The Typewriter is Dead, Long Live the Typewriter

By Justin Tiemeyer - contributing writer

On July 6, 1995, Marc Fisher, of the Washington Post, published a punny article titled, “The Typewriter Reaches the End of the Line,” in which he wrote, “Smith Corona Corp., one of the last U.S. companies to make typewriters, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday after a long illness. The company suffered from personal computers.” On April 26, 2011, nearly 16 years later, Rex Huppke, of the Chicago Tribune, disagreed with Fisher’s assessment in an article titled, “End of the Typewriter? Not Quite.” While the Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company in India had announced earlier in the month that it was selling off its final 500 typewriters, this merely signaled the end of the manual typewriter era, not the electric typewriter.

For Scott Dittenber and Fred Bivens, of West Michigan Avid TypeWriters, the death of the primary typewriter market, at the hands of the personal computer and later the smartphone, led to the birth of an exciting new hobby. Recently featured at Lowell’s Market on Main, Fallasburg Arts Festival, and Fallasburg Historical Society Village Celebration, West Michigan Avid TypeWriters is a group of six organizers, and about 50 followers, who dust off their old typewriters for members of the public to play around on. Dittenber and Bivens met as organizers for Grand Rapids Festival of Arts, and the spark for West Michigan Avid TypeWriters began when there was a two-hour gap in the Festival schedule that needed to be filled. Dittenber and Bivens, by this time, were both typewriter collectors and aficionados, so they put on their first typewriter demonstration, and it was such a big hit that they started to make a habit of it. “We did our first event because the two of us wanted to show off our typewriters,” Dittenber said. “We had no idea that they would be so dang popular.”

Bivens was the first mover, when it came to West Michigan Avid TypeWriters, making a point to collect $5 typewriters at garage sales and tinker with them with hopes of getting them back to working order. Dittenber kept a lookout for cheap typewriters for his friend and colleague, up until 2018, at least, when he found a typewriter he did not want to part with.

“I fell in love with it,” Dittenber said. “I said, ‘Sorry, Fred. You can’t have this typewriter,’ and that was it for me. Fred never got another typewriter from me.”

In the five years since Dittenber started looking out for himself, he accumulated over 50 typewriters, but that’s just the beginning. Bivens has well-over 150 typewriters, and he has shown no sign of stopping. While Dittenber has a degree in industrial maintenance technologies, he cannot do much more than minor repair on the typewriters he buys. Fred,

in addition to being the more prolific collector, is also much handier with typewriter repairs.

Many of the people who participate in typewriter demonstrations, put on by West Michigan Avid TypeWriters, have never touched, seen, or even heard of a typewriter before. However, instead of shunning what they may deem antiquated technology, many of these people have fun messing around with a piece of history, and Dittenber has seen a number of people get hooked and never stop. Dittenber recounted an occasion where one such woman seemed instantly enamored with writing on a typewriter, and he actually sent her home with a typewriter from his own collection. Dittenber admits to no skill when it comes to poetry or storytelling, but he has been known to type correspondence letters out and mail them to friends and family members. 

“It’s a much better way to type than on a computer,” Dittenber said, “because you must think about everything you want to say so you can say it right the first time. There’s a backspace button, but no delete, so it forces you to be a better writer.” In the nineteenth century, when authors like Charles Dickens and Fyodor Dostoyevsky composed letters, typically using quill and ink—this was before even typewriters were commonplace—writers were commonly

criticized for writing letters for the sake of history and posterity, shunning the emotional needs of those to whom they mailed the letters for the sake of self-aggrandizement. This is not the case with Dittenber, who does not believe anyone will read anything he writes, except for the person who receives his letter, and that person, only once.

There are a number of typewriters Dittenber prefers over others. Olympia typewriters, for example, are solid, well-built, and incredibly pragmatic. Oliver models, with their frightening, baroque bat wings, are shocking and wonderful in their presentation. Then there are Mercedes

typewriters, which Dittenber describes as “absolutely stunning,” and Royal typewriters with curious glass sides. Some of these fragile, antique machines are more of a pipe dream for 

Dittenber than anything; Bivens, on the other hand, has a number of the classic models. Dittenber provided some advice for others interested in collecting typewriters. Before shopping, a collector should become familiar with the working of a typewriter. This may mean borrowing a friend’s typewriter for a few days or attending a typewriter demonstration. Once at the garage sale, Dittenber recommends asking the seller for a trial run on the device in question. From there, it’s just a matter of determining how much the typewriter is worth. 

Another thing to keep in mind, Dittenber notes, is that typewriters are heavy. It may be too big

of a burden to walk, skate, or bike home with a typewriter in-tow, better to bring a car, if possible. Additionally, not all tables are built to support the weight of a 40-45 pound typewriter, and collectors may find themselves in the market for a typewriter-specific table, as 

well.

As for West Michigan Avid TypeWriters, they are open to just about any kind of event—political events, proms, class reunions, weddings, anything where somebody wants a unique interaction experience. Dittenber and company create unique telegrams for each event, using monogrammed pieces of paper that attendees can type a letter on and send to someone special. Getting in touch is as easy as searching the West Michigan Avid Typewriters Facebook page or emailing the group at westmichiganavidtypewriters@gmail.com.