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Original poster

Dd wants a typewriter for Christmas

27 replies

Nerdle · 10/09/2023 23:39

Weird, I know! Given she has a laptop etc. makes me laugh that they are back in. I don’t want to buy an old one that will get everything too inky. Any ideas for cool ones that look retro but are teenage user friendly?

OP posts:
Icantremembermyusername · 10/09/2023 23:41

Facebook market place. Dad loves hers!

RightOnTheEdge · 11/09/2023 00:00

My son is 11 and he's wanted one for a while!
Can you still get the ribbons and ink for them?

Naughty1205 · 11/09/2023 00:08

Got DD one on ebay, Silver Reed. I also had one of these. Yes, you can still get ribbon.

BoohooWoohoo · 11/09/2023 00:13

Don't know about typewriters but I bought ds a fountain pen for Christmas and it went down really well. At school, he had loads of people begging him for a go. It was a basic Parker pen that was like the ones used in juniors once your handwriting was considered good enough. I had a basic WHSmith one but loved the look of the posh Parker pens

HeidiWhole · 11/09/2023 00:18

My teens wants Polaroid cameras and cassette players for Xmas ...my kids are going retro 15 years after I chucked all my 80s gear away 🙄

ell87 · 11/09/2023 00:29

My typewriter was my most prized possession growing up. I'm sure if you Google typewriters you'll be able to find some cool ones.
My 13 year old wants a record player for Xmas.
Bet it's tik tok that's driving all these retro gadgets to come back!

TheGriffle · 11/09/2023 00:41

I got a typewriter for Christmas one year, was always one of my favourite presents. This was back in either the late 90’s or early 2000’s. It was a more modern one, not an old fashioned clunky keyed one. Still loved it though.

Nat6999 · 11/09/2023 01:10

That is like the one I had when I was young, it's £35 at the moment on Ebay, it's a Smith Corona Ghia one.

Dd wants a typewriter for Christmas
Nat6999 · 11/09/2023 01:11

HeidiWhole · 11/09/2023 00:18

My teens wants Polaroid cameras and cassette players for Xmas ...my kids are going retro 15 years after I chucked all my 80s gear away 🙄

My ds collects old Polaroid cameras, you can still get the film for them, get trawling Ebay.

sashh · 11/09/2023 01:35

I have an instant camera and at family gatherings it has been popular with kids for a few years.

TheWayofBeing · 11/09/2023 02:12

Not weird at all. I've been asking for one since I was 13

HelpMeGetThrough · 11/09/2023 05:09

^It was a basic Parker pen that was like the ones used in juniors once your handwriting was considered good enough.*

This brings back memories. Getting home from junior school and asking my mum to get me one, as my writing was now good enough to move on from a pencil.

Then going home with ink down my shirt, as I messed up refilling then pen with the bottle of Quink

MidnightOnceMore · 11/09/2023 05:22

We got ours from a car boot sale for a few quid. You can get new ribbons for them. They don't make things inky?

My kids made great stuff with theirs. Typewriter art is fun.

Lots of refurbished ones for sale if you don't want to risk it being clunky or the ribbon not being replaceable.

trulyunruly01 · 11/09/2023 05:45

I had a Remington manual typewriter and then the Xmas I was 11 - a Smith Corona electric typewriter. Quite the innovation at the time. The family's fascination was only matched by the delivery of a front loading washing machine a year later.
My sister, who I shared a bedroom with, still hates me (tap, tap-tap, tap, tap-tap-tap).
My DD found it quite amusing when we were wandering round St Marks Square in Venice and I became fascinated with the window display at the Olivetti shop.

JustKen · 11/09/2023 05:58

My nephew wanted one a couple of years ago! He had his eye on a sparkly refurbished one from the seventies. We all pitched in a few quid to buy it. He still uses it!

cortex10 · 11/09/2023 06:19

Nat6999 · 11/09/2023 01:10

That is like the one I had when I was young, it's £35 at the moment on Ebay, it's a Smith Corona Ghia one.

Snap - mine is still up the loft

HelpMeGetThrough · 11/09/2023 07:34

I had one of these in my bedroom for years as a child, Imperial Model 65, which worked really well. Mind you, you'd get a hernia lifting it.

Mum then went modern with a swanky white Olivetti after that.

Dd wants a typewriter for Christmas
Original poster
Nerdle · 11/09/2023 09:17

Thank you!

OP posts:
Stumbleine · 11/09/2023 09:22

Dd asked for one last year. We got a beautiful one from here...

www.georgeblackmanvintagetypewriters.co.uk/vintage-typewriters-for-sale

Amazing condition and great service.

fearfuloffluff · 11/09/2023 09:24

I used to have one and I loved it. Feels so different to writing something on a screen. I love that kids are exploring analogue things. You could get her a cassette recording thing too :)

BabyStopCryin · 11/09/2023 09:24

RightOnTheEdge · 11/09/2023 00:00

My son is 11 and he's wanted one for a while!
Can you still get the ribbons and ink for them?

Yes you can! We were talking about this recently so I looked! How old is she? I loved my little typewriter when I was little (it had a red case). My sister and I wrote books on it 😂

ThePickledPickle · 11/09/2023 09:51

@BoohooWoohoo Has he learnt proper cursive too?!
Oh how I hate the style taught in schools, so ugly. I know there are a few styles of cursive, but ‘joined-up’ is the worst! It would be a crime to use a fountain pen with that style cursive. 🤣
When did we stop giving children a fountain pen license?! And why? Maybe some schools still do? Good penmanship is so important, these days they can either write quickly and without hand cramp in cursive (along with other benefits) or type.

OP - I don’t know if companies still make them. But you can definitely still get ribbon and ink if you look on ebay for a typewriter.

viques · 11/09/2023 09:56

I loved my typewriter when I was about 12. It was the first big thing I ever bought myself with saved up money. I expect it went the same way as my duffel coat when I left home. Thank you mother!

Buy her some tippex too, she will be devastated when she realises there isn’t a delete button, but tippex is fun. Can you still get carbon paper?

BabyStopCryin · 11/09/2023 10:11

ThePickledPickle · 11/09/2023 09:51

@BoohooWoohoo Has he learnt proper cursive too?!
Oh how I hate the style taught in schools, so ugly. I know there are a few styles of cursive, but ‘joined-up’ is the worst! It would be a crime to use a fountain pen with that style cursive. 🤣
When did we stop giving children a fountain pen license?! And why? Maybe some schools still do? Good penmanship is so important, these days they can either write quickly and without hand cramp in cursive (along with other benefits) or type.

OP - I don’t know if companies still make them. But you can definitely still get ribbon and ink if you look on ebay for a typewriter.

DS was taught cursive and they had fountain pen licences (Lamy was the brand of choice back then). His writing deteriorated in secondary school but he recently began doing handwriting exercises to try to get it back to tidy cursive.

Newestname002 · 11/09/2023 10:18

I loved the IBM Golfball electric typewriter when, eons ago in my working life, it replaced whatever make I had the time. Changing the font size/type of was so quick and easy by changing the golfball. Wonderful. 🌹