A couple of weeks ago Marlboro VT had its annual town rummage sale. The first day, everything is for sale by donation. The second day, everything is free. There are two parts to the sale: the clothing and accessories, and housewares, which covers pretty much any random piece of junk you want to get rid of. So there I was, walking into the housewares section, located in the Town House (where Town Meetings are held each year), and lying plaintively on a table near the door was an open case with an old typewriter sitting in it.
Hello, the typewriter seemed to say. I'm old, and beat up, I could use some help, maybe a little love and a new ribbon. Just take me home, please? Don't leave me here...
Well. I browsed the rest of housewares for a while, and was leaving again when I felt its lonely little self reach out to me. Oh, all right, I said to myself, and bundled the thing up and brought it home with me. A girl and her Remington Rem-riter, a Remington Rem-riter and its girl. hm. I felt hugely guilty stripping the paint off of its casings, but I'm pretty pleased with the results. It also took a while.
The process included: dismantling the casing, unscrewing the carriage/ruler assembly, stripping the paint using a green stripper and a lot of patience, doing a coat of rustoleum primer, then a coat of copper spray paint, then some acrylic topcoat, dusting, wiping and oiling the insides, figuring out which pieces went where in what order (my notes were uniquely unhelpful), and finally, the test run. It still needs new ribbon, but it's damn shiny and happy looking now.
Somewhat ironically, or anachronistically, I don't have a printer, which leaves me without blank sheets of paper for my typewriter...
