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(paper moving)

2
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(typewriter clanking)

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When you use a typewriter,

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(typewriter clanking)

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you become focused
on what you're thinking

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and you just put your thoughts
directly on paper

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and there's
nothing between you

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but you and that little
keyboard.

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It's really magical.

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My name is Paul Lundy
and we're here

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at the Bremerton Office
Machine Company,

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and we reside in a spiffy
little 1946 office building.

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Originally, Bob Montgomery
and his dad started

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the business.

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He came here after World
War II.

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His dad had gotten
the contract at the Navy Yard

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and the company has been
in business since 1947.

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-What is it about typewriters?

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(laughing)
-What is it about typewriters?

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That's so funny
because you look

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at these things, and it's
just like they're just pieces

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of mechanical stuff, right?

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Permutations over the years
and the decades

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all doing one thing

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and everybody having
a slightly different idea

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on how they should look,
like that cute little Royal

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Portable P, the most darling
little typewriter.

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And then you get this
ponderous Underwood

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sitting here,
all doing the same thing.

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Typewriters
are a thing of the past.

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(boysterous laugh)

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You certainly...you certainly

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wouldn't
buy a modern typewriter today.

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(laughing)

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There's a large

36
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group of people who I call
typewriter enthusiasts

37
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who uhm, like me,

38
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have recognized the uniqueness
of these machines

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and what they do
and the different styles

40
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and the different eras
of what they represent.

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-Hi. 
-And they've become enamored with them too.

42
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And they bring them in
sometimes by the dozens.

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So go ahead and put
your machine there and... 

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Wow, nice Little Royal Ten.

45
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And you're
solving a problem for them,

46
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which is kind of cool.

47
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So it looks like

48
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it needs paper rollers
all the way around, okay?

49
00:02:09,712 --> 00:02:11,714
You're helping them
in some way, right?

50
00:02:11,714 --> 00:02:13,424
You guys are really stuck.

51
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Like today advising him

52
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not to repair his typewriter
because of rust.

53
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There it is. 
There's some rust.

54
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But going ahead anyway,

55
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you know, or just helping
somebody change ribbon.

56
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One, two, three, seven.

57
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And the customers themselves.

58
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So yeah, 1929.

59
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Hmm. 
It runs the spectrum,

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everything from

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00:02:34,779 --> 00:02:37,365
the elderly who just need
a helping hand with

62
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with a more modern typewriter,
to people

63
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who come in
with family heirlooms

64
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that have been on the shelf
for decades.

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Yeah, well, we'll do our best.

66
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-Okay. 
-Let me write up

67
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a service ticket,
then, you crazy person.

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-Yes.

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-Boy.

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There's a very small group
of people who write

71
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and publish and have come

72
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to realize that the typewriter

73
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is key to their creativity.

74
00:03:06,603 --> 00:03:08,938
And I am very fortunate
to service

75
00:03:09,355 --> 00:03:12,901
typewriters to these people
and to just to listen to them

76
00:03:13,568 --> 00:03:15,904
tell me how focused
they've become

77
00:03:16,863 --> 00:03:20,033
just because they don't do
their first draft

78
00:03:20,033 --> 00:03:25,163
on a computer or a pad or
whatever, but on a typewriter.

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Yeah.

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This is a really good example

81
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of a Smith Premier Number Two.

82
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This is from the year 1900.

83
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I have always

84
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loved repairing things.

85
00:03:38,551 --> 00:03:40,845
I've been in facilities, work
for decades,

86
00:03:41,346 --> 00:03:43,556
made a career
out of facilities, worked

87
00:03:43,556 --> 00:03:46,017
for a lot of local biotech
companies.

88
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This is the type basket and

89
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you can see
they come up from down below.

90
00:03:52,857 --> 00:03:57,070
The original instructions
had you rushing your type.

91
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Tada! 
Look at this!

