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Wordless Wednesday, July 2019
by MarianBeaman | Jul 31, 2019 | blog, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, popular culture, Uncategorized | 68 comments
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Good morning, Marian! Portrait of a young writer–lovely.
I love your new fangled electric typewriter and princess phone. 🙂
I was probably in graduate school and not yet thinking about being a writer, much less an author, Merril.
That reminds me of the days when I was learning to type in the early 80s. I wonder what you were writing about in this photo.
Just a guess: We bought the typewriter to help launch my husband’s art/music performance career in the 1980s. I may have been using the “memory” function to type out letters to schools, churches, and civic organizations. Typing skills transfer easily to the computer, but you already know that, Fatima!
Yes, but it is much easier to correct mistakes on computers. Did you ever have to use carbon paper for copies? What a nightmare that was! 😫
Oh, yes, carbon paper. And then the horrible White-Out. I remember rolling term paper pages out of typewriter carriages because I wore a hole in the paper trying too many times to correct the mistake. Those days are GONE. Now, though, we have privacy issues with computers. Thanks for the follow-up, Fatima!
That Tipp-Ex (as we called it over here) was a nightmare to get right too, especially if you didn’t wait long enough for it to dry. And yes, we must be careful with privacy settings and unsolicited friendships, etc, but I’m hoping that common sense will prevail.
I agree – thanks!
Wow, you have an electric typewriter AND a princess-style corded phone. You are a trend setter. I am in awe.
Even if I didn’t see your Gravatar photo and name, I’d know this is you commenting. 😀
You have a distinctive voice here and over on your blog. Thanks, Ally!
Thank you… I think. 🤔
But, of course! 😅
Oh…the good old days! I loved the princess phone. I had a pink one when I was a teenager. 🙂
Our daughter had a pink princess phone in her bedroom. This one I remember as being boring beige. Thanks, Jill!
Love it! I am at a loss for words myself this morning and really do not know what to write about. Your picture and caption says it all! Well done.
Maybe this photo will jog your memory about days gone by. You certainly have a lot of material. Thanks, Irwin!
Must be after the move to North Carolina here. Right?
The shot was taken in Jacksonville probably in the 1980s. (I lived in NC for one year in the late sixties before we were married.)
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can – I did, I did, I did!
Sam Road?
Jean
Killarney Shores, shortly after we moved. It wasn’t memoir back then, or any other personal writing. Thanks, sister Jean! 🙂
Reminder of my university days. Staying up overnight to type papers due the next morning!
Photos link us immediately to memory. I’m glad this picture prompted yours. Thanks, Arlene!
What a great photo! And that typewriter . . . love it!
Of course, the typewriter is long gone with a succession of Mac computers, Linda. I looked up vintage typewriters on eBay and discovered two listed as Memory Writer Electronic, possible Smith-Corona or Royal. I can’t tell the brand from the photo, blurry like my memory.
I never did learn to type on a typewriter. With out computers, I would have never written 7 books. I love the picture.
Yay for computers, Darlene! And kudos for (gasp!) seven books. After the first one, you’ve really been on a roll!
Marian — Gosh, but this photo brings back many fond memories.
I wonder at what stage in your career you had a typewriter like this one, Laurie. Holistic health practitioner, life coach? Maybe even student working on your PhD!
Marian — It was when Evan was a baby (almost 36 years ago), when I had my own business — Pages to Go! — and I did freelance typing for many businesses in town. Len was in the Navy on a foreword deployed ship (the Persian Gulf), and there was no way I was going to leave my child in someone else’s care. So I started my own business and worked from home.
And the rest is history, a dazzling one!
Wow! As everyone else has commented, a princess phone and an electric typewriter were the height of fashion! I had a yellow phone but a manual typewriter back in the day. 😊
Yes, L. Marie, color was a big draw on princess phones. Now that you mentioned “yellow,” I recall having a blue wall mount in my kitchen. Yes, fashionable phones: Now it’s an Apple watch (don’t have one) or whatever else is trending.
