California Typewriter Page #8

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- When I hit those trances,

it's a very strange combination

of laying the pavement

and driving on it.

- You're seeing a phenomenon,

you're seeing this

apparition take place.

I don't mean to sound

hocus pocus about it, but

there's something taking

place and you're true to that.

- And you cannot decide when

those moments are gonna be,

you just have to be there

in case they happen.

But you have to keep

your heart rate down,

and focus, and stay

in that trance.

And just let that one

side of your brain create,

and the other side of your

brain send it through.

- And sometimes you see

it by leaps and bounds

and sometimes it's just static.

You don't just write

it, you see it.

- The best creators in the

world are fiercely arrogant.

And it's not the arrogance

that you normally think of.

It's the arrogance

in looking at something

you haven't created yet

and say, yes I have.

- Sometimes it leads you

somewhere, sometimes it doesn't.

You know.

But that's the

adventure of it all.

- You create something

so you don't have to live

with the reality that you

couldn't create something.

It's sick, it's a

very sick process.

I'm going to create something

just so I don't have nothing.

(ding)

Doesn't make any sense.

(engine revving)

(horn honking)

(distant siren)

- Herb put the

building up for sale.

You know, I didn't

wanna see him do it,

I mean, he struggled

a lot to keep it goin'.

And to see him put it up for

sale, I was kinda sad for him.

We haven't heard anything

since the sign's been put up,

but just a couple days

ago, got an inquire

from a prospective buyer.

After they left,

I talked to Herb and

he seems to think the guys

are quite interested in it.

If the shop gets sold,

then I've gotta find

something else to do.

So I'm kind of waiting to see

what my next move is gonna be.

I can't make a move

until they make one.

- [Candy] Dad mentioned that,

he was really concerned

about payment.

- Oh absolutely, he'd

have to give severance.

- Oh definitely, you'd

have to give him something.

Yeah, some kind of

package for sure.

- Absolutely.

- And some kind of time.

Some kind of warning,

I mean not 30 days, 60 days.

- Well as long as it comes

with a reasonable check,

it should help soften that blow.

- [Candy] We pay him

not enough, probably,

for what we get from him.

- [Woman] That's

right, that's right.

- [Candy] For what he

takes on and does for us.

I think we owe him something,

what would you think?

Fifteen years he's

been working for you.

And 30 days' notice

and no check,

I'm not feelin' it.

- No way.

- I mean, he's gotta go

out and find a job now.

He's made it possible for dad

to not be there all the time

and Carmen to not be there

all the time, actually.

He would drop whatever he's

doing to come help Dad.

(jazz trumpet)

- [Ken] Today's

Herb's 70th birthday.

I've fixed up a couple

of classic Royals

that they're gonna use

to have people sign in.

Lotta people are

from Herb's past.

- Hey, remember this

move we used to do?

(laughing)

- [Ken] IBM days,

his old typewriter days.

I think he's gonna

have a good time.

(click)

(crowd chatter and laughter)

- [Speaker] Happy to celebrate

70 years of life, amen.

- [Man] Amen.

- I wanna share one thing.

God had given us

two commandments,

one is to love him with

everything that we have,

and the second is to

love our neighbor,

which includes

family and friends.

It's obvious that you

love family and friends,

'cause you're here tonight.

And so I wanna give a toast

to Herbert Permillion III,

for touching so many

lives, Happy Birthday.

70 years of life.

- Alright, yay.

(clapping)

(crowd signing Happy Birthday)

(downtempo jazz)

- I love ya, Herb.

(murmuring crowd)

(downtempo jazz)

- See your man over there.

- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

(chucang)

- You know, people do

have to go to work.

You know, I can't sit here

and pet you all afternoon.

So it's rough right now,

yeah, definitely rough.

We'll be all right.

I like what I do,

it's just unfortunate

that it's just not enough

to where I can make

a decent living off of it.

I'm a proud man, you know.

I like to work for my own,

and get my own, and

take care of my family.

I want my family to be proud

of me, that's the main thing.

And I know they are,

you know, my boys are.

You know, I was taught

never to give up.

I'm never gonna give up, I'll

never just throw in the towel.

I'm gonna always keep

trying, you know.

I owe that to my parents.

They were hard working people,

they came to California

back in the 40s to work in

these shipyards out here.

They sacrificed a lot, they

did a lot to raise nine kids.

So I owe it to them not

to slouch off or be a bum.

They worked hard and I

patterned my life after them.

And I want my sons to pattern

theirs after me somewhat.

So gotta keep going,

gotta keep goin.

Always gotta keep goin.

(clicking)

(whirring)

(clicking)

That thing's gonna probably

hit right in the middle.

- [Martin] I've been

collecting it 25 years now

and I realize that I'll

never shake this obsession.

I've come to San Francisco

to see a collector

who has one of the

greatest collections

of Sholes and Gliddens.

Jim Rauen has amassed

what is arguably

the biggest collection

of these machines.

He has 12 of them, wow.

I am the kid in the candy store,

- I've never really

used my typewriters.

I've just preserved 'em.

- [Martin] That's good,

that's the important thing.

It's much harder now to find

a Sholes and Glidden typewriter

in the wild.

- [Jim] This is Sholes

and Glidden 2540.

- [Martin] Oh,

this is exquisite.

I've only been collecting

for half the time

that Jim has, he started

collecting 50 years ago

and at that time there

were only a handful

of typewriter collectors.

- 3026, that is

a gorgeous machine.

You'll love that one.

And that should do it

except for those two.

Oh, boy, I used to

have your energy.

- I should take off

my wedding ring.

- [Jim] Is your wife into

typewriters at all, Mark?

- In a word, no.

(grunting)

Oh my, those are shiny

and beautiful, wow.

- I think I've got more

Sholes and Gliddens

than the Smithsonian does.

(ding)

- Wow, look at that, eh.

It's always a rather personal

question to ask a collector

if they have a particular

machine for sale.

Are you still looking

for Sholes and Gliddens?

I guess certainly if

you saw one, you'd...

- Well, I don't

know now whether...

So many things economy-wise

have changed for us.

- [Martin] Difficult times.

But as collectors, we

all sort of have to put

our hat into the ring and

make our desires known.

It's important not

to be too meek.

I suspect that over the years

you've had other collectors

who have come to

you interested in

buying a Sholes and Glidden

typewriter from you,

has that been the case?

- [Jim] Yes.

Let me ask you this, what are

your thoughts about selling

some of your typewriters

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