Bringing the Past Into Our Homeschool With a Vintage Typewriter
My daughter used to ask for a typewriter. con.stan.tly.
She started asking when she turned about 6. I would give her the mommy grin and pat her head. This too shall pass.
She asked for her 7th birthday, her 8th birthday, and then her 9th. With all the great toys she received (handmade ones by me even) she wanted to know where her typewriter was.
So after a while I finally clued in that she was serious.
Mommy felt bad so in my infinite wisdom that the internet is the best resource for any and everything I took to Amazon, Etsy, and eBay to find the perfect vintage typewriter for my daughter.
The prices were staggering…to me. $50???!!! No way! For a kid? She’ll forget about it in a month! Evidently vintage typewriters are kind of in vogue right now so the prices have gone up quite a bit.
Then as the months went by and the prices didn’t go down $50 didn’t look so bad. I justified it. It’s vintage. The software won’t become obsolete, etc.
The toy ones started to look real good. They were cheaper in price. Okay so they didn’t actually look like they could type anything but again this is for a child.
Then I earned $25 in eBay funds from something or other. Bingo! So I looked and searched and found a British Vintage Toy typewriter just for the Sweet Peanut.
Why I chose the one I did I can’t recall. I’m sure it was mostly based on price and I of all people should know better. I do love vintage things though and sometimes have blinders on when it comes to a bygone era.
But it came at a perfect time. The Sweet Peanut was ecstatic! Never mind it only typed caps. Never mind you had to press REALLY HARD to make it type. Never mind I couldn’t find tape refills for it to save my life and the current one was fading fast. My daughter was overjoyed.
She carried that thing everywhere. When she played store everyone would get a typed receipt. We found typed notes slipped under the bathroom door, on top of our pillows at night, ready to mail to family and friends near and far. She typed up daily reports on different countries and little booklets for her dolls to read. It was a winner.
Then one day her father walked in the door with a mint Vintage Smith-Corona in the case. No dust, no smell. Perfectly cared for. It was given to my husband by someone associated with his work. They had it sitting at home and wanted to give it to someone who could get some use out of it. Just a random conversation. But next thing you know hubby is carting it home. He, not being as privy to the typewriter begging that I endured, wondered if the Sweet Peanut would like it. You know since she already had a typewriter and all. Oh yes would she ever!
I didn’t have to look up this typewriter to know it’s worth. Priceless. For my daughter. Her English essays have taken on new meaning. She can’t cart this baby around like the British toy I purchased. She insists she still loves the British toy but I tell her to put her heart at ease I completely understand and concur.
Now it was time to find typing lessons. For some reason, since it is a vintage typewriter, I had my heart set on Vintage Typing Lessons. I never could find what I wanted and gave up. She still thunked away churning out whatever she could.
Then a friend reminded me of all the great courses on SchoolhouseTeachers.com (I’m a member). One of those courses is a typing/keyboard course. She even blogged about it.
So we started that day and things are going well. The lessons are geared towards someone working on a computer but that doesn’t matter. They are still working for this Vintage Typewriter. The Sweet Peanut is very diligent about her lessons. After all the rest of our schooling is done she spends 10 minutes on typing practice before heading out to play.
I don’t have to ask her to put more information in her essays and reports anymore.
It’s a good thing.
Resources
You can find vintage typewriters at some specialty shops (check listings in your area), online at eBay, and Etsy, and even on Amazon! Here are some other sources for Vintage Typewriters…
For vintage ribbon the same specialty shops above and eBay usually carry it.
For typing lessons…
Typing.com (free)
What a great find!! Seems like God granted your daughter the desire of her heart with that vintage Smith-Corona. My daughter and I both want a vintage typewriter So.Bad. My SIL thinks there is one in her basement we can have, so next visit we’re going to look!
Thanks Kym. It was definitely one of those moments when you look up and see the clouds parting for the sun 🙂 You’ll have to let me know if you when you visit your SIL.