Does anyone use a typewriter for cards?

I type my postcards when possible and find thinner card stock works the best! I like to type the PC ID in red so it’s easy to locate and have not had any issues.

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FYI, lots of people’s eyes have trouble seeing red type like that & make it easier to miss on the card. I’ve done it a bunch of times.

I just wanted to update the thread that I started. My old 1939 Royal is now up and running and churning out cards! I’m doing them on paper and taping the messages on to the card. It’s so much fun, and such a different approach (for me) to writing as with the typewriter I really have to think about what I want to say, if that makes sense.

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If you want another piece of advice, I would not tape it on the card but really glue it on the card. Tape may get loose and than you message will be torn or gone, you can always put tape when you have glued it done :wink:

P.S. Your typewriter looks wonderful!! :heart_eyes:

Thank you! I love that it is over 80 years old and still “talking” :slight_smile:

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I would get a typewriter eraser pencil to remove the smudges. There is also corrective ribbon that’s essentially white out that you could use as well. Typewriter love forever!

First of all I have to say that this typewritter looks just wonderful!

Secondly, I don’t want to spoil any parties here and I am a firm believer of the postcrossing principle that a sender sends whatever makes him happy and the receiver should at least say thank yo;u but I do have to say the following:
I completely acknowledge that from a typewriting afficionado’s point of view type-writing a piece of paper and then sticking it to a card may be the whole point but from a card-collecting afficionado’s point of view I think this defies the whole purpose. It feels kind of the same as having printing a document in Word using Courier font and sticking it to a card.

This is an example of a typed stationery from Greece, sent in the 50s

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That may be so but I regularly receive a postcard I can’t read because of the bad handwriting. Then I really wish they had taken a piece of paper and did write their story on a typewriter. And you definitely cannot compare it with a word document, have you ever felt the texture of a typewritten paper?
:slightly_smiling_face:

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I completely understand what you are saying and agree with some of it. When I use the typewriter it’s on the occasion that the recipient has said something like “What are your hobbies?” or "“Tell me about yourself!” Then I type a message and talk about my typewriters.

It would be preferable to be able to type directly on the card, as you have said but I think my problem is two-fold. First, my machine is from the 1930’s and postcards were just thinner back then (like the card you have shown, which is lovely) some of the cardstock now is so thick it actually cannot be loaded. Secondly, unless a card is very thin stock the roller (platen) will curl it badly as it goes through. This may be because my two machines are smaller “portable” models. Large office sized typewriters might have larger circumference platens, I don’t know.

Through the main site plus the forum I have 400+ cards and not a single typewriter written one. That will be an exciting day for me.

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Another typewriter related topic is :point_right: Typewriters

Alright!
I just bought a typewriter and I tried to use it to write a card.
I had already printed some of my photos into postcards with Vista print, using different paper qualities.
From these prints I selected the thinnest and the least glossy one.
It worked!!!
I have to say I like the result.

I definitely do need a new ink ribbon.
One of the problems I faced was that it was almost impossible to type the lowest part of the card, i.e the address. The typewriter does not hold the card and the card tends to move away…

So I hereby present you my first typed postcard. Since it was addressed to a postcrosser from the Netherlands, I typed it in Dutch.

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See Fotis @fostis, it isn’t that bad after all :wink::wink::wink:
I really like the look of it, you did a great job :blush:
The problem on the bottom of the card can be solved if you put another thin paper behind the card and put a little bit of washi tape on the bottom of the card to hold it in place on the paper, this way you can type the whole card :wink:.
I hope you got my card in the meantime?
You didn’t told me you were Dutch?! Je had mij dan ook in get Nederlands kunnen schrijven, ik ben ook Nederlandse :grinning:

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Not yet dear Anja @thetimp but I’m certainly looking forward to it.
Thanks for the tip on the use of scotch tape. I will definitely try it.

I’m not Dutch. I’m Greek but I’ve lived and worked in Rotterdam for 12 years!

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@cottontailfarm ,
I was just talking about this yesterday! I am on the lookout for a vintage typewriter right now! I love your idea!

I just received a card written with vintage typewriter :slight_smile:
I love how the texture of the ribbon is visible in the letter, I don’t know if you can see it here:

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Hi there!

I just got myself a typewriter to celebrate my 200th sent out postcard. I really like doing it, this wonderful imperfect somewhat lined up typeface on the postcard is so pretty. And it’s easier to read than my handwriting :). I have to put my postcards into the machine in portrait aspect, otherwise the device cannot roll it in. But it works good that way. I found a nice blue Brother Bradford typewriter on ebay and here I am introducing it to the postcrossing fellows: https://youtu.be/HOqO-YNVu4g

Happy postcrossing!

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@fahrbier
I don’t type on the cards themselves, I type on a piece of paper and glue that on the card and I type the address on address labels and stick then on the card aswell.
Problem solved :wink:

I use an old typewriter to create text for handmade cards like this:

:green_heart::fox_face:

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Hello,
I am using a Typewriter in the same way as you do. It is a Olympia SM2 build in 1950.