Royal HH

The first three typewriters drafted into this project were portables. When new, they were cheaper to own. They are easier to move around (as the name suggests). They made a great gift to that college-bound bookish kid in your life. Hence, portable models are much more common in the wild.

There are some trade-offs to their light weight (relatively speaking) and small size. Portables are less robust (especially later models), more likely to be damaged (it's easier to drop something if you're toting it all around), louder, and less comfortable to use.

It is for these last reasons that I've wanted a desktop typewriter for some time. Due to their increased mass, non-portables seem to absorb much more of the noise they produce than portables. Thick body panels, more (and better) sound deadening felt, etc. Due to their increased size and weight, they are easier to operate. There's simply more room to squeeze in all those levers, springs, and hooks. Also, stationary units can be weighted with an eye toward ease of typing without worrying about making the whole package too heavy.

With all this in mind, you can imagine my excitement at seeing a Royal HH for sale on Craigslist! It's a desktop machine from the '50s. It looked to be in good shape, had a good story behind it, and was listed at a great price. Unfortunately, it was on the other side of Chicago (nearly a 2-hour drive), and I didn't think I'd be able to make it over there.

So, I sent the seller an e-mail complimenting the machine and offering some further information (I was guessing it was an HH based on the pictures, and made some other educated guesses). Much to my surprise, she replied with an offer to donate the machine to my classroom project if I could come pick it up!

I contacted a colleague and friend who recently moved over here from Chicago, and we made arrangements to drive over and pick up the machine.

In the few brief minutes we were chatting with the HH's owners, I'm sure my typewriter enthusiasm struck them as a bit unusual. "Thank you so, so much" must have tumbled from my lips a dozen times or more.

What was going to be the first of many slow, easy days of summer break turned into an afternoon adventure wherein we met some wonderful people and got to hear their amazing story.

I am all for integrating technology into the classroom when it benefits the learning process. I've made great use of the tablets we have at school, for example. However, one thing that shiny, new technology lacks is story.

The tablets we use in class were purchased in a lot of several hundred, un-boxed and set up by tech. students, and wheeled into the classroom. Each one of these typewriters has its own story. Some of them have many stories, and we may only know one. Perhaps its our job, not only to create new stories with them, but to carry on the old stories, as well.