I learned to type on a typewriter. I’m not that old. I’m just that hipster. On my mom’s Brother, I learned to type my name and “Ghostwriter? Can you hear me?” because Ghostwriter was my favorite show at the time.
This is an Olivetti Lettera 32 in a spicy mid-century modern turquoise. Back in the 60s, the Olivetti was considered the Ferrari of typewriters in that it looks great but some of the functions are a little HUH?
I picked this baby up at an estate sale in 2018 for $32 and I *kind* of know how to use it. It smells of mothballs and I had a hell of a time cleaning the machine gunk from between the keys. The ribbon doesn’t work and I don’t really know where to get a new one or how to get this typewriter serviced and it’s probably easier to write novels on my computer… but every so often, I like to pretend I’m a journalist from the past, typing up articles with a No. 2 pencil clenched between my teeth.
Fun fact: the Olivetti Lettera 32 is author Cormac McCarthy’s typewriter of choice. He bought it for $50, wrote The Road and Blood Meridian on it (man books for the pretentious reader in your life. Don’t @ me. 😉 and sold it at auction years later for $25K. Pretty good return on investment for a guy who doesn’t use dialogue tags.
I have written a not-very brilliant grocery list on this bad boy. Incidentally, I’m contemplating doing away with capitalization in my IG descriptions. Y/N?
