Typewriter Factory at Six Degrees Citizen Space 2016

six-degrees-conference

six-degrees-conference-2“The world is in crisis,” the Six Degrees Citizen Space 2016 conference website warns its visitors. “We thought we were heading towards more inclusive societies. Instead, we are at risk of regressing to cruder and more exclusionary notions of belonging.”

It’s a dire message, but not one made in the absence of hope.

Organized by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, Six Degrees Citizen Space was a two-day, three-night conference held September 19 – 21, 2016, at the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Weston Family Learning Centre. Claimed to become an annual event, this year’s inaugural edition brought together “thinkers, doers, artists, politicians and civil society leaders” to question and find solutions to the challenge of developing inclusive societies globally.

Organizers promised the use of bold methods, and the recasting of failing, outdated ideas as part of the Six Degrees Citizen Space mandate to propose radical, practical solutions in its examination of the role of citizenship in the 21st century.

Included in the event was an interactive installation run by Mosaic, an ‘experimental’ marketing agency, which featured three ‘70s vintage Olympia Monica typewriters supplied by the Typewriter Factory. The typing kiosk invited Six Degrees Citizen Space 2016 attendees to contribute a message limited to five words that was a synopsis of their views on inclusion.

After the message had been completed each attendee had their portrait taken, which in turn was mounted on a wall alongside their typed thoughts. By the conclusion of the conference a dense collage of uniquely typed ideas and high-contrast photos had been created that not only made a powerful visual statement, but was also a divining rod for the mindset of conference participants.

Photos: TJ Tak (Mosaic)

Article: Bargain Basement

 

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      It may not be the stuff of collectors’ dreams, or enough to even garner more than a passing glance from a would-be buyer, but in the practical world bargain basement typewriters can be as valuable as the most prized machines owned by collectors and aficionados.

 

Pity the undesired typewriter, lowly machines that fail to meet the standards of collectors who are only interested in unmolested thoroughbreds, not broken-down plough horses – even if those seemingly lame specimens are still perfectly capable of performing the job they were designed for. Fortunately there are those who celebrate the workhorse, buyers who aren’t as fussed with display pieces; after all, once you remove fastidious filters such as branding, colour, aesthetics, and perceived rarity, you still have typewriters that are equally efficient at putting words on paper.

 

Rust, flaking paint, and broken and missing parts are details that cause some collectors to recoil in disgust, but for typewriter buyers who actually value performance above all else, battle scars and hard-earned patina are the qualities that make castoff models so alluring. A fussy collector’s loss is the gain of buyers who appreciate blue collar machines, because banged-up typewriters found on the shelves of charity stores and in yard sales tease their imagination, cause them to speculate about the machine’s history, and make them wonder who they served and in what capacity they were used.

 

Unloved by many, perhaps, but still full of life, these are the machines that deserve to be returned to the ranks of working typewriters. And if there was ever a sign of a well-built typewriter, it’s one that still performs in an exemplary manner despite having obviously been subjected to physical abuse. 

Bargain Basement Typewriter
Smith-Corona Classic 12

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This Smith-Corona Classic 12 is a perfect example of the typical reject: Its storage case long lost and the carriage a victim of blunt force trauma, there’s no question that it’s had a hard life, and yet everything works as it should and the machine still types like the day it was first used. The Classic 12 is a well-respected model, its popularity proven by a lengthy production run of some twenty years, and given how many are still available today, it deserves to be regarded as a venerable typewriter; and as its apt name suggests, it’s a classic, a possible candidate for the acme of Smith-Corona’s portable model production history.

 

The model’s history aside, it’s the outwardly poor condition of this particular Classic 12 that sparks curiosity and makes it a worthy purchase. It’s impossible to know whether the machine’s many flaws are the result of one cataclysmic event or the subject of numerous smaller careless actions, but what is more certain is why it was fitted with apothecary Changeable Type characters: an inventory sticker on the side of the typewriter indicates that it had once been the property of a children’s hospital. Also noteworthy, the original protective shipping tape is still affixed to the case; why it had never occurred to the first (or any subsequent) owner to remove it is a matter of speculation, but it adds to the unique character of this survivor.

 

Thirteen dollars doesn’t buy you a lot, certainly very few items that will last for any length of time, but remarkably it’s enough money to buy a fully functional typewriter. It may look like it was put through the wringer, and it might be in need of a few small repairs (and a lot of cleaning), but for many typewriter enthusiasts such work is typically viewed as being a rewarding experience. When placed in perspective, thirteen dollars is an obscenely modest amount of money for such a practical and powerful tool, one that arguably is better representative of the typewriter century than any of the pristine and sterile dust collecting exhibits cherished by so many connoisseurs.

Smith-Corona Classic 12

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Not just missing a platen knob, the entire end of the shaft was somehow snapped off the carriage. 

Smith-Corona Classic 12

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Top Left: The bad side. To be honest, there isn’t a good side, but it works well and that’s all that really matters. 

Top Right:  Protective shipping tape still attached, after been on there for all these years I don’t have the heart to pull it off. 

Smith-Corona Classic 12 - the bad side
Smith-Corona Classic 12
Smith-Corona Classic 12
Smith-Corona Classic 12
1970s Smith-Corona Classic 12 - Type Sample - Wachtendorf Colle

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Battered and beaten: It has bent levers and a number of keys that are out of place, but there’s nothing there’s nothing wrong with the alignment on the page.