National Typewriting Day

National Typewriting Day is an interesting holiday dedicated to a device that is almost completely a thing of the past, the typewriter. Today, we, who do not look up from the keyboards of computers and gadgets, and find it difficult to imagine that in the second half of the 19th and the entire 20th century, the office of any company or organization could not do without typewriters. For a girl to start earning money on her own, it was enough to master fast and competent typing, and she found a job.

History

It is not known who invented this holiday – but it is clear who celebrates it! Typewriter collectors. They are often are sold at auctions (Olivetti Lettera 32 in light blue, owned by writer Cormac McCarthy, was sold for $254,000). It is known that Hollywood celebrities are not indifferent to typewriters: Leonardo DiCaprio, Vin Diesel, Mila Kunis, and Tom Hanks have collections.

Interesting facts

The typewriter was the main working tool of many writers.

1. Ernest Hemingway preferred to write a draft version of the work in pencil, then edit and retype on a typewriter.
2. Queen of the Detective Story Agatha Christie worked on a Remington typewriter.
3. Cormac McCarthy typed over 12 novels on the typewriter that was sold at auction. His friend John Miller gave him a new one. It cost $11.
4. Stephen King wrote his first novel Carrie and The Fate of Salem on an Olivetti typewriter owned by his wife Tabitha, and the first book in the Dark Tower series on that of another well-known company, Underwood. In his story The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet, a tiny creature like an elf lived in the writer’s typewriter – Fornit, who gives inspiration with the help of magic powder – fornus.

How to take part

Try to find an old typewriter and try to type something. Ask the elders if they have ever worked on a typewriter. Take a photo of your model for social media.

When is National Typewriting Day celebrated in 2024?

National Typewriting Day is observed on June 23 each year.

Observations