Great picture! I was just at my mother’s house on Monday, looking at their typewriter!
Do they use this typewriter, or just an artifact from days gone by, I wonder. Cliff still has his typewriter from college and with the case. Thanks, Barbara!
No it’s not being used. My father used to have a secretary come in and type letters, years ago. I got rid of my college typewriter – the old Smith Corona!
While it’s not being used, you have flashbacks to days gone by when you chance to glance at it. Wow!
Marian, love this photo of you and what appears to be an IBM of the 1980s or so. I think I also picked up on the word “memory” in a comment. Working for a law firm around that time I used one of the IBM memory typewriters. BUT I never had a princess phone. Enjoyed your wordless Wednesday!
You are the “pink parfait” of your husband’s eye: I got a glimpse of his special gift to you on Facebook. The typewriter pictured today may have been an IBM. I know this one would store a bit of memory that spilled out pre-set sentences when I pressed a key, I don’t remember which one! That typewriter helped launch Cliff’s art/music performance career in the mid-1980s. (As I began graduate school, I worked as his “unpaid” secretary – ha!)
I typed all my papers on an electric typewriter when I did my BA. (So much better than manual!). By the time I was working on my MA we transitioned to computers, and my PhD work was all done on computer. I gave my electric typewriter away! Maybe I shouldn’t have, but there comes a time… I knew I’d never use it again, but then, it might become a valuable antique some day!
I’m sorry you had to reply twice here. Since I noticed the duplicate comment, I’ve added the tag to my blog, “Comments will be visible after approval: Thank you!”
Your academic record is sensational. You know the discipline and perseverance required for earning advanced degrees, much like publishing a book. Thanks, Elfrieda!
Such concentration…A lovely photograph, Marian…A skill I have picked up over the years but never perfected but I am a pretty fast 2 fingered typist…haha 🙂
Two fingers is all it takes to “type” on a smartphone. But, I (and maybe you too) being a digital immigrant use the one-finger approach, slower than my children’s, that’s for sure!
I know you are fast with two fingers, churning out blog posts for years now. Kudos to you, Carol!
Mine is definitely one fingered on those little keyboards, thank goodness for predictive text…haha…Thank you for the kind comment, Marian and yes my two fingers are quite fast…I have never ever had the urge to own a typewriter or indeed learn to type correctly…Luckily during my working life I always had a typist 🙂
Thanks for the follow-up. How lucky you had a typist! 🙂
Those were the days!
I can still hear Edith Bunker’s warbly, but enthusiastic voice singing that line in All in the Family. Typewriters are gone, and digital technology is developing at warp speed. Thanks for joining the conversation here, Joan.
In the early 1980s, Marian and I couldn’t afford buying an electric typewriter straight out. We borrowed about $1200 from her Aunt Ruthie. I created a letter (from my manual tap-tap Remington typewriter) that spelled out how much we would pay monthly to her Aunt until paid. No free lunch there, but it did help advertise information via US Mail about my shows. We stored in memory about 15-20 sentences or phrases that we often used, and then tailored it to the recipient.
It’s amazing what kind of a computer you can buy now with that initial investment we made!
Marian, Thanks for reminding me of my heavy unbalanced, left leaning, key-clogging Smith Corona. I spent many happy hours hunched over that cast-iron monstrosity. I disliked threading the ribbon through the guides, but I enjoyed seeing words appear on paper “from nowhere.” Years later I bought a portable Hermes. It was my most prized possession and a wide doorway to self-expression.
It’s good to see you here again, Conrad! You help me recall days gone by with your voluminous store of photos on Facebook. And your comment here reminded me of black stains from the ribbon sticking to my thumbs and forefingers.
Thanks so much! And be on the lookout for my memoir Mennonite Daughter, coming out in mid-September. 🙂
And that’s how it begins. 🙂
A writer’s life . . . and story, if that’s what you mean, Debby.
