Finding Visual Meaning in our World.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

The Typewriter

Certainly a rare find, here we have an original Hebrew typewriter. I found this in my friend's cousins house amongst his collection of other antique items.
A typewriter is a very simple machine, when it comes down to it. However, in its heyday, it was the backbone of expression. It was this machine that allowed the masses to have their say in the conversation. People could run their businesses more efficiently. It also went on to become a symbol of American women in the workplace, as these clanky things started showing up on secretaries' desks across the nation.
But most importantly, it represents the diligence and patience of a generation bygone. Nowadays, this relic would have no place in our fast-paced, media-driven, and touchscreen-enabled lives. Primarily this is due to the efficiency demands and the technology surges of the past 20 years. But the other reason why it wouldn't fit is simply because it represents an aspect of our humanity which we have mostly subdued: patience.
So take a moment. Imagine your fingers sliding over the cold, metal, crisp mold of a typewriter key. The perfectly mechanical sound when a key is depressed. Put on your late-1800s garb and submerge yourself in a world you never existed.
Maybe it'll do something for you.

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