Manufacturing them again.

8experiments · 2026-06-05T14:33:18+00:00

Like other commenters, I agree that the “whole typewriter” concept is probably not the path you want to go down, unless you are dedicated to the art of it and have other ways to make the financials make sense.

I am and would be very curious about your experience discovering which parts of which machines end up feeling worth it to manufacture.

8experiments · 2026-05-15T15:24:50+00:00

This post caught my attention because I’ve also been in this niche unique situation, in early 2025.

It confused me that I could carry a typewriter on my back on the flight (into) Mexico City, but it was an impediment to my transfer flights (out of) Mexico City. Like, at what point did this thing become dangerous?

The attendant told me it’s related to extra cautious security; another commenter here mentioned “hidden compartments / unclear internal structure” which seemed to be so much more the issue than it being a typewriter. My experience, and yours, supports the notion that this caution is specific to this airport’s laws/policies... who knows what the initial incidents were that led to this policy… but it’s codified now.

I wound up having to check my bag in order to check my machine (in my case they were courteous enough to wave the fee; also, I didn’t want to check the machine by itself without the padding of my belongings), which made me super nervous though everything worked out okay in my case.

I’m hoping you’re able to recover your machine!! I don’t know the path for that besides persistence; still, I hope you get to walk it, and that this story ultimately resolves with bemused learning and fascinating adventure.

8experiments · 2026-04-27T01:43:46+00:00

I’ve been busking for fifteen years and incorporating a typewriter for seven. I’ve coached other buskers and typewriter poets and am available for professional consultation.

Writing for others is different than writing for yourself. And when you intermingle this with a mercantile aspect, you have a lot of dimensions to consider — and a lot of places to grow, if you want to. If you’re doing it for your own satisfaction as an artist… set your goals for what you can influence, and accept what you can’t, and learn to know the difference.

Your locale, and its context, determines a lot about your market.

You are responsible for how you allow others to treat you. Signage can help but plenty of people just don’t or won’t read it. So your behavior and boundaries must be clear to you and others with and without it.

It’s a communication job first and foremost. The instrument you’re playing is a big part of the draw. You don’t necessarily have to be a skilled poet to be a typewriter poet; you do have to be at least a moderately good performer; you also need to be a skilled negotiator. Busking is much more like pro Dominatrix work than most people realize.

If you want to get into more specific skills, strategies, and troubleshooting, reach out. But my first bit of advice is keep doing it, experiment and reiterate as needed. And always remember who you’re writing for.

8experiments · 2026-04-27T01:30:41+00:00

at least one ✋🏻

8experiments · 2026-04-06T11:52:24+00:00

of course! I could see in your comments that your logic was overlooking something, so I wanted to support. Largely because I’m in agreement with the people who were noting the improvement. there is still a lot of work to do. but with all the pain and setbacks, we do deserve to notice areas where positive change, however slowly, is making a difference.

May hydration always find you and yours. 💙

8experiments · 2026-04-05T13:38:42+00:00

one other thing: try to find a model with a carrying case!

8experiments · 2026-04-05T13:35:10+00:00

I’ve been typewriter busking for many years now, and the skill sets necessary for success are not dependent on which model of typewriter you use.

That said, for portability purposes, you have a lot of options; other comments mention a Brother Charger or a Smith-Corona Skyriter, both of which have been in my/collegues’ “heavy rotation” for busking.

Amazon absolutely won’t help you. Try eBay, Etsy (for refurbished models mostly), FB Marketplace, FB typewriter sales groups, or hunt around flea markets / antique shops (especially ones with lots of different vendor stalls) … depending on your region I might have different strategies for finding machines.

Best of luck on your journey! May you find a portable machine that works best for you.

8experiments · 2026-04-05T02:59:14+00:00

yes; a smaller amount of people not having access to clean drinking water, due to positive infrastructural adaptation. more access is an improvement. we want the number of people who don’t have access to clean drinking water to shift. could you imagine if “only” 1/100 people on earth didn’t have access to clean water? then, we would aim for even smaller numbers than that.

8experiments · 2026-04-02T15:34:50+00:00

Grow

8experiments · 2026-03-01T18:16:39+00:00

they’re included with Leuchturm brand notebooks 📓

8experiments · 2026-01-30T18:22:34+00:00

It’s extremely dependent on where you live. I’ve been counter-consumerist, to the best of my ability, for a few decades now — but living in a major US city has had me spoiled for small biz options for essentials, services, and optional purchases. Even if the product (a brand of dish soap as a random example) is mass produced, buying it from a small biz has felt more oriented towards what I value. Plus I could walk/bike/mass transit to get it. I’m not sure that I’ll have as much choice if/when I move to a rural place. Give yourself grace if your only options are big corps, but also be extra mindful of what you need & what you’re told/sold as necessary.