92
00:04:00,823 --> 00:04:07,080
This is actually wood and
these are all sewn in place.

93
00:04:07,872 --> 00:04:09,374
I mean, the craftsmanship

94
00:04:09,374 --> 00:04:11,709
of even just a cleaning
brush is amazing.

95
00:04:12,418 --> 00:04:14,921
Then one day I read
in The Seattle Times:

96
00:04:14,921 --> 00:04:18,508
'Last typewriter repairman at 92,'

97
00:04:19,259 --> 00:04:22,011
and I thought, "Wow,
I got to go see that guy."

98
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So I went down here
the next day, I met 

99
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Mr. Montgomery.

100
00:04:26,474 --> 00:04:29,644
He knew
every single manufacturer

101
00:04:29,644 --> 00:04:33,439
and typewriter and model
and all the different changes

102
00:04:33,564 --> 00:04:34,649
that had been made on

103
00:04:34,649 --> 00:04:37,110
any particular model throughout the decades. It was like,

104
00:04:38,194 --> 00:04:40,655
the knowledge the guy had
was it was just incredible.

105
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I got hooked.

106
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I just got hooked.

107
00:04:45,493 --> 00:04:48,955
So this is a Remington Model
One Noiseless.

108
00:04:49,038 --> 00:04:52,834
They were known
as the "noisy noiseless."

109
00:04:52,834 --> 00:04:55,128
(loud typewriter clanking)

110
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Not exactly noiseless.

111
00:04:57,088 --> 00:04:59,966
Once a week
and then twice a week.

112
00:05:00,008 --> 00:05:02,802
And then pretty soon,
I think I had two jobs.

113
00:05:03,011 --> 00:05:05,221
Oh, look at that
tiny screw. Oh, my God.

114
00:05:05,221 --> 00:05:08,474
By the end of the year,
I was having so much fun

115
00:05:08,474 --> 00:05:11,728
doing this in my spare time

116
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with Mr. Montgomery.

117
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I just asked him,

118
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"Do you think
I got what it takes?"

119
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And then he looked at me.

120
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(deep sigh) 
"You're okay."

121
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Looking at me
over his glasses.

122
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Classic, Mr. Montgomery.  

123
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I asked Lisa, my wife.

124
00:05:35,877 --> 00:05:38,129
I think I'm
going to do something crazy.

125
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Are you okay with this?

126
00:05:40,548 --> 00:05:44,302
And she said "This isn't the
first crazy thing you've done,

127
00:05:44,302 --> 00:05:44,844
so I'm

128
00:05:44,844 --> 00:05:47,847
probably going to be okay."
And then I bought the business

129
00:05:48,097 --> 00:05:48,890
at the end of the year.

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The reason why
I'm here today is because Mr.

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Montgomery really did
stick it out.

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I mean,

133
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he created a little niche
for himself that survived.

134
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So look,
if you're in your 90s...if

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00:06:02,403 --> 00:06:03,863
you bring something
that's pretty simple,

136
00:06:03,863 --> 00:06:05,490
I'm going to give you same day
service.

137
00:06:05,490 --> 00:06:07,450
Because we all know

138
00:06:07,450 --> 00:06:09,369
that you got better things
to do

139
00:06:09,369 --> 00:06:11,913
than to be waiting for
a typewriter sitting around.

140
00:06:11,913 --> 00:06:14,248
But if you're younger,
you're going to wait like

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everybody else.

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You know, you never know where
life's going to take you.

143
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And right now, it's taken me
here with typewriters,

144
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and I am having
a time of my life,

145
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and I'm going to do it
for as long as I can.

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(typerwriter clanking and chime)

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(typewriter clanking)

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For hours, location
and how to make

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an appointment,
go to typespec.com.

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♪♪

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And catch Art Zone
Friday nights

152
00:07:00,795 --> 00:07:06,843
at 8 and anytime online
at seattlechannel.org/artzone. 

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♪♪