Typewriter Pages: Home Page

1920s Underwood Typewriter Welcome My website has changed web hosts and can now be found at http://typewriters.byethost4.com/index.html. This will remain as a sort of historical snapshot of my website as it was on 25 February 2010 until it evaporates. I have used and collected Typewriters since I was ten years old. Now, at age seventeen, eighteen typewriters have passed through my collection, which was especially intermittent during its early years. Currently I own ten typewriters. Unlike some typewriter collectors, though, I regularly use all that are in working condition. I get a tremendous amount of enjoyment in these machines, and do a lot of creative writing (not that is is very good writing) on my favourites, my 1946 Royal Arrow and 1960 Smith-Corona Super Sterling. It has been shown that if you regularly write using a typewriter, your writings usually turn out better because you take more time to think, and know that mistakes can't be easily deleted and fixed. They don't crash or have to re-boot like your computer, and they're darn cheap if you look in the right places. They are also usually attractive to display, and an old typewriter can make a good conversation piece if it is unique enough.

In displaying my personal collection online, I hope that someone who finds these pages will leave with at least an appreciation for these wonderful old mechanical wonders. I don't want to draw attention to myself or my collecting accomplishments, but to the typewriters shown here. At one time they were at the peak of technology in the average home, now, many are simply thrown away when they become unwanted. (Something even I have been guilty of, when they break and aren't 'valuable' enough to keep.) When one cracks open the case of a manual typewriter (or early typebar electric, even more so) it becomes immediately evident that these machines were very well designed and constructed to last this long.

Ever since 2004, I have been collecting typewriters. In 2008, I really got into typewriter collecting. This website is a product of my increased interest in typewriters. First, I started with any working one I found, but then I realized I should specialize on what I spent my money on! I eventually decided that I would collect portables built from 1920s to 1970s, but always allowing for the occasional exception, mainly because I prefer their size and that because they were stored in a case, usually in better shape. My oldest typewriter is a 1923 Underwood Champion, which is not a portable by any means, pictured above.

Roads & Maps Once you have looked through my Typewriter pages, why not check out my other collection website? Roads & Maps showcases my other main collecting hobby, road maps and related things. Over 1,000 maps are in my collection. I have uploaded some high-resolution scans of various highlights in my collection.