Actually, in this photo I was doing grunt work, helping to launch my husband’s art-music performance career, sending out introductory letters (and then contracts) in the mail. So long ago – 20 pounds lighter and a lot less experienced. Ha!
P.S. Your ARC copy of my book should arrive soon.
Yes, that’s what I meant. 🙂 And oh, ya, the good old days Marian, when we could lose 5 pounds in a flash if we needed to, lol. Writing doesn’t help our aging metabolisms. 🙂 And yay! I’m halfway through a current read and 2 promised beta reads, not til later in August so I’m moving you right up when I get it! <3
I’m all choked up at the thought, Debby!
Two packages were mailed to Canada, one to Toronto and one to somewhere in British Columbia. I wager yours will arrive first.
Let me know when the manila, bubble-wrapped packs lands on your doorstep. Thanks! 🙂
About weight loss: My sister is a skinny minnie. Now if I could jut donate 10 pounds to her, pronto, I surely would. My mother’s doctor remarked that she didn’t break any bones when she fell (probably) because she had some “insulation” around her. Another one assured me that it’s good to have a little weight, so that if you fall ill, you have a little “fat” to tide you over. Somehow, that’s small comfort. Ha Ha!
Omg, that’s sooo funny! I used to say that to my friends, it’s always good to have some spare for the lean times. 🙂 And lol, don’t be so certain about me before B.C., for some reason anything from the US or UK seems as though it’s coming by covered wagon! LOL. If you mailed it this past week, I would guesstimate sometime in the week after this coming one! Seriously! Anytime before that would be a shocker. But I’ll be sure to message you when I do. 🙂
The package was mailed first class from Jacksonville, Florida, on Friday, July 26.
No worries: I have given my readers lots of turnaround time. I planned he launch for mid-September, so you wouldn’t feel rushed.
Thanks for the comment, and thanks for letting me know of the package arriving, all in one piece! 🙂
Wow, first class over a week ago. Yup, typical, then I should receive this coming week! 🙂
Thumbs up to that, Debby!
🙂
Once a writer, leads a writer. Once a teacher, always a teacher. Once a typer… 🙂 Great shot – spontaneous and precious for the times.
“Who took the shot” I ask. I don’t remember posing for the photo. But then, it was sooo long ago! 😀
I see real determination and excitement in that face, body, and hands. The machines were only instruments. The real inspiration was in you, Marian!
Thank you for replying here, Shirley. You just got back, and even though you are still buzzing with the thrill of it all, you will feel tiredness descend. So, thanks again. I’m glad my book arrived in Harrisonburg. I’m giving readers plenty of turn-around time before the official September launch.
NOTE: In the previous post, I linked a comment to your blog, referencing your phrase “elderly newbie.” We were once both newbies, but as long as we both shall live, I will be more elderly than you! 🙂
Such a delightful photo of you Marian and I love Cliff’s story about how you acquired it …happy days !
Colin bought me an electric typewriter in the early nineties because I’d shown interest in writing, it was amazing and I was utterly thrilled but my first draft has always been paper and a pen , it still is .
Cherryx
I know that some of the most acclaimed authors write first drafts in longhand on yellow legal paper. My first writing teacher said that writing this way makes the process a physical thing
. . . the hand connecting to the brain and causing sparks perhaps – ha!
Thanks for the compliment, Cherry! 🙂
She’s putting words on the page with a sense of great seriousness. Her desk is tidy, but her thighs are showing (no plain girl here) and the phone is close by. Not much has changed except the look of the equipment and the age of the girl. Sending you love.
Yes, not much has changed except the weight of the “girl” and what she was doing. Here I was helping hubby launch his own career with art/music assembly programs while working on my master’s degree in the 1980s. My writing career ensued much later, but yes, there’s still strong intention. Love to you too, Elaine!
Lovely! I remember typewriters!
Ah, we are vintage too: Typewriters are gone; now we have computers and cameras! Thanks, Lady Fi.