Tools of the Trade

On this day in 1888, the inventor of the electric typewriter, James Field Smathers, was born in Valley Spring, Texas. This got me thinking about the typewriters associated with two of Texas' most well-known writers, both of whom write on old mechanical models.

Cormac McCarthy wrote about 5,000,000 words on a brave old Olivetti Lettera 32 before it finally had to be retired. The typewriter, which was replaced for less than $20, sold at auction for more than $250,000, with the profits being donated to the Santa Fe Institute.

Larry McMurty uses a Hermes 3000. My understanding is that he has them stationed in locations that he frequents. Lonesome Dove, for example, was written on typewriters in Washington, D.C. and Archer City.

These days I could not imagine composing on a mechanical typewriter. I wrote on one some when I was young, but the keys always seemed to get stuck, which tended to run off the muse. Here is a little demonstration video of a Hermes 3000. For older folks, this is nostalgia. For younger folks, this is edification.