Did You Learn To Type?

The world's last typewriter factory has closed its doors.

And now, I so badly want one!

 The vacation after my tenth grade, I spent learning to type. Unlike my peers, who were all obsessed with computers. We had just bought our own computer that year, and I was pretty good at the keyboard. But, I still wanted to learn to type. I had fiddled with the typewriter at my father's office many times before, and I loved (still do) the little 'ting' it lets out when it reaches the end of the row.

The class I choose was a short walk from home. The elderly gentleman who taught us was quite impatient. I still think he had no love for the machine, just the money it brought. There never was a word of encouragement, and he used to treat his wife harshly, which was enough to make me dislike him. I never got beyond paragraphs, maybe he was to blame. Or maybe it was just me.

I always did associate typewriters with underpaid clerks and overly conscious writer, the one from reality and the other from movies.

My father still treats the computer keyboard like he treats the type-writer. The point of 'feather touch' was quite lost to him after years of typing away at his office. And that is one memory that always makes me smile. Me telling my dad he doesn't have to hammer away at the keyboard. And him grimacing every time I tell him. :)

Have you any memories associated with the typewriter? Do you want one?

I sure hope I will find one when I have the proper place for it. My husband wants a Gramaphone, I want the typewriter, we both want so much vintage stuff ... I guess we will have to wait for when we find a home big enough for our tastes. :) I hope they all don't become extinct by then.