Would you like a typewriter calendar?

Recently, Joe Van Cleave's post has given me the idea to create a typewriter calendar. It'll be a nice photography project for me, and something pleasant to grace your walls with. W and I already bought our 2015 calendar (because it's the best non-typewriter calendar ever), but there's no reason to not make a typewriter one, too. Perhaps it's a bit late in the year to be starting a project like this, but I think it ought to be ready to order by Christmas!  I'd prefer to be able to design the calendar from scratch rather than just insert photos into an online template, but I'm looking into various ways of going about making this.

So what do you think? Would you be interested in buying a typewriter calendar this year? I'm not thinking of giving it a specific theme, other than including only pre-WWII portable machines as a general rule (with exceptions for a few that fit the theme but were made in the late 40s or early 50s). I will be taking all-new photos for the calendar.  Have a look through my collection on the typewriter database. What do you want to see on your wall during the upcoming year? Would you rather see detail shots, full views, or a mix of the two? Let me know in the comments!

In the meantime, here are the first two parts of an aborted four-part photography session for my collection that I took this previous summer. I arranged them by year of manufacture so this covers 1920 through 1956. They're pretty outdated at this point, with machines I've sold, and missing machines I've since bought.

Monica

1960 Olympia Monica 1662764

Sent from my new Olympia Monica

1960 Supermetall prospekt

Always and everywhere… Type 541

Here the KsT is referred to as the "Typ 541", a designation I'd never seen before. Perhaps with the Supermetall brand came a new model name for the classic Rheinmetall portable.

This is one of the pieces of typewriter ephemera I have collected this year; more to come...

Typing Masterclass (with Seidel and Naumann)

I've finally found myself an Erika M. While waiting for some metal polish to arrive by mail, I've taken a few black and whites that really show the beauty of this machine. There is something altogether more grand and stately about the M compared to the 5, even though they share the same frame and housing.

A first for me—I've made a narrated video after thinking very strongly that I wouldn't. In it, the margin release, marginator, tab set/clear, and spaced writing are inspected and demonstrated. It's not perfect, and I feel like my voice sounds a little annoying, but I spent a few hours on it and I think it is more effective than a typecast. (Although, after I get the keys polished up and this properly photographed, I will do a blog post about it)

Can anybody who reads German cursive tell me what this dealer is?

Consul 1972

1972 Consul 235 2 235 07301

It is impossible to argue that Zbrojovka Brno didn't make some of the most beautiful typewriters of the 60s and 70s. The lines are so clean and pure, and the color choices are often perfect and don't look dated today.

Notice how the 235 has different style keys compared to the 221.1. These were actually produced concurrently for 2 years, with the newer keys on the ultraportables. Eventually, by about 1973, the larger portables also had the newer trapezoidal keys. But more on that later!

Sent from my new Consul 235

Kittens!

I love going back to Michigan to visit my family. It's somewhat of a surreal experience each time, going back to the family home—I didn't exactly spend my childhood there but the last three years before moving out, a whirlwind of conflict, were spent there. Of course, now going back is nothing like when I lived there because all the conflict seemed to evaporate after I left. Really, it's like visiting a rose-tinted memory.

But this time, there were two new additions to the family! Two identical black cat sisters, Ebony and Onyx. The only way to tell them apart is by counting how many white whiskers they have. Allegedly you can tell by their reactions to blowing in their faces, but that's not a very nice way to greet them. Sometimes a behavior pattern makes for a clear indication, as one of them (I don't remember which) is really cuddly at certain times of the day and can't stay off your lap or out of your way.

They're both equally adorable though and some of the best cats I've ever had the pleasure to spend time with—sweet, gentle, playful, and patient. They've destroyed more than their share of things over the months but I never saw any evidence of it. They must have been on their best behavior for the guests.

I grew up with cats my whole life and our family was never without a cat or three, but since I've moved out I haven't had the chance to adopt one yet. Spending time with Onyx and Ebony really reminded me how much I missed having a cat… as much as I love Ned, our black lab, he's still not a cat! When we move, in a year or two, we'll get a house with a proper yard and then it's only a matter of finding the right cat (or cats maybe!).

I ended up doing more interesting things than I expected while away, including a last-minute visit to my grandparents in Colorado who finally got to meet W, so I didn't end up spending as much time working on my typewriter research projects as I thought I would. Expect to see some more of that this month as I return back to schedule!