Typewriters by J. S. Marlo

 

 

Seasoned Hearts

"Love & Sacrifice #1"

is now available  

click here

 

 

The Red Quilt

"a sweet & uplifting holiday story"

click here

J. S. Marlo's BWL Books

As a child, we had two mechanical typewriters in the house: a 'modern' blue one and a vintage black one that my father restored.

I learned to type on the blue typewriter, first with one finger, then two, then with most of them in a very un-elegant and un-professional way. To be honest, I still can't type LOL

It was a good little typewriter. It had a black ribbon that needed changing from time to time, and a correction ribbon. If I had typed the wrong letter, I could go back, erase it, then type the right letter. The correction tape didn't help much if I made a mistake in the first sentence and only realized it at the bottom of the page--and it didn't help at all if I had already removed the sheet of paper from the roller. There was no way to completely realign a sheet of paper once it was out. Trust me, I tried.

Having to retype the same page more than once, or more than half a dozen times for me, was annoying, but that was the way it was. The most annoying thing was actually the keys jamming together. It happened every time I pressed two adjacent ones quickly one after the other, or pressed a key but also pressed its neighbour by accident b/c my finger was off to the side. I then had to stop and unstick them with my fingers. Sometimes, they were really stuck together, then I would get black ink on the tip of my fingers... just annoying.

I never questioned why the keys were where they were and why the letters weren't in alphabetical order--until a few months ago. As long as the typewriter worked, I didn't care, but I have to admit it would have been easier to find the right letters if they had been in a logical order.

So what made me google typewriters and keys? My seven-year old granddaughter when she complained about not finding the letters on my laptop when she tried to write something. "Why aren't they in ABC order, Grand-maman? That would be so much easier."

The first typewriters were invented in early 1700s. They had various keyboards, some of which had the letters in alphabetical order. A common problem was the keys jamming together. The solution to reduce the jamming was to put the most common letters far apart.

In the late 1800s, Christopher Latham Sholes, the inventor of the first modern typewriter, came up with the QWERTY layout.

QWERTY (pronounced KWEHR-tee) refers to the first six letter on the upper row of the keyboard. Some said the layout sped up typing, but other argued the opposite. I'm guessing it depends on the typist.

The QWERTY layout is still used today on both typewriters and English language computer keyboards, even though the jamming problem no longer exists. By keeping the same keyboard layout, typists could effortlessly switch from the old mechanical typewriters, to the new ones, to the computer keyboards, without having to relearn how to type.

I get that not having to retrain anyone is a huge advantage, but I also get my granddaughter's point.

As for me, I was typing in French on my little blue typewriter, so QWERTY wasn't the best suited layout to keep the most common French letters apart, which was probably why I had so many jamming problems.

My laptop has an English QWERTY keyboard, and we get along very well.

Happy Reading & Stay Safe!

JS

 

J. S. Marlo's Website

 

Auctions and Antiques

https://books2read.com/Hold-On-To-The-Past

Every September I like to remember the Steamboat Arabia, which sank in the Missouri River near Kansas City in September of 1856. Because the river changed course over the next hundred or more years, it was discovered in a cornfield in 1988, and a wonderful museum was opened for the preserved artifacts in 1991. I have visited the museum every time I am in Kansas City, and as I walked through the exhibits my imagination soared. What was life like back in that time? This was the premise for "Hold On To the Past", a romantic time travel I wrote about being on board the Steamboat Arabia during its last fateful voyage.

Of course, the cargo on board now falls under the definition of antiques, which got me thinking about other ways we salvage the past through auctions and antique malls.

Years ago, I went to an auction with my sister. I have to preface this by saying I'm afraid of going to auctions. You see, I talk with my hands (not sign language; just gesturing) and waving your hands around at an auction can get you in trouble. Plus I never understand exactly what the auctioneer is saying and worry that if I bid and think it's for 50 cents, it might actually be for 50 dollars. So while I go, it is with hands tucked under my arms or in pockets, and I have my sister bid for me.

The best auctions are estate auctions, as I am always on the lookout for old things. I don’t collect antique furniture, china or Depression glass. I hunt for diaries, journals, old ledgers –written glimpses into the past. At this particular auction, I found baggies of old letters, written by a young man stationed in Europe during WWI. In addition, there was a small book with rules for enlisted men upon discharge. THIS is the world of antiques that interests me.

The downside was that I only had letters he had sent home to his family. I didn’t have the letters from Iowa that were sent to him. Even so, I came to know this man and some of his family. For one example, he did not particularly like the young man his sister was spending time with. His life, and who knows how many stories, lie within the words he penned over one hundred years ago.

At another auction the same sister bid on and won a quilt top. When she spread it out at home and we took a closer look, we found it had been hand stitched, not machine sewn. At that time quilting was my sister’s thing, not mine, but then she said “I wonder who made this quilt and why. I wonder where they lived and how they managed.”

As a writer, that was something I could get my teeth into. Her simple statements led me to write a story I called “The Christmas Quilt” about a quilt, made for a daughter having a child at Christmas, and how that quilt was handed down through the generations.

Auctions are good for the creative process in different ways. Studying the items for sale can give you a sense of life as it was played out for a family in a particular community. (Realizing that a rural community will possibly sell farm implements right along with the family dishware.) It can give you a feel for the value people placed on particular items.

And more than even the items up for auction, the participants at these festivities can provide you with a wealth of background and characterization. Everything from facial expressions to stances can give away a person’s interest in an item being auctioned. If you watch, you’ll soon discover who is a frequent participant and buyer; who knows who and who knew the deceased owner of what is being auctioned.  Even more important, if you’re the auctioneer (or a writer looking for inside information), see if you can discover a bidder’s “tell.”

I went to a cattle auction once with my dad and throughout the entire affair, the auctioneers and helpers kept pointing and saying “yep”, “yep” but I never saw anyone raise a hand or their bid number. I particularly studied my dad, who was in the market for calves, but he sat there with his arms crossed over his ample stomach and never said a word. When I whispered my question, he said simply, “watch.” And then I saw it – the slight lift of a finger; a simple wink; the touch of a hat brim. It was a small town weekly auction, and I daresay the participants knew each other as well as their “tells”, but it was a game everyone participated in.

Many times instead of an auction, the remains of a family estate find their way to antique stores. Antiques by definition are items 100 years old or more, and too often their stories are lost through time. People live through tough times and must sell family possessions to have money for food. The very last great-grandchild of a family rooted in the community for hundreds of years dies, leaving no one to inherit the curio cabinet or the jelly glasses much less to pass down the stories behind such items.

Almost every town has an antique store or perhaps a mall, where several vendors have booths. While I enjoy looking at various items, I am dismayed to see things that I had as a child are now in antique displays! According to definition, I am not yet an antique. I prefer to consider myself a collectible, or perhaps like a fine wine – I am vintage. 

Barb Baldwin

http://www.authorsden.com/barbarajbaldwin

https://bookswelove.net/baldwin-barbara/