At the risk of carbon-dating yourself, 😁 what was the very first typewriter you typed on, what did you type on it, and is it still among your collection today?
Mine was an Underwood 18 which my dad bought for me (most likely secondhand because it was a model that was released some 2 decades prior), though it looked and smelled new), for my typing class in my junior year in high school.
To pay for his way through college, my dad had worked odd jobs, among which was as a typewriter repairman/seller, so he actually knew a lot about typewriters. He worked for his uncle, actually. He said he bought units for 7 pesos and sold them for 70 pesos, hahaha. His favorites, I remember, were Remingtons and Underwoods. When my siblings and I were little, he'd type pictures-nothing fancy- just a row of soldiers (o+_+0+/+11+) or a man with a hat (0 + _)
Before getting my very own typewriter, I'd always had my papers written by my dad's secretary, so I still remember very well what I typed on my very own typewriter. It was for my English class, a review of Katherine Mansfield's short story, "Bliss". I used to be so embarassed of my super lightweight, all-plastic typewriter, and envied my classmates' Olympias and Smith Corona portables, but how I wish now I still have it. It was stolen during a break-in to our old Cubao apartment after we'd moved to Cainta. The thief also stole my dad's Yashica Electro 35 rangefinder, and his high school baseball bat and mitt (he had played for Arellano High), too. Sometimes I browse FB Marketplace postings for these items, especially now that my dad is gone.
They were so poor that his father could not afford to send him and his siblings to school beyond
elementary. My dad did not want to end up being a farmer like my grandpa, so he took on odd jobs
to save up so he could go back to school. He bought and sold used typewriters at one point.
Featured image courtesy of https://www.instagram.com/leahkelleyphotography/
