California Typewriter Page #12

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Marty is from outer space.

(laughter)

And I've found that collecting

the typewriter friends

is a lot more fun than

collecting typewriters.

- This is a white

Moll number three.

- [Martin] There's

a whole range of ages here

from 14, the youngest,

up to 75 approaching 80.

- And it's just a fun machine

that makes you

smile to look at it.

- Mostly men, all men.

A bit strange, I don't

know why that is.

- I take it back

with me, the hopper,

and I sleep with her tonight.

And then I'll take

it back tomorrow.

- Alright, so this is

my Oliver Woodstock,

absolutely no relation to...

- [Martin] It's

just wonderful to

share our passion of

early typewriters.

- Did you have to do much

to it or was it like that

when you got it?

I'll never be able to get

all the antique typewriters.

It's spectacular.

There's always gonna

be people out there

with bigger collections.

- If I had to keep

only one typewriter,

if I had to get rid of them

all and only have one left,

There is a version of this

Smith Corona, which is the

silent Smith Corona.

I have an electric

version of this,

which is kind of like

a hybrid model of it,

'cause the only thing in it

that is electric is the keys.

But there is...

Let me move this.

Smith Corona, Skywriter,

definitely on the top five list.

If you can only take five

typewriters with you,

that would be it.

Hermes 2000, definitely might

wanna take that bad boy.

The Olympia's okay,

but quite frankly,

the rise of the keys

is a little too high.

Somewhere around whenever

they started making this,

the Smith Corona Silent

and various other models

that have the same silhouette,

the rise on the keys

is just almost perfect.

Going from an N to a Y

requires almost nothing.

The size of the type is not

too big and not too small.

But listen to the

solidity of the action.

(clacking)

This is a solid,

solid piece of machine

that's got beautiful

highlights like the stripes

here and there, the colors are

good, I love the green keys.

I would probably say that

this with a good case

would be the one

typewriter I would take

and that's why it's

kinda out right now.

I rotate this one

into use an awful lot.

(clack clack)

I confess.

(clack clack)

- I'm not picking the typewriter

because I think it's hip.

It's the best version of the

idea that's ever come around.

And for me, I think

the best way to live

is to incorporate the

best of the last 100 years

into a hybrid that works.

Write a book on a typewriter

and promote it on Twitter.

Why not use the spectrum.

You just have to make sure

you get yourself a typewriter

on Ebay or some blade runner-y

kind of back alley deal

and say, well, I'm happy

to be typing on it.

- [Ken] I think they're here,

I think they're coming back

and I think they're gonna

be around for a while.

We have a pretty good

supply right now.

Herb's always out

lookin' for 'em.

He's at flea markets,

he's at garage sales.

There's still a lot

of 'em out there.

We've got a good supply,

but I kinda believe

that you can never

have too many.

You know, you can

never have too many.

- [TV Host] You know

what, I, like you,

mourn the loss of

the typewriter.

And then you come

up with an app.

- [Tom] I came up with an app.

The Hanx Writer, Hanx with an x.

And I've gotta tell you, man,

of dollars off of this.

(chucang)

I have figured out

how to make a computer

work like a typewriter.

(laughing)

- [Ken] We're havin'

people come in the shop

and say, I just did a Google

search for typewriter repair

and you popped up.

- In World War II,

that used to be

the reporter style typewriter.

They used to send in reports

from the battlefield.

So this has been to

World War II and back.

So that's a lot of

sentimental value, I guess.

- [Ken] They're comin'

from all over the place.

From far away as LA,

ones from San Diego.

It really shows what

the website did.

- Oh, excuse me.

(chucang)

- I'm certainly no prophet,

I can't see into the future,

but we're hanging in there.

California Typewriter is here

and we still repair typewriters.

(soft jazz music)

(wind noise)

- It was too directly

bound to its own anguish

to be anything other

than a cry of negation,

carrying within itself the

seeds of its own destruction.

That's the last two lines of

the Encyclopedia Britannica

description of the

dada movement of art.

You could use that to explain

anything in the world.

It's the ultimate

all-purpose answer.

If it takes a hen and

a half, a day and a half,

to lay an egg and a half,

how long does it take

a one legged grasshopper

to kick the seeds

out of a dill pickle?

What are you gonna say?

Two seconds,

two minutes, two days?

It's completely boring

compared to that question.

(jingly whirring)

When you explain things,

you rob them of their mystery.

Questions are far more

interesting than answers.

There's no meaning

to the universe,

but you might say our job

is to give it meaning.

But that's for our amusement.

The universe could care less.

(light accordion music)

(clacking)

(smooth jazz music)

- I like the feeling of

making something with my hands

I like working with my

hands, I like to paint,

I like to build things.

And with this machine,

I'm working with my hands.

- I just feel this

incredible tension

as I get older between what

I would like to see happen

and what's just

gonna happen anyway.

- You know, I'm not gonna

bemoan the passing of an era.

There's a certain point

where everything left me

in the dust. (chuckles)

And I was happy to

be left in the dust.

- But all this,

it's all going away.

The only people that will

keep this up is insane people

and dilettantes and artists.

Mad geniuses like myself and

a handful of other people.

(jazz music)

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