hello 2015

helllooo! it’s been a long, long …pause. hmm…where do i start?

out of sight but still am an avid typewriter fan/collector /hoarder.  the last time i checked, i still have about 30 typewriters, not considered many compared to the peak of my obsession phase. I’ve sold a couple and given a few as gifts. there are still a few pending tlc to clean and in need of a mini makeover.

i’ve been more selective in buying typewriters in 2014.

here is my pride and joy – a golden princess for my princess (when she is old enough to appreciate it). meanwhile, this mommy will safe keep for her.

i have not type any letters the whole of 2014 😦 .
I’ve used my favorite typers mostly for arts and crafts.

please share how you used your typewriter/s.

ok i confess, there is a reason why the sudden blog post today. stay tuned. 🙂

Cheers,
Karen

bye bye 2013. hello 2014!

It’s been another long hiatus … heart and mind willing to blog but fingers not.

This time last year I found a techno yellow tippa. This year, a lost vogue blue royal p found me, a perfect wrap for 2013!

Eye therapy… after the retail therapy. Haha.

2013 ‘me’ time – chiffon cakes, owls, hello kitty, typewriter and more typewriters!

Here’s wishing all a very, very, very…happy and blessed 2014 and more? Gorgeous typewriters of course.

Peace and love,
Cheers!
Karen 🙂

triumph is fraktur number TWO

I should be so lucky…

my apologies, I should have used a plain paper instead of this with dots!  yes, this is my second fraktur typewriter! 🙂

triumph gabrielle 35 – plain standard plastic body and keys but what do we have here?  a set of fraktur type slugs??!!!

to be honest, it was difficult for me to type on torpedo 15a. it has the ornate fraktur letters printed on its glass keys. i cant be sure of what I was typing. this one, no such problem! however, it is still a challenge to type the standard letter ‘s’ which is on the bottom right (1st row) of the keys. the long ‘s’  is at the ‘asdf’ keys.

not sure if this is the typewriter, or type slugs serial number. do you know? I tried looking for other serial number on the typewriter’s body but found none.

I have acquired a few more typewriters after my self proclaimed going cold turkey, no more typewriters, sigh…

I am starting to think that  I  focused too much on getting THAT ONE, and more typewriters that I forgotten the reasons why I wanted them in the first place.  most of the times the typewriters are just sitting prettily in the display cabinets. I have typed less than 10 letters, procrastinated cleaning the dirty ones, few art and crafts projects and that’s about it. surely I can do better!

first thing first, I have decided to place one typewriter at my sister’s tuition center for the kids to play with (thank you Richard for the suggestion). kids should know what is a typewriter and how one looks like.

What is the hype about this ‘f’ word?

no. the ‘f’ here is not that 4-letter word.

it refers to one of the rare typeface which is probably non existent in the ‘wild’ in this part of the world. it is the blackletter or more famously known as the fraktur font. in my quiet quest hunting for one, i even learnt a few german words by heart. i can now spell – alte schreibmaschine (old typewriter) in a heartbeat.  🙂

my other ‘techie’ half gave me that usual ‘look’ again when he saw the parcel. he doesnt understand why typewriters when one can type on tablets, smart phones, laptops, pc…. but he gave this a second look and a ‘hmmm..’ …. when he saw the type sample. yes, this is special. the typeface reminds me of calligraphy.

beautiful keys. it is always a bonus when they are clean and not stained.

i love the small letters but have a hard time reading the ott – over the top, ornate cap ones.

did you notice that the small letter ‘s’ looks like ‘f’? it is called the ‘long s’ and evolved from the old roman form.  this Wiki link explains.    interesting, but i have seen other fraktur typewriters with the normal ‘s’.

it didnt come with original ribbon spools and i dont want the look of normal plastic ones on this old beauty. i thought white or red painted spools would be an awesome accessories, and even toyed with the idea of putting hello kitty stickers. (hey, pls dont judge me! lol).

meanwhile, mosaic like spools will do the job. good things come to those who waited. oh yes. i have waited a long time to get one. this is destined to be mine and another, oops… sshhh…. 😉

vogue – checked
fraktur – checked

one more typeface to check… i will wait.

happy midweek!

cheers,

karen

8 months in 1 post!

it has been that long… my last post was in jan2013!

forty typewriters (tw) have found their way to my home (or i found them?) to-date. i am still downsizing the lot, keeping only those ‘die-die’ (singapore english – even if one has to die in the process; certainly, definitely; haha) must keep and those for visual feast, ‘eye therapeutic’ ones.

although i have re-homed quite a few tws, the looking and buying never stopped. is the buying ever going to stop? i dont know, perhaps not now because i still have a few ‘die-die’ must have in my list. :+)

this post is going to be a brief recap of my favourite tw related events and buys, kind of a quick show and tell post-

I joined a small group type-in at the park some moons ago. i think the typewriters ‘fever’ in singapore has cooled down a bit or is it just me?

