Typewriters and Ribbon Tins

Posted on | December 1, 2009 | 1 Comment

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Let’s take a moment for the typewriter shall we? Remember those heavy, wonderful machines that would get lugged out when there was something important to write? With those tiny, quick-striking arms holding letters that were just the size for your fingers to explore? The thrill of the line-ending bell, the cool metal of the return bar and the surgical methodology of applying the white tape? What memories.

At a time when word processors were found in most homes, I still kept a typewriter around for late nights and pseudo-philosophical rants. Working from a typewriter made me feel like a real writer; a tortured soul desperately trying to type my way into existence. You had to really strike those keys to make your words. You had to be confident and precise and when the ribbon started drying up you had to commit your ideas to those keys with even more conviction.

Sadly, I’m not sure where my typewriter ended up. It was probably lugged one too many times in one too many moves or sat collecting dust until an impulsive thrift store run sent it into the void, but the memories it created are many and true.

There’s a typewriter and cash register shop in town that I keep meaning to pop into. My intent is to take photos of the vintage machines, but I think my subconscious has been holding me back, knowing that I’m going to fall in love with them and betray my eternal de-cluttering cause by bringing home a typewriter, the first piece of a new collection.

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While researching typewriter history and culture a few months ago, I was referred to typewriter ribbon tins as something I might be interested in as a design, history and typography enthusiast. I didn’t know it, but a one-way door was being opened into design paradise.

Ribbon tins are just that; they’re the tins that housed the replacement ribbons for typewriters. They were a common purchase and there was great competition between companies to secure a customer’s loyalty by outdoing other companies with their tin designs. There was something for everyone; a design for every personality, business or tortured writer. They ranged from very conservative and stark business designs to the latest art movements and fashions, from animals to travel and historical figures…you name it, there was a tin. Once the ribbons were taken out, the tins were kept around for other uses (paperclips, buttons etc) so it’s not uncommon to find them around, and as with all things vintage, there is a small but passionate underworld of ribbon tin collectors.

Really, ribbon tin collecting makes a great hobby. They’re wonderfully inspiring, a cool piece of history, fun to search for, small enough to store easily and way lighter than a typewriter.

Outstanding video on ribbon tins created by offaloffice

Special thanks to Janine Vangool for the use of her beautiful ribbon tin photographs. To see more tins, visit her flickr page. She also runs Uppercase, the fabulous blog focused on making, curating and publishing visual culture.

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Category: Art, Culture, Design, Typography
Tags: Art > collecting > Design > typewriter ribbon tins > Typography

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One Response to “Typewriters and Ribbon Tins”

Is Greater Than – Typewriters and Ribbon Tins
April 13th, 2010 @ 8:59 AM

[...] post originally appeared on House of Cat Cat Johnson is the publisher of House of Cat, a music, art and culture blog. She also contributes [...]

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Typewriters and Ribbon Tins

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