Thursday, October 15, 2009

The beauty of the Underwood

Hello again,
I am sorry I haven't posted recently, but I'm back! I know you're happy.

This outfit made me feel very high-school-newspaper-editor-in
-the-50's. Perhaps I don't look like that to anyone aside from myself, but that's what inspired these pictures. When I was a lot younger I asked my parents for a typewriter for the holidays. For some reason that was all I wanted in the entire world. I don't know where I got the idea, but it seized me, and I was consumed. I couldn't have specified what type or model I wanted. Just that I wanted the ability to type and hear that indelible "CLUNK CLUNK" with each keystroke. As luck would have it I received one very bulky oddly shaped package. Inside was this magnificent black iron Underwood. The typewriter had belonged to my aunt previously, and my grandmother before her, and my great-grandfather before her. It is approximately 80 years old. My grandfather got it in the early 1900's and my grandmother lugged it around college with her. (something I still don't fully understand; it weighs about 50 lbs.)

Incredibly, the thing still works. Sure you have to attack the keys with a violence usually reserved for tenderizing meat, and yeah, the bell doesn'
t usually ring when you reach the end of a line, but it still puts words on the page. Even more incredibly, did you know they still sell typewriter tape at staples? Check it out next time you're there. So here's to the good things that last generations. And the feeling of being able to type the next great classic as long as there's enough ink tape.







Outfit details: shirt-thrifted, cardigan- borrowed from a friend, skirt- anthropologie, stockings- target, docs- gift

Peace out,
Lloyd

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