Chris from Seattle shares pictures of his typewriter tin collection, displayed with magnets. As most collectors can attest, he started with just one!
“I bought a ribbon tin (unknowingly) several years ago with my daughters at an impromptu “garage” sale underneath Pike Place Market in Seattle. Loved it. Looked it up (big mistake). Found them on eBay (of course), but became enthralled after seeing your flickr collection (beautiful).”
Cards and wrapping paper from Nancy & Betty Studio
By now everyone is well aware of my fondness for typewriters! Thanks to Hannah for introducing me to her company, Nancy & Betty Studio.
“Nancy & Betty Studio is a small stationery design brand, created by Hannah Bidmead. After studying Fine Art (BA) Hons, Nancy & Betty Studio was created and is now based in our studio in Canterbury, England. Inspiration also comes form the simple and often quirky things, involving subjects such as typewriters and Polaroid cameras – beautiful, functional objects. We like simple graphics and strong colours, with a nod to retro themes.”
I’m on the hunt for typewriter-related papers, packages, photos and memorabilia! Above is a recent purchase from Agent Obsolete. Check out their Etsy shop for more retro finds. If you have any good leads or have your own collection of typewriter things you’d like to share, please let me know!
Here Gallery is hosting an exhibition of work by Aine Venables from August 16 to September 24. They also stock UPPERCASE magazine!
Cleaned up image from Ebay
Designcollect on EtsyThe IBM Selectric turns fifty today.
The IBM Selectric became an instant sensation upon its debut on July 31, 1961, and remained the typewriter found on most office desks until the brand was retired 25 years later, in 1986. With 2,800 parts, many designed from scratch, it was a major undertaking even for IBM, which had been in the typewriter business since the 1930s and was already a market leader. The Selectric marked a radical change from previous typewriter designs, and it took IBM seven years to work out the manufacturing and design challenges before it went on sale.
The Selectric typewriter was a game-changer in many ways:
The Selectric also formed the basis for early computer terminals and paved the way for keyboards to emerge as the primary way for people to interact with computers, as opposed to pressing buttons or levers. A modified Selectric could be plugged into IBM’s System/360 computer, enabling engineers and researchers to interact with their computers in new ways.
“The Selectric typewriter, from its design to its functionality, was an innovation leader for its time and revolutionized the way people recorded information,” said Linda Sanford, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Transformation, IBM, who was a development engineer on the Selectric. “Nearly two decades before computers were introduced, the Selectric laid the foundation for word-processing applications that boosted efficiency and productivity, and it inspired many user-friendly features in computers that we take for granted today.”
Here’s a silly commercial from the 80s. I’m pretty sure it was considered silly even back then!
Here are other posts about the Selectric on Mad Men and in Fringe.
16 Sparrows is a delight for those infatuated with mail art, letter-writing, stationery and the lost art of typewriting. (Annie, I think that’s you!)
From their website: “Who are you and how did this all start? 16 Sparrows sprouted from an observation that there were no greeting cards for sarcastic, quirky folks. So Kathy began making her own and after my paper goods out numbered friends and family, she knew something had to be done. With the encouragement of two close friends; Milly & Ilya, Kathy opened up shop. (This is the clean up version of what happened. If you ask Milly or Ilya, the birth of 16 Sparrows occurred in a bar over a table covered in empty beer bottles.) In 2006 Miss Donovan joined Kathy and 16 Sparrows became a partnership. Thanks to her, 16 Sparrows has expanded its product base and has gone on to have great success at craft fairs & retail stores. Donovan and Kathy both share an interest in smart-ass pretty things, which is a commonality that has made their partnership a success.”
Donovan, Kathy and Annie are friends with the co-author of the amazing book Good Mail Day, so I had the chance to meet Carolee Gilligan Wheeler, whose mail art we included in a previous issue. There was a VERY happy moment when Carolee gave Annie a typewriter! Check it out on Annie’s blog, Curbside Treasures.
Carlo Scarpa’s architectural feat restored to glory as Venice’s newest museum
Widely recognized for their Ettore Sottsass-designed Valentine typewriter, one of Olivetti’s less celebrated design accomplishments is the company’s Venice showroom and store. Architect Carlo Scarpa spent two years conceiving the space with a focus on transparencies and materials after commissioned by Adriano Olivetti in the late ’50s, leading to what became one of the most significant architectural achievements of the 20th century.
Located on Venice’s famed Piazza San Marco, 14 years ago the Olivetti store was turned into a novelty shop. Last year the space’s owner, Assicurazioni Generali, began working with the Venice Heritage office to painstakingly refurbish the shop to its original appearance, reinstating authentic materials, forms and color schemes. They also turned to the glorious Italian cultural institution, FAI to protect and manage the building, which is filled with a unique collection of typewriters and calculators donated by Olivetti that’s now open to the public for regular visits along with the rest of the space.
One focal point of the renovated store is Alberto Viani’s “Nudo al Sole”—a sculpture that the architect put above a black Belgian marble plinth covered by water. To achieve the right amount of light, Scarpa increased the number of windows, illuminating the irregularly-shaped mosaic glass floor which changes color in each area. The main entrance is red, the central section almost white, the side entrance blue and the rear yellow.
The showroom-slash-museum provides exhaustive testimony to Scarpa’s construction expertise, taste and sophistication in the dialogue between old and new—skills that enabled him to design a classic in a city of architectural icons. The Olivetti Store is made of savvy construction details, balanced contrasts and constant maniacal research into lettering and texts, the results of which were never so eloquent as they are in the Olivetti Showroom.
Vancouver-based photographer Tracey Ayton is having a giveaway over on her blog today, as 12″ x 12″ canvas print of this lovely photo.
Todd McLellan takes things apart in order to photograph them.
“In my series disassembly, I have used old items that are no longer used by the masses and often found on the street curbs heading for disposal. All of the items in the photographs were in working order. The interesting part was the fact that they were all so well built, and the parts were most likely put together by hand. I envisioned all the enjoyment these pieces had given many people for many years, all to be replaced by new technology that will be rapidly replaced with half the use.” Read more here.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
