Does anyone use typewriters anymore?

[no_hypocrisy]

I have two portable Smith Coronas (electric) in working condition. A couple of ribbon cartridges.

Is it worth donating?

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Depending on color and model, they can have some value

last time I looked about 6 months ago.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Give them to a theater group. They'll be used as props. NT

[brush]

4. That's about right. They're obsolete.

[Lochloosa]

6. Great Idea! I have some things my wife wants gone.

Now I know what to do with them. Thanks.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Contact your local high schools' drama clubs.

They’re the groups most likely to want them.

Typewriters are useless, let’s face it, as anything other than door stops — or props in a theatrical production.

Old clothes that no one wants to buy? Same thing. Thrift stores want things they can sell. Things they can’t sell are a waste of space.

[Lochloosa]

15. Will do Thanks

[brush]

3. They're technology of the past. Computers/printers have long since made white-out, correx tape and ribbons obsolete.

Now if you make a typo, you just delete and re-type.

I have an old Underwood manual desk model. I keep it in my office as an antique...which it is.

[SARose]

5. I have my Mom's

Underwood. My grandkids think it is hysterical. 🙄

[PJMcK]

8. One of my clients had a manual typewriter

He wrote lyrics to many songs on an old Underwood manual. He only typed in capital letters and he never used punctuation. Still, many of his songs are hits.

One time before he passed, his assistant and I had to scour NYC to find ribbons. By that time, nearly everyone had moved to computers but not Freddie! I think we found a guy in Brooklyn who still serviced manuals and sold us a box of ribbons.

Today, the typewriter is on display at the Lincoln Center Library in Manhattan.

[Hotler]

9. Have some fun and take it to the library.

[Koinos]

10. Sold Prices on Online Auctions

Check Ebay sold prices for your Smith Corona typewriters. You might be surprised. If you donate them, they will sell quickly, if they are in good working order. IBM Selectrics are quite popular. I wouldn't mind having one myself. Parts are available and so are ribbons. Many writers prefer the old way of doing things. They become very attached to their typewriters and the way they sound.

[sinkingfeeling]

11. I actually sold an IBM Selectric for $400 a couple of years ago.

[lastlib]

12. To their advantage, they are hack-proof......

...and a hostile regime couldn't spy on one......

I keep one, but I don't use it. If TSF gets elected again (FORBID IT, Almighty God!), I may have to start using it.

[area51]

13. My parents had a manual typewriter,

it might still be up in the attic.

[Chipper Chat]

14. Yes. I use my portable once a year

To file my taxes. I have typed them out on the same typewriter I got as a Christmas gift in 1968.

[Jeebo]

16. My father used an Underwood manual typewriter.

He used it to write poetry and his Sunday sermons (he was a Baptist preacher). He could type 45wpm hunt-and-peck, it was amazing watching him. He died in 1987. I don't know what happened to that typewriter, but now, I wish I still had it, as a museum piece, for nostalgic purposes. That typewriter was older than I am.

-- Ron

[kimbutgar]

17. In my senior move manager job I always come across manual typewriters all the time

One lady I’m working with now has three old typewriters with extra ribbons. I’m going to check out eBay now for her.

[TexasBushwhacker]

18. They're still good for typing envelopes n/t