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L.T. Hanlon

Month: May 2019

‘Mondo Trasho’ auteur at the typewriter

May 15, 2019September 17, 2023 L.T. HanlonLeave a comment
A young John Waters sits at a typewriter in what appears to be a table in a home's kitchen.
John Waters as a youth in Baltimore. Photo from This Is Not Porn.

This photo of a typewritten page contains the following text. Wednesday, May 15, 2019. Chicago, USA. Is that typewriter bigger than Divine's butt? In articles about celebrities and famous writers’ favorite typewriters, the profiles are always of people who can charitably be described as annoyingly normal. That’s why I like this photo of young John Waters. I learned only recently that he and Divine attended high school together. So what is the future director of Mondo Trasho composing here? Waters probably is working on some dull composition for English class. But I like to imagine he’s compiling a list  of assholes who bullied him and Divine — with plans for adulterating their food with  fresh dogshit. Note: This typecast has not been edited.

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Tracking my typewriter’s travels

May 14, 2019May 14, 2019 L.T. Hanlon3 Comments

This is a photo of a typewritten page bearing the following text. Tuesday, May 14, 2019. Chicago, USA. Oh, the places my hermes has been. I love this 1968-vintage Hermes 3000 and its Techno Pica typeface. I bought it on eBay from a seller in Akron, Ohio. My H3K sports two stickers on its body. Both are for Allied Business Machines, which apparently served customers in the area of Newark, New Jersey. The sticker on the back seems to be the older of the two and is paper. At the side of the typewriter is a less-distressed sticker made of shiny plastic. That makes me think that this typewriter was originally bought when Allied Business Machines Inc. operated at 1164 Stuyvesant Avenue in Irvington, which is where the paper label was applied. Later, when this Hermes 3000 needed repair or a simple tune—up, its owner took it back to Allied, which had relocated 301 South Avenue West in Westfield. Today, there are restaurants at both addresses. If you want Creola and American food, visit the original Allied location in Irvington. If you have a hankering for Cuban cuisine, Allied's former Westfield has just your type of food. And the Hermes 3000 in question now sits happily in my 54th Floor Chicago apartment. Note: This typecast has not been edited.

Current photo of a block of storefronts including 1164 Stuyvesant Avenue in Irvington, New Jersey. Allied Business Machines once operated at 1164. Today a restaurant specializing in Creole and American food is there. Below this image is a closeup of a sticker applied to a typewriter. It reads Allied Business Machines, 1164 Stuyvesant Ave., Irvington, NJ. 372-7567.

Current photo of a block of storefronts including 301 South Avenue West in Westfield, New Jersey. Allied Business Machines once operated at the corner space. Today a restaurant specializing in Cuban cuisine is there. Below this image is a closeup of a sticker applied to a typewriter. It reads Allied Business Machines Inc., 301 South Ave. West, Westfield, N.J. Phone 233-0811.

Aerial photo of Chicago's John Hancock Center, a 100-story building with X-shaped braces on the outside. I live on the 54th Floor.

Photos of the  typewritten page and sticker labels are by me; other images in this post are copyright © Google Inc.

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Serif or sans serif?

May 14, 2019May 14, 2019 L.T. Hanlon7 Comments

Photo is of a typewritten page with the following text, which varies between serif and sans serif typefaces. Tuesday, May 14, 2019. Chicago, USA. To serif or not to serif. I've always preferred using a serif typeface for body text; the legs and feet just always seemed to make it easier to read. At newspapers where I worked, the house style often dictated serif for body type and sans serif for captions. The exception was so-called advertorial, aka advertising designed to look like real news. This usually employed sans serif for body type as a way to make it appear different from regular news content. In my experience, however, serif or sans serif never made that big a difference when it came to editorial vs. advertorial because most newspaper readers have been — and continue to be — unaware of the difference. But I have warmed to the quasi-sans typeface used in this Hermes 3000 typewriter from 1968. Its typeface, Techno Pica, feels like a serif face sometimes and sometimes like a pure sans serif. Only a few letters sport serifs, others don't — but I 'm unable to figure why. The photo shows an example of Techno Pica typeface, which is mostly san serif except for a handful of exceptions. I can sort of see why the serifs. You don't want a lowrcase ell to be mistaken for a sans serif numeral one. So in Techno Pica, both are unique. Tis a mystery.

