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Royal typewriter

Contributed by David Addison

This object is a link to my boyhood, both my parents, and a reminder that had it not been for the Second World War, I would not be here - at least in this precise form. My parents met when they were stationed in the Middle East and it was there that my mother gave this state-of-the art piece of technology as a present to my father round about 1942. She was a nurse; he was in the RAF. After the war, in 1946 to be precise, they were married and settled in my father's native north east Scotland. A year later there was me. Later still, my father became the headmaster or "dominie" of a small rural school in Banffshire and although it is a ton weight and was superseded by lighter and quieter and I'm sure more efficient models, he used this typewriter to conduct the business of all his three schools until his untimely death in harness in 1969 aged only 59. As a boy, when I was not outside roaming the woods playing "Cowboys and Indians"or indulging in other healthy outdoor pursuits, I was allowed to use it to type up my stories. I liked this because it gave them, to my mind, a satisfyingly "professional"appearance despite all the over-typing. Errors were notoriously difficult to erase!

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Comments

  • 1 comment
  • 1. At 00:27 on 25 November 2010, Christine wrote:

    This brought back memories as I had a typewriter like that but, then had to dicarded it when I couldn't buy ribbons any more. The article was illuminating and covered various aspects of life in the north east of Scotland as I remember it. This writer is able to hold one's interest.

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About this object

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Location

Hartford, Connecticut

Culture
Period

1941-1943

Theme
Size
H:
26cm
W:
40cm
D:
37cm
Colour
Material

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