As some long-time readers know, I get an unreasonable amount of enjoyment from trolling thrift stores. (I’d probably be into garage sales too, but I never seem to muster to get up early enough on the weekends to get the good stuff.) Many of my refinishing projects have ensued because I “found” something seriously ugly and believed it could become something less ugly with a little help.
Today’s find appeals to the Luddite in me. It may also appeal to the people who wrote about last week’s article telling me that two spaces after a period is not “archaic” as I suggested. A few people even had some good arguments for using two spaces, but no modern typeset book I’ve seen seems to use two spaces after a period. I read a lot, and they all use just one space. Even the Chicago Manual of Style endorses using just one space:
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/cmosfaq.OneSpaceorTwo.html
But returning to my Luddite find. At the thrift store, I found the ultimate typewriter that I’ve been seeking for years: an IBM Selectric II. My first secretarial job was working for the Federal government and they had (and probably still have) zillions of them. No machine is easier to type on; the keys are just incredible.
A quick search online shows that reconditioned ones cost $350 – $500. I find this figure quite startling, but somehow not surprising because they are serious workhorse machines. I’ve never seen one in a thrift store before; apparently people hang on to them for a long, long time. However, today I found one, and it works. Sort of.
The good news is that it turns on and sounds right. The bad news is that something appears to be wrong with the spacing. After reading a few typewriter sites, it may be that it only needs a cleaning and oiling. We shall see. Given that I paid two dollars for it, I think I can afford to clean it and put in a few parts.
If anyone out there is a big fan of IBM Selectrics like I am and knows of resources, please let me know 😉