I had so much fun meeting nat from natslaptaps and yes, i typed on that gorgeous maroon torpedo. i’ve seen other colours up for sale but never a maroon one.

this is the super flat rooy i mentioned in the previous post. what surprised me was how this tw ‘unfold’ from its case, like a transformer. macbook air of those days, super- no, it’s an ultra thin typewriter. only 4cm tall, 4kg heavy, not as light as i thought because of its metal case and body. oz.typewriter has written a detail post about rooy here and here.

open the case and slide up the tw and it’s transformed!

i wanted a burgundy olympia but bought a brown one. who cares about its colour when one has an italic typeface, right? anyway, it will look burgundy in dim yellow lighting. ;P

as you can see from the above typecast, this typer is in need of some tlc and servicing. its space bar is sticky too. 😦

another maroon joined my tw family – a corona 4. have i told you i absolutely heart tw with shades of red? hmm… high chance i did and probably many times. 😉

check out my cute BB – blue barlett. a collector said it looks like a mini robot. a red one would add so much more  into the awesomeness! … but blue is nice too.

do you see a cute face on the key?

Flat rooy and cute barlett.

This tw has the popular hermes tag and it’s RED hot! I have to have her.

I have a similar 3 bank corona but I fell in love with this one because of its gorgeous decal.

more about these babies and typecasts later.

i am excitedly waiting for my latest tw and cant wait to tell you and the world i finally found it after 1.5 years – it’s green and has a special typeface. would you like to guess? more details coming soon! *wink

update: it’s here!! 😀

a royal’s script typeface

oops ! just realised last sentence missing ‘m’  – … wish list is growing faster than the rate i am striking it!

here she is  – big and beautiful.

love the case,  can double up as a luggage bag for a one night trip! 🙂

here is the  comparison with a compact tippa, safari – size L and tippa – size S.

she is quite bulky, more than double the height of tippa. certainly not for lugging around. 😦

it’s wednesday!! have a happy mid-week! 🙂

old-typers group photoshoot – 3 times a typewriter

hello,

meet my old-typers, a few already in their 80s or older but still so gorgeous!

introducing group 1 : 3 old-typers in 3 shades of red.

group 2 : meet 3- fold and 3- bank

meet the star of today’s photoshoot –  my very special remington 3b, she may not have the complete usual keys and the mambo jambo of other usual funtionalities but she is a limited edition! only 5706 was built during the depression era of 1939, for a brief period of 6 months. love!!

read more here – richard’s (the typewriter guru) account of this beauty.

‘3’ gets repeated many times here – a coincidence? 🙂

stay tuned for more of their stories and typecasts …

thank you for visiting.

cheers!

karen 😉

typewriter art – first attempt

No where near the great artist Keira Rathbone. lol!

A rush job but fun! I’ll attempt a more serious theme next- perhaps a dragon? 🙂

twin tippa has a techno typeface!

after the last post of shipping woes, it’s time for a happy tappy story!

the ‘b’ was super sticky and stubborn !

dirty and grimy…see the evidence.

meet the other twin, same but different – tippa with script typeface. 🙂

i am starting to hoard letter pads too!

thank you for visiting. have a great week ahead!

cheers,

karen 🙂

beauty is in the eye of beholder

*my heart wept, i braved myself … a bit drama-mama here. lol.  in short, very UPSET!

some major injuries –

• metal spool and ribbon out-of-place, not a good sign. it danced happily and scarred its body
• a very deep cut in on the right
• ribbon reverse button knocked into body
• key ‘6’ badly bent
• small scratches elsewhere, everywhere

her serial nos is P131243 which dates this machine to 1939-1940.

her key slugs are very sharp, cutting /punching the paper at times. why is that so? platen too hard? do you know?