having used my L. C. Smith for so long.
Following are some gorgeous ones in colors I didn't know existed in the typewriter world; red, pink, mint...
The space bar alone on this one is so gorgeous and the keys are such a lovely shade of seafoam.
I almost gave in and bought this just for the plaid case but the red and black ribbon and the green and black body is so stunning, it is no wonder it is italian.
Here is an adorable portable that I would have bought just for the pleasure of opening that case and finding such a compact and pleasing little grey surprise inside!
Above are 2 more humble yet efficient models from the 1950's. I remember using one just like the grey Smith Corona in the office of our high school where I used to work during the summer. I can still feel the textured grey finish and hear those green keys tapping.
This looks like something the Jetsons would have had in their home.
This one is so neat and shiny it makes you want to put in a fresh piece of crisp paper and jump right into writing that novel you've been dreaming of.
This one is so bizarre, I've never seen anything like it! I think Jules Verne may have designed it...
I couldn't finish without paying homage to one of my favorite subjects: vintage tins. Here are some gorgeous typewriter ribbon tins that I would love to own.
