Note...in that last paragraph I guess I should have used the word "dent" for the problem with the back. Too many dings in a paragraph makes that all very confusing! Oh, and I should clarify, this isn't a new purchase - he's one of the first typers I got. I'm a bit ashamed of having bid on that auction at all, so I tend not to mention him. He deserves better. ;-)
We added three pages to my story this evening in addition to the typecast. I call that a good typewriter evening. I'm supposed to be packing for Kamp, but hey...
7 comments:
Poor stinky! It's not quite a rescue story, though it sounds like he's had a hard life, kind of like rescuing an abused dog from the animal shelter. It's amazing how well these machines were made to withstand that kind of abuse and still be usable.
I've used mint tea bags to de-stink various items in the past, for what it's worth.
I don't know how I missed the story of Stinky. It's so sad! Damn that eBay for being so hit and miss. My one eBay experience was strangely good, but I'm hesitant to do it again.
I like your description of the dings. All typewriters have a voice.
Mint tea bags, huh? I happen to have some of those - I should give that a shot!
Strikethru - I have a shipping jinx from way back, so you're probably fine to bid at eBay. ;) I, on the other hand, can -- just for example, mind you -- order a banjo-guitar from Tennessee, for delivery in Vermont, only to have it go straight to Salt Lake City, Utah and sit there for weeks at a time. Or ask that something irreplaceable be shipped from Southern Vermont to Northern Vermont to save me a few hours of driving, and instead have it shipped to some stranger in Southern CA. Yeah. That's me.
Stinky sounds like my kind of machine.
My Classic 12 has a tendency to sort of "jangle" ("tinkle"?) its bell when I start typing too vigorously. I liken it to a dog wagging its tail or thumping it's leg when it's belly is scratched just right.
I like the mint tea bag suggestion. What I did was put a few drops of lavender essential oil on an old sock and then close that in with the typewriter.. although afterwards I had to air it out to calm down the lavender smell!
I read snippets of your other shipping disaster (with Keith from PTF) and I'm curious to know the whole story! Apparently there were even pictures... this is what comes of being late to the party :(
There isn't a great deal more to tell. Keith carefully packaged up the typewriter and sent it off in early February, and then we heard nothing for months. Poor Keith did his best to get some news out of the postal system, to no avail. Then one day in April, I got a note from him:
I regret to inform you that your Smith Corona Sterling was returned to me today. The box (not the box I mailed it in), looked like something taped together from scraps of cardboard and was stamped "damaged in handling"
Upon opening the box I found that the typewriter and case were twisted into one inseparable mass of sheet metal.
Ulp. He posted some pictures somewhere, which I can't find now, and they were brutal. I can't even imagine what must have happened to the little thing to produce that sort of damage.
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