The things they loved.
In today’s NEW YORK TIMES — magazine section. Cover story: “THE LIVES THEY LIVED AND THE THINGS THEY LOVED.”
Pictures & bios of famous & not so famous people and their favorite things. Halfway into my cup of Italian Roast, my heart beat faster.
A full page for this beleaguered beauty.
Manson Whitlock was a typewriter repairman it says, who fixed over 300,000 of them in his lifetime. This Oliver No. 9 (a model made from 1915 to 1922) was one of his more elderly and his son remembers, his favorite.
Sometimes old and unrestored is better than new.
Yesterday when we were out furniture shopping for my daughter’s new apartment, one slightly-better-than IKEA furniture store featured typewriters…. or so I thought. I rushed across the showroom, excited to reunite with an objet d’art. When I attempted to tap the keys, I realized I’d been pranked. It was a plastic replica. It was so lightweight, it pushed across the table when I touched the pretend keyboard.
Why would anyone display a non-working replica when you can “rescue” a vintage piece?
Tell me you’ve never considered it.
Please — The real thing is always better. Except sometimes in the case of breasts where a little enhancement may help.
At the final store we dragged into, seemingly hours into our adventure, things got a little better.
At BUTTERCUP on Venice Boulevard — they had a real typewriter, black ribbon and all, in their designer section.
Everything looked high-tech metal & distressed wood, like RESTORATION HARDWARE has now… and the machine had obviously been put there to attract attention. It didn’t work, but even so, it was a piece of art on its own.
Jamie didn’t get a couch…yet. The store closed and we hadn’t decided. But one thing I knew for sure: I’ll never buy a pretend typewriter when I can rescue the real thing.
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