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beamjockey
Centennial Attendee
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:46 am Posts: 545 Location: Aurora, IL, USA, Terra
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Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
In 2007 a photographer known to Flickr as "Still Crazy" visited the Heinlein centennial exhibit at the Butler Public Library in Missouri. (I think I know the identity of "Still Crazy," but I'm not entirely sure.)
S.C. snapped a picture of Heinlein's Underwood electric typewriter:
Why is it so strange-looking? It has an enormous hinged hood that makes it look a bit like a steam-press in a laundry. And the bulbous hood makes it much wider than an ordinary typewriter.
Its roller doesn't seem to accommodate paper wider than normal.
I speculate that the hood could be a muffler, for quieter operation. The extra width might make sense to allow the carriage to travel, to the extremes of its motion, within the hood. But I don't really know, and googling for "Underwood models," "quiet typewriter," etc. has not enlightened me.
_________________ Bill Higgins bill.higgins@gt.org http://beamjockey.livejournal.com
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Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:43 pm |
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PeterScott
Heinlein Nexus
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:10 am Posts: 2236 Location: Pacific NorthWest
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
I saw it at the Santa Cruz archives. It is a muffler, and I believe he had it custom built (or maybe the one for his computer printer was custom built).
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Mon Oct 22, 2012 6:55 pm |
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JamesGifford
PITA Bred
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:17 pm Posts: 2402 Location: The Quiet Earth
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
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Tue Oct 23, 2012 5:09 am |
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BillMullins
Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2008 12:40 pm Posts: 545
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
I wonder if that table and chair were surplus items he picked up in Philadelphia as the war wound down?
When I started working for the Army in the early 1980s there was still a bunch of WWII era furniture in use, and it looked like those items.
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Tue Oct 23, 2012 6:07 am |
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JamesGifford
PITA Bred
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:17 pm Posts: 2402 Location: The Quiet Earth
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
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Tue Oct 23, 2012 7:04 am |
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beamjockey
Centennial Attendee
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:46 am Posts: 545 Location: Aurora, IL, USA, Terra
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
_________________ Bill Higgins bill.higgins@gt.org http://beamjockey.livejournal.com
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Tue Oct 23, 2012 8:03 am |
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JamesGifford
PITA Bred
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:17 pm Posts: 2402 Location: The Quiet Earth
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
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Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:14 am |
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PeterScott
Heinlein Nexus
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:10 am Posts: 2236 Location: Pacific NorthWest
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
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Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:35 pm |
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RobertPearson
Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 2:10 pm Posts: 445 Location: Juneau, AK
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
Thanks everyone, this is all new to me and very interesting. I sometimes have to layover in Seattle for many hours, or even overnight, so I'll give the museum a whirl.
_________________ "There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must decide to risk 'his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor' on an outcome dubious. Those who fail the challenge are merely overgrown children, can never be anything else."
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Wed Oct 24, 2012 4:20 pm |
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DanHenderson
Centennial Attendee
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:21 am Posts: 786 Location: Sunnyvale, CA
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
_________________ “Don’t believe everything you see on the Internet.” –Abraham Lincoln
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Wed Oct 24, 2012 4:33 pm |
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RobertPearson
Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 2:10 pm Posts: 445 Location: Juneau, AK
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
Is it known as the "Little Wing?"
_________________ "There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must decide to risk 'his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor' on an outcome dubious. Those who fail the challenge are merely overgrown children, can never be anything else."
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Wed Oct 24, 2012 4:47 pm |
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DanHenderson
Centennial Attendee
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:21 am Posts: 786 Location: Sunnyvale, CA
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
_________________ “Don’t believe everything you see on the Internet.” –Abraham Lincoln
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Wed Oct 24, 2012 4:58 pm |
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PeterScott
Heinlein Nexus
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:10 am Posts: 2236 Location: Pacific NorthWest
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
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Wed Oct 24, 2012 6:47 pm |
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JamesGifford
PITA Bred
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:17 pm Posts: 2402 Location: The Quiet Earth
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
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Wed Oct 24, 2012 7:08 pm |
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PeterScott
Heinlein Nexus
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:10 am Posts: 2236 Location: Pacific NorthWest
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
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Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:21 pm |
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JamesGifford
PITA Bred
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:17 pm Posts: 2402 Location: The Quiet Earth
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
No, I'm serious, but the Tacoma museum doesn't appear to the one. Might be the Corning Museum of Glass in NY. The exterior is a continuous band of swoopy curved glass panes... that had to be made overseas. For a building that celebrates the history of American glassmaking. Talk about fragile irony.
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Thu Oct 25, 2012 4:16 am |
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DanHenderson
Centennial Attendee
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:21 am Posts: 786 Location: Sunnyvale, CA
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Re: Why Is Heinlein's Typewriter So Odd-Looking?
I love Chihuly's stuff, most of all his Seaforms, which he doesn't seem to do much of anymore. The lobbies of the building where I work in San Jose and the professional complex where I see most of my doctors in Mountain View both have massive Chihuly chandeliers hanging.
_________________ “Don’t believe everything you see on the Internet.” –Abraham Lincoln
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Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:39 pm |
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