The tale of two typewriters

So I'm fulfilling Paris Letters orders over in the shop, as usual.

In one order, the customer states "If it's not blank on the back of the letter, I don't want it."

Curious, I inquired further.

Harley tells me he plans on typing letters to friends on the back of the letters. So my illustrated letter on one side, his typed letter on the other side.

This intrigues me. Like, with an actual typewriter?

I love the idea of all of this and I tell him so.

"I'll send you one" he says. I immediately forward my mailing address to a stranger. wonders about this... shoulder shrugs... carries on

A week later the UPS guy is standing on my porch with a big box. I don't remember ordering anything so he looks at the packing form.

"A typewriter?"

I didn't order one but I nod and say it's mine.mine mine mine

It's a package from Harley who has sent me a robin's egg blue ROYAL typewriter.

I am astounded for a few reasons. First, I thought Harley was sending me a letter. Just a letter. Second, this is a heavy package that probably cost a fortune to ship. Third, a random gift from a stranger doesn't happen every day... or ever.

Look at this beauty:

How kind and wonderful is this gift?!?!?!!?

It's gorgeous and has a pleasant clickity clack. His letter, explaining his gift, has been rolled in like it was just written on the typewriter before popping the whole thing in the mail. Clever.

What a pressie!

We've been clickity clacking ever since. Amélie feels very accomplished when she can type all the way to end to make the bell ring.

Everyone who comes over takes a turn.

Then my mom and sister are at a yard sale on the weekend and come across this beauty for $20.

Majestic Typewriter

It's the Majestic 800 and it's as majestic as it sounds...

Now that we got it working.

The thing with manual typewriters is that you can see inside at all the mechanics; how wires hook to other wires, gadgetry and movement. It's all rather symphonic and majestic, in fact.

So now, inside the space of a week, we have two typewriters and I'm fully Tom Hanks about the whole typewriter craze. I've learned how to clean them, replace ribbon, set margins, and even make minor fixes.

Then I set about writing letters. That's when the magic happened. Typing on a vintage typewriter is a meld of your thoughts and the soul of the machine. The result is a letter that is better than I could have imagined on my own.

I can't explain it but it is THERE and it is KEEN on typing up letters with me.

Plus, I've been making bouquets galore with the flowers in the garden. Look at this creative use of my thyme:

Having Amélie exploring the world has also made me realize that it's important to have tactile tools, whether it's a page she can type on or a record she can play herself. Feeling like an independent person doing her own thing is important to her. She gets exasperated having to ask for drinks and snacks. Being able to pull herself up to a desk and click clack away without anyone having to show her how has added a level of glee to her life.

Mine, too.

Janice

PPS Almost forgot! This is happening over at the shop. Canvas prints, framed. YES!