 

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Nicotine notes from Mom

May 12, 2019May 12, 2019 L.T. Hanlon2 Comments

This is a photo of a typewritten page that contains the following test. Sunday, May 12, 2019 . Chicago, USA. Canon Typestar 5. Notes from mother. What sorts of notes do mothers send out their  children today? When I was a child, those notes usually consisted of permission slips, notes excusing kids from  school due to an illness, shopping lists, and the  note that allowed children to buy cigarettes. That's right. At one time not so long ago, many grocers and druggists would sell cigarettes to kids as long as junior presented the cashier with a signed note from a parent authorizing the purchase. (

 

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Ancient Egyptian typewriters?

May 11, 2019May 11, 2019 L.T. Hanlon2 Comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwgtr05pmPM

Photo is of the following typewritten text. Saturday, May 11, 2019. Chicago, USA. Hermes 3000 from 1968. Is there a hieroglyphic typewriter? This past week, I’ve been binge-watching several documentary series about ancient Egypt. I’ve been fascinated by Egypt ever since elementary school. In high school, while buying a copy of Sky & Telescope magazine at Jerry’s Newsstand at Colfax and Broadway, I saw a paperback copy of E.A. Wallis Budge’s The Book of the Dead and bought it too. Like many impressionable students, I briefly toyed with the notion of becoming an archaeologist. But then, I realized that my interest in the subject stemmed from the romance, nostalgia, journalkeeping, artwork, and mystery of this magnificent culture. Sort of like how what appealed to me about astronomy wasn't the calculus, the even—higher mathematics, or the need to program computers, but the huge telescopes perched on lofty peaks, the exacting hand-drawn observations, and photos made on plates chilled with dry ice to increase light—sensitivity. It's fortunate I abandoned both archaeology and astronomy and went into journalism. But I do wonder whether anybody ever created a hieroglyphic typewriter. I guess I 'm using one right now in a way since hieroglyphics sowed the seeds of the Latin characters that I’m typing. Note: This typecast has not been edited.

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How I typecast

May 10, 2019May 10, 2019 L.T. Hanlon5 Comments

The photo shows the following typewritten text. Friday, May 10, 2019. Smith—Corona 5T Silent—Super. My typecast workflow. Someone asked me about the stepsrequired to create a typecast, so that’s what I’m going to explain here. By the way, none of this is original to me. I gleaned most of these from Joe Van Cleave, Richard Polt, and The Rt. Rev. Theodore Munk. OK, the steps. 1 — I first think about what I’m going to write about but I don't cogitate  too much because I want everything to be as spontaneous as possible. 2 — I choose which typewriter to use: Smith—Corona Silent—Super pica, Smith-Corona Silent—Super elite, Canon Typestar 5 electronic typewriter, or Hermes 3000 (1968 model) Techno Pica.	 3 — I photograph the typewritten page using my smartphone’s camera, then create a 1,000-pixel wide, 72 ppi version. 4 — I open the photo in an OCR app, convert the text and export to Microsoft Word. In Word, I clean up the results and then insert the words into the alt attribute of my post’s image. This allows visitors who are employing assistive technology to read the post too. This text also can be indexed by search engines. 5 — I then post the image and amended HTML. Once or twice I used a scanning app instead of a plain photo, but I like the raw look and feel  of a photo. And look and feel are essential to  a typecast, right? Note: Minor corrections added by hand.

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Onionskin paper is still around

May 9, 2019May 9, 2019 L.T. Hanlon2 Comments

Photo of envelopes and paper with a retro design designed to emulate lightweight products use when airmail cost a lot.

