When I was younger, I had a vintage typewriter that formerly belonged to a family member. It was painted pale green. I can’t recall the brand, but it still worked. In the late 90’s, though, it was impossible to acquire a new ribbon for it. Nowadays, they do produce universal typewriter ribbons for vintage manual typewriters. It’s still sitting in my parents’ house basement to this day. I don’t think it’s a particularly valuable model in any case.

Of course, as a writer, I’ve always wanted to own a vintage typewriter—in particular, an old Royal. So, when I came across one at an antique mall in Vermont, I was stoked. It was in somewhat rough shape, without its original case. I balked a bit at the $200 price tag, considering the condition. Online, with a case, I could probably find one for that much.

So, Emily and I perused the rest of the antique mall, finding nothing worth the sticker price. When she and I returned to the Royal, a couple of teenagers had one of the antique mall workers snatch it up right as we came towards it. They looked at us like, oh well, you lost out!

I was brought to tears by their rudeness. All I really wanted it for was as a showpiece for my desk. That entire antique mall was so overpriced that it left a bad taste in my mouth. I was so upset by that experience that Emily suggested I simply purchase one on eBay. To my delight, there was exactly one model exactly like the one we’d seen, but in far better condition, with the original case (not pictured here). To my delight, within a week this vintage beauty showed up. Both Em and I took photographs of it from all sorts of angles, but this was the favorite that I personally took.

This typewriter is still sitting in my bedroom today, although I keep it covered for the most part to protect it from dust. It does work perfectly fine mechanically, although obviously it needs a new ribbon. Again, I don’t plan to use it, since my nerve issues make it impossible for me to type more than a few words on those old keys before my hands cramp up. So much for the dream of writing my first novel using only a manual typewriter, but at least now the tool has been acquired!

Thank you so much, Emily, for allowing me to own this piece of writing history!

~ Amelia Desertsong