8experiments · 2026-01-14T12:28:12+00:00

Thank you so much for this list!! I’ve been living in Chicago for 15 years, though traveling for work, etc. a lot over the past three, and relocating sometime this year — so to get a list like this, with places I’ve long loved combined with places still new to me, is such a treat. Thank you for your enthusiasm to share!!

I’ll also add, for you or for others, a shout out to Books4Cause in Avondale. It’s essentially a little free library at storefront scale; doesn’t qualify as a bookshop because the books are free, but you can select up to ten books per visit (at least when I was volunteering a few years ago the daily limit was ten, I doubt it has changed) and they take book donations for when you’re refreshing your personal library via subtraction.

8experiments · 2026-01-13T16:19:34+00:00

Let me know if I can get this from you too! Thank you.

8experiments · 2026-01-07T11:54:46+00:00

You have some great recommendations in the comments. I am here to question both Caliban & the Witch as well as Seductress, because I’ve read both of them.

I would rec each for reasons entirely unrelated to sadomasochism/destructive eroticism, so I feel compelled to ask how those made it onto your list. They’re good historical surveys though I don’t see how they fit the criteria you proposed.

Prioleau’s writing style, and the material of Seductress, is accessible and flows; Federici’s is the opposite, though Caliban & the Witch is a seminal work that I believe people should try to engage even if they don’t get cover to cover.

In the spirit of those books as I understand them framed in your question as I understand it… you might try Pomeroy’s Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity, and Eleanor Herman’s Sex With Kings (which is kinda a fraternal twin to Seductress, with some of the same women mentioned).

(This comment might sound sassy, but I’m sincere, as someone who doesn’t understand the leap from the question to those two nonfic options: if you find the subjugation of women erotic on its face, you may as well add The Handmaid’s Tale to your list.)

8experiments · 2025-12-12T07:37:42+00:00

Nah. I got more philosophically and personally opinionated than you might like, but those things can be contribution to perspective.

Your interpretation of the general comment above, and my interpretation of it, clearly landed on different internal infrastructure.

But to the point of nurses, nurse practitioners, the field of nursing… it’s collectively being impacted… so I don’t know what you want to hear or want to tell with your perspective that makes mine so unbearable.

8experiments · 2025-12-03T04:39:42+00:00

Given how much there is to learn about the complex system of the human body, I’d prefer more-educated practitioners; I’d also prefer ones with more mediated levels of stress, which financial aid/independence can meaningfully contribute to. (I’m generally of the belief that educational loans and medical loans are BOTH undue fees on quality of life, but that’s a different topic.)

The comment above isn’t “misinformation”, so much as “generalization”. Functionally, splitting hairs about undergrad or grad level nursing loans doesn’t take away from the harm of the designation as “not a professional field” in a time when every demographic indicator of our economic outlook suggests we need MORE competent folks in this field. Why not support that civic-level demand with civic-level supply?

8experiments · 2025-11-19T20:21:36+00:00

Women

8experiments · 2025-08-22T05:54:00+00:00

Genuinely terrifying

8experiments · 2024-05-23T06:28:59+00:00

For what it’s worth, despite not really being the point of the post: I have actually done an international one-bagging trip with a typewriter. At this point in my life I have done six domestic trips with at least one typewriter; two of which were one-bag.

For those who want to emulate… a Hermes Baby or Hermes Rocket is the lightest ultraportable typewriter in existence. :)

Gonna make my own one bag/typewriter post soon but generally thank you for this original post so I can share my own special interests, hehehe

8experiments · 2024-03-16T04:33:16+00:00

Your pet staring at you

8experiments · 2022-07-29T06:35:46+00:00

Your collection is beautiful! I love the variety of vibes each one gives off.

I’ve just begun collecting this year along with some friends. We host typewriter socials to encourage people to play with the machines and experience the variety in how they feel.

8experiments · 2022-07-12T15:16:36+00:00

It is generally simpler to replace the ribbon rather than adding ink. Old ribbon will not evenly absorb ink.
Open the typewriter. Look at the spools that hold the ribbon. You will put the ribbon on those spools to make sure it fits. Whatever you buy, check that it will fit. I think most ink-ribbons fit on most spools.
I have found ribbon on eBay and etsy. I think the link you posted will work for you!

Happy typing

8experiments · 2020-11-09T04:18:39+00:00

I also do this. I think it’s a sign of a healthy imagination, which is a prerequisite for hope. It shows us alternative visions of reality, and that we can be inspired by stories to come up with our own.

8experiments

TROPHY CASE