Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash

I've started a quest for the “perfect” typewriter. I don't know what that means: I don't know what perfect is in the case of typewriters. When I find it, I will know it. There will be mistakes made along the way, but so be it.

There is something that has fascinated me already, however, in my search for a typewriter.

Originally I was thinking that an IBM Selectric I was the most likely candidate for my perfect typewriter. Why? Mainly because I've used one in the past. And for some reason I think we had one at home. My father had an inherent trust of IBM. I recall him parroting the saying, “Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.” And, of course the other reason: they were produced during my birth year. Yeah, despite the fact that I still don't understand Birth Year Collecting, it was something that I was doing.

But there was an issue when I started thinking about it… How would I know if a specific typewriter was produced during my birth year? The IBM Selectric I was produced from 1961 to 1971 — ten years, and I wanted to find one that was almost literally smack-dab in the middle of that date range. And, if I am honest, that is probably during the peak in the models' popularity.

That's when I found a website that is incredibly helpful: The Typewriter Database. This is the kind of thing I've only seen a few times. Collectors of cars, watches, and some vintage electronics have similar databases (or books) with this kind of information in it. What this database has in it is listings for (literally) thousands of typewriters, and as much identifying information about them as possible. The most important being a list of serial numbers, and their corresponding dates of production.

So, for example, if I wanted an IBM Selectric I from 1963 (not my birth year), I would look for serial numbers in the range 4086101–4115100. If I wanted an IBM Model C Executive from 1967 (also not my birth year — lol) I'd look for serial numbers in the range of 2301101–2312580.

So, the hunt goes on. I'm not even certain that I want an IBM typewriter at this point. There are a lot of typewriters that catching my eye, but none of the ones that I am seeing are from my birth year. But again, I have to wonder if going with something from my birth year is even the right thing for me to do?

One thing I've noticed is this; price is definitely linked to (a) condition, and (b) the seller. One model that caught my eye has a very wide range of prices. The one, in particular, that I noticed comes from a seller that services typewriters, and seems to only sell ones that are in pristine condition. Of course, this comes at a price, typically more than double the average asking price for the model. Is it worth it? I think it would — especially to have a typewriter that is in top working condition.

But, then again, I don't know that I want to pay what is being asked for it. In particular, this is a portable manual typewriter. It's not a model I would likely use much, if at all. I would be just buying it because it is aesthetically pleasing.

Well, it doesn't matter yet. I am still going to keep hunting for a typewriter. Whether I get a birth-year model or not is still something I need to figure out. And, honestly, whether I plan to use it is another question altogether. I think that is what I am waiting for my mind to settle on: is this something I am actually going to want to use, or is it just for decoration? Once I have answered that question, then I will be able to nail down what I want to get.

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Categories: #Essays Tags: #typewriter, #collecting, #shopping, #research, #eyecandy, #aesthetics License: Copyright Unattributed. Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0.

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