Photo of the following typewritten text. Thursday, May 9, 2019. Chicago, USA. Hermes 3000 1968. Do I want onions with that? Yes! I discovered just the other day that onionskin paper is still being made and that enough people want it that this stuff is fairly easy to find. I bought some lightweight envelopes to use with the onionskin. I had hoped to find envelopes with a Lockheed Constellation or Boeing Stratocruiser, but I guess this design will have to do. I think the plane is a generic illustration — or maybe it’s an Airbus 320 or something. I'll send out some typewritten letters in the next day or so. FYI, this typecast uses the onionskin. N.B. — This typecast has not been edited.

 

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Typewriters and steam locomotives

May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 L.T. Hanlon1 Comment

Wednesday, May 8 , 2019, Chicago, USA. Hermes 3000 (1968). I think I can, I think I can. While watching videos of Union Pacific's Big Boy No. 4014 and its triumphant return to the rails, I realized that typewriters are the steam locomotives of composition. Like steam locos, typewriters are unapologetically mechanical. Like steam locos, typewriters make a magnificent noise. And like steam locos, typewriters get you to your destination in style. I glimpsed my first steam locomotive back in 1977 when I worked as a photojournalist for the Daily Rocket-Miner in Rock Springs, Wyoming. One of the Union Pacific 's steam behemoths was to make an extended stop at the station in Green River, just west of Rock Springs. I’m unsure which locomotive visited Green River. It might have been No. 8444. What I remember most is asking UP's press guy if cleaning the No. 8444 was a big job. He joked that daily cleaning wasn't that big a problem and I ' d see why. Sure enough , when I arrived in Green River to photograph the mighty machine there were dozens of rail fans there already — all eager to help keep No. 8444 clean and gleaming. I clean my typewriters with equal reverence. N.B. — This typecast has not been edited.

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Martians ruin a square dance!

May 7, 2019May 7, 2019 L.T. Hanlon2 Comments

My crudely done frame grab from the 1953 War of the Worlds show thirtysomething girl-next-door Ann Robinson as Sylvia Van Buren with mouth agape as she feels an alien hand on her shoulder.

Photo of the following typewritten text. Wednesday, May 7, 2019. Chicago, USA. Hermes 3000, 1968 model. They drew their plans against us. Tonight I'm watching Byron Haskin's classic 1953 version of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. I’ve seen this movie many times but always enjoy it again. Despite a switch from England to California, the film's action remains fairly true to the source material. Sure, we don't get the wacky guy who wants to live underground or the waterway-clogging red weed, but most of the plot elements are intact. Even the updated martian war machines pay a fine homage to Wells' invading tripods. Although Haskin’s machines don't walk around on legs, they're levitated by a trio of force beams. One fantastic aspect of this movie is its use of the Technicolor process. Green death rays, orange-red heat beams, and eerie, multicolored glows add to the menace from another world. I’ve always liked how Ann Robinson's character is no dummy. Sure she screams — and gets drafted into serving coffee — but she's intelligent, has a master's degree, and teaches at USC. And when things are at their worst, she saves Gene Barry. Both Robinson and Barry make great cameos in the 2005 Tom Cruise remake. Warning: This typecast has not been edited.

 

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Why does rain on dry dirt smell so good?

May 7, 2019May 7, 2019 L.T. HanlonLeave a comment

I also love the smell of typewriters when using one. Maybe I should try typing in the rain — from a safe, dry, covered porch or patio, of course.

Tuesday, May 7, 2019. Chicago, USA. Hermes 3000, the 1968 model. I can’t smell it up here. I’ve lived up high on the 54th Floor for about two years now and still haven't smelled petrichor. You might not know what petrichor is , but you've certainly smelled it — and probably liked it. This high-class word describes the earthy odor that rain makes when it falls on dry soil or hot concrete. For me, it's as much an emotional experience of a Midwestern summer as fireflies and that lighter fluid used to ignite charcoal briquettes. A friend of mine who sought a post-divorce reboot applied for a job as a flight attendant.	She wanted to work for an airline because the lighter fluid reminded her of jet fuel's odor. I’ve read that humans’ sense of smell is processed in the oldest, most-primitive compartment of our brains — which is why odors are such a powerful trigger of memories and emotions. Maybe petrichor stirs long-ago species-specific memories of our struggle to survive on the parched plains of ancient Africa. Note: This typecast has not been edited.

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