Flickr link: https://flic.kr/s/aHskRHugek
Nostalgia is an emotion when someone experiences a wistful or melancholy desire to relive or feel the emotions of a period in their past. These memories are not necessarily of happy time periods but can also be associated with feelings of sadness, melancholy and times of struggle [1].
To someone who has never used or even seen a typewriter can find it daunting or intimidating when faced with its numerous mechanical parts. However, after much patience and experience with this machine it can almost become meditative [2] due to the rhythm of the operational methodology and the byproduct of it’s sound and mechanical pulse. The Courier font produced from most standard typewriters, the line spacing and inconsistent print of ink could evoke nostalgia; of the machines smell, sound and environment whether it be work, café, or a lost or changed personal environment.
Many journalists and novelists of the pre digital era who have since merged to the modern computer still romanticize the times where typewriters were the default word processing equipment. Some find themselves idly oiling and feeling the texture of the keys levers and rollers [3]. Creative individuals such as authors, poets etc. may have found it difficult to transfer their writing methods from typewriter to a computer as it may have blocked their creative and imaginative process. This is because a computer allows a high level of rewriting, editing and compulsive writing. A typewriter forces the writer to consider each word and sentence before writing as the processes of actually writing, and fixing a mistake are time consuming. Using a modern computer holds no consequences for constructing a bad sentence.
This piece is a memorable quote from To Kill a Mockingbird. It was written on a 1960’s Adler Tippa Typewriter. The quote was chosen to provoke nostalgic memories as many people have read this novel in their youth and is still highly relevant to modern social issues. The quote, which to someone who has not read the book can be perceived as something written today; combined with the utilization of a typewriter, demonstrates the binding and relatively of old and new media, providing nostalgia to those who have read the book. The random splatters of ink, slight misalignment of words in sentences and corrections of were intentionally left in an attempt to evoke within the reader, memories of their own experiences and methodologies using this machine. In parts of the ribbon, the ink has either dried or become solidified in clumps due to aging of the ribbon itself and the spools, resulting in inconsistencies in the font print depth and form of the letters. Some letters reacted with different sections of the ribbon to produce ‘splotchy’ printing.
When reading, please observe and enjoy the uneven text, chopped off tops of capital letters, inconsistent ink markings, and original font.
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
[1] Humble typewriter makes a comeback; College students like the simplicity, nostalgia fans collect them. Witherington, Laurence. Edmonton Journal; Edmonton, Alta. [Edmonton, Alta]28 Mar 2008: I.2.
[2] Me & My Typewriters – a meditation. Anthony Toner. Available: http://anthonytoner.net/anthonys-blog/2012/6/30/me-my-typewriters-a-meditation.html
[3] Recalling the days of the typewriter. Wolper, Allan. Editor & Publisher; New York. 129.48 (Nov 30, 1996): 40.