How many of you remember this one?
Okay, come on, admit to it! You remember it. The IBM Selectric. Ah, back in the good old days, when I was 15, when I learned to type over 100 words per minute, when life was free and easy. If they were only back again and I knew now what I didn't know then.
Enough of this! I probably would have done the same thing I did. Seriously, I do remember this typewriter and it does bring back fond memories. If you still have one, e-mail me.
I have a green IBM Selectric II at home. At work I have a beige IBM Selectric II wide carriage.
Also, I have my Mom's old typewriter. It's a Royal, manual, a 1950s model. It still works just great. I wouldn't sell it for anything in the world. It's not worth a whole lot I've determined, even to a collector. They are mostly after the very old antique typewriters. But it's certainly worth a lot to me. I remember banging away on this old typewriter and not doing a very good job of it either. How Mom could fly on this typewriter. She had long fingernails, but would hit the keys with the pads of her fingers and away she would go. If she were still alive today, she would have to learn to type all over again. If she hit this keyboard keys as hard as those old Royal keys, she would be typing like this:
Nnnooowww iiisss ttthhheee tttiiimmmeee fffooorrr aaalll gggooooooddd mmmeeennn tttooo cccooommmeee tttooo ttthhheee aaaiiiddd ooofff ttthhheeeiiirrr cccooouuunnntttrrryyy...
Remember you had to hold the keys on those old manual typewriters just a little longer to make sure the ink was dark enough.
There is nothing like the sound of an IBM Selectric typewriter. No other typewriter comes close. It is probably patented. If it isn't, it should be. I use a typewriter at work to fill in forms. The computer can't type a fill-in-the-blank-form, at least not very well nor accurately. I am still a pretty good typist, but not nearly as good as I was on that old IBM Selectric back in 1970.