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L.T. Hanlon

Meet Director Pica, the Sam Kinison of typefaces!

August 18, 2019April 30, 2020 L.T. Hanlon3 Comments
Photo of typeslugs on a Hermes 3000 typewritere. Typeslugs are the elements on the end of the typebars; they strike the ribbon and transfer ink to paper.
Closeup of the Director Pica typeslugs on my Hermes 3000 curvytop.

Thanks to the Rt. Rev. Munk, you can view the NOMDA samples for Hermes and Smith-Corona.

NOMDA_Hermes
In the photo above, I printed a Hermes NOMDA page and then typed with my Hermes 3000 to determine it’s afflicted with Director Pica.

And if you don’t remember Sam Kinison . . .

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Should typecasts have a standard format?

August 12, 2019August 12, 2019 L.T. Hanlon7 Comments

This photo is of a typewritten page with text that can't be easily duplicated in linear form that doesn't have line breaks. Basically, I discuss whether typecasts should have a standard design and whether headlines, dates, or typewriter used should presented first.

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16mm anticipation starts to set in

August 11, 2019August 12, 2019 L.T. HanlonLeave a comment

Photo of typewritten page containing the following text. Waiting for the film to come back. I spent far longer than I expected shooting test footage at Chicago's Oak Street Beach yesterday. This was the first time I've used my vintage Cine—Kodak K—IOO 16mm camera since having it converted to shoot 16:9 widescreen. The test took several hours because I underestimated how picky I'd be in selecting what to photograph. At 24 frames per second, 100 feet only gives you about 2 minutes, 45 seconds of screen time, so you can't shoot with digital abandon. Another reason I spent so time on the beach is that at least a dozen people wanted to know about the camera. I guess it doesn't look like something most folks see every day. The best conversation was with a couple of film students who asked interesting questions about how I calculated exposure. And now I'm experiencing something I haven't had to deal with for a long time: Waiting for the film to be processed and returned by mail. Talk about a blast from the past!

Photo of a bright yellow box made to hold Kodak 16mm film. Yellow is Kodak's longtimt corporate collor.

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Cine-Kodak K-100, Ultra-16, and Bigfoot!

August 9, 2019August 9, 2019 L.T. Hanlon3 Comments
Photo of a 1950s-era Cine-Kodak K-100 turret movie camera. This 16mm camera has three lenses on front and a leather-and-polished aluminum body.
Cine-Kodak K-100 16mm movie camera.
Photo of a typewritten sheet of paper with the following text. Friday, August 9, 2019. Chicago, USA. It's a big, wide, wonderful world! Smith-Corona Galaxie Deluxe. Assuming the weather cooperates Saturday and Sunday, I'm going to give my Ultra-16 movie camera a whirl. The camera began life in the 1950s as a Cine-Kodak K-100 Turret, an amateur camera famed for filming countless high school and college football games. A cousin of this camera, the CineKodak K-100 non-turret model, was used to capture the Patterson—Gim1in bigfoot film in 1967. These 16mm cameras come equipped with a standard gate giving an aspect ratio of about 4:3. However, the Cine—Kodak Is one of several camera models that can be modified so that wasted film space is exposed to create a 16:9 image. I had this updating done just after we moved down to this condo — or up, actually, since we're on the 54th Floor. Until now, however, I just haven't had the time, interest, or inclination to lace up the camera and put it through its paces. I only have one 100—foot roll of film, so I'll have to be fairly selective about what I film. I'm thinking maybe Lake Shore Drive, North Michigan Avenue, and Oak Street Beach, then some street photography if there's film left. After this project, there's Russian windup Super-8 camera I need to try out.
Oops! That should read “Patterson-Gimlin film.”
Here’s a fascinating Cryptomundo item about the camera and the famous film.

​

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Suddenly, it’s 1967!

