Miniature Typewriter Collection

I started teaching business classes, which included typing, at Linton-Stockton High School in the fall of 1965. Having just received my Bachelor’s Degree from Indiana State University, I was ready to teach the world to type.

Demonstrating Typing Techniques

In 1975 pet rocks were all the rage. The guidance counselor and Latin teacher at our school invited a group of teachers to her home for dinner one evening. Following the delicious home-cooked meal, we went for a walk. Along the way, we found some rocks with unique shapes. The high school art teacher, Dale French, said that she would paint our rocks and then we could have our own pet rocks. Since I taught typing, she designed my rock to resemble a typewriter. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, this would be the start of my miniature typewriter collection.

Pet Typewriter Rock

By the year 2001, typewriters were a “thing of the past” and computers had virtually replaced them. My husband and I were taking our son to the airport in Indianapolis but first stopped at the College Mall in Bloomington. As I was hurrying through Sears, I ran “right into nostalgia.” There it was sitting on a sales table in the middle of the aisle--a small miniature replica of a typewriter. It had “take me home” written all over it (or at least I thought it did). Closer observation would reveal that the miniature was actually a typewriter clock in a brushed pewter case. I couldn’t resist buying the little typewriter, especially since my first typewriter was a Royal Futura purchased at Sears. The portable typewriter was a gift that I received on my sixteenth birthday from my father and mother. This typewriter would see me through my junior and senior years in high school as well as my college days. What a good friend it was, indeed!

Typewriter Clock

The next miniature replica of a typewriter was given to me as a birthday gift from my cousin in 2002. She was also a teacher and often gave me school-related items as gifts. This year she surprised me with the Wilson’s Typewriter with Underwood McNibble Treasure Box by Boyds Bears. It was a cold cast resin figurine issued in the spring of 2002 as a limited edition of 6,000. The typewriter box opened to reveal a removable tray of typing items. Sitting near the mouse hole at the bottom of the box was a free-standing Underwood McNibble.

Treasure Box Typewriter

The fourth miniature typewriter was given to me by the extracurricular activities treasurer at our high school, who was a former typing student of mine. The typewriter replica accented a beautiful floral arrangement that she received during Secretary’s Week. She knew about my small collection of miniature typewriters and thoughtfully asked if I would like to add this one to the collection. I was thrilled to include it.

Miniature Typewriter

I had been searching for a typewriter pin for years to no avail until I located one on the Internet. After making arrangements to purchase the pin from a lady in California, she graciously sent the pin to me at no cost. She explained that the pin was missing some stones. As her husband was ill and he was the one who repaired the jewelry, she would send me the pin if I still wanted it. She was closing her online business and wanted the pin to go a good home. Her generosity made the typewriter even more special to me. After receiving the pin, my husband Keith found a shop in Bloomington that had the replacement stones and had it repaired for me.

Typewriter Pin

The next miniature typewriter added to the collection was a ceramic typewriter notepad and pen holder. It was a Christmas gift from a teacher at school. She also knew that I collected typewriters and found this delightful one during her Christmas shopping.

Typewriter Notepad and Pen Holder

Weeks before Halloween 2003, the principal at our school announced that the students and faculty could come to school dressed in costume on Halloween Day. I spent hours designing and making my costume-I went as an Underwood Typewriter. The front of the costume had the individual letters and numbers found on the keyboard. On the back of the costume was a picture on a fox jumping over the back of a lazy dog.

Underwood Typewriter Costume

Actual typewriters are bulky, heavy, and difficult to store. However, the miniature replicas are easy to handle and can be displayed in a very small space. Thus the miniature typewriter collection-although very small in number--is a perfect way to remember the “good old days” of typewriters. Typewriters have come and gone but they-along with the miniature replicas--will always have special memories to me.