August 2, 2019 L.T. Hanlon7 Comments

Photo of a beautiful SCM Smith-Corona Galaxie Deluxe typewriter manufactured in 1967. The machine's exterior is painted in colors associated with the era. In this case, a greenish-blue color called seafoam green complemented by creamy beige accents.

Photo of a typewritten page that contains the following text. Suddenly, it's 1967! I'm not often overwhelmed by an impulse purchase, but my acquisition of this SCM Smith—Corona Galaxie Deluxe has me hungering for a big bowl of Whip'n Chill. This typewriter is amazingly mint — and mint-colored too, even down to its seafoam green platen rubber. I had never considered buying one of these SCM's until trying one out at the American Writers Museum in Chicago earlier this year. Until then, I had dismissed 1960s-era Smith-Coronas as occupying the same ecological niche as AMP-era Harley-Davidsons. But that all changed when I put one of these Galaxies through its paces at the museum. The keys were snappy, the touch secure, and the machine made a reassuringly solid machine sound. Clearly. I'd misjudged these Smith—Coronas. Despite being more than a half—century old, this Galaxie Deluxe responded lovingly to my touch and laid down nice, dark letters. And it likes calling attention to itself in red too! In terms of fit and finish, my new mechanical companion does sport more than a little plastic, but the plastic is of high quality, the sort of plastic that's engineered to play rough and look nice. One feature of this mid—1960s typewriter is something I've never seen before: a typeslug and corresponding key that can be replaced. On my machine, that switcheroo feature is a numeral

 

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Ladies and gentlemen: This is Magnatype!

July 27, 2019July 28, 2019 L.T. Hanlon7 Comments

Photo of a typewritten page in which the size of the letters is at least twice as big usual and consists of the following text. Saturday, July 27, Chicago, USA. I just acquired a Remington-Rand 5 Streamline typewriter that dates from the late 1930s. What’s really cool about this vestige of the Machine Age is that its typeface is massive. It delivers 6 characters per inch as opposed to the 10 you get with most pica typewriters or the 12 delivered by elite. This old Remington also makes me feel like I’m driving a manual shift. And not four on the floor, but three on the tree! I even like Remington' s trademark for this huge collection of letters: MAGNATYPE. What’s not to love?

Below is a comparison of 6 cpi Magnatype and 10 cpi pica.

tc_072719_compare

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‘Mission: Impossible’ office supplies

June 30, 2019June 30, 2019 L.T. Hanlon1 Comment

Photo of a typewritten page with the following text. Sunday, June 30, 2019. Chicago, USA. Selecting mission specialists. As a kid, one of my favorite TV series was the original Mission: Impossible. I always enjoyed the ritual introduction that included Briggs or Phelps learning of the mission and then choosing his team members. With some notable exceptions they generally selected the same folks. I've always assumed that the photos of those not chosen were in-jokes. I have a similar approach in mind when I buy office supplies, and often ask myself how a pen, pencil, eraser, or other implement will complement my analog outlook and typewriter collection. One relatively recent addition to my IMF team is the Pilot FriXion erasable pen. It works almost like something Barney Collier would come up with. FriXion pens use a special, heat-sensitive ink that can be easily quote erased unquote when rubbed with its dedicated eraser. I placed erase in quotes because the ink doesn't exactly go anywhere. It's still there and, when exposed to a cold environment like in the freezer will return to visibility. This also means that if you leave paper with writing from such a pen in, say, a locked car on a hot day, your class notes could vanish. But only until you toss that notebook in the freezer. Rocketbook makes several notebooks that expand upon this capability magnificently. The company's Wave notebook is erased by putting it in a microwave oven. Its Everlast notebook employs a specially coated paper (or plastic; I’m not exactly sure what it's made of) that allows FriXion ink to be wiped off with a damp microfiber cloth. I used both kinds of notebooks and am pleased with how they work. FriXion pens also perform excellently on regular paper.

JetPens explains how Pilot FriXion pens work. These folks are a great resource for pens, paper, notebooks, and more. You should also give Rocketbook notebooks a try.

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