It just so happens that I am in the golden city of Antwerp in Flanders, Belgium. On our way to the famous Plantin-Moretus museum, which features - amongst other things - a super well preserved printing press and lead typefaces from the 1600s, we came by the equally traditional Vrijdags market. It being friday, and still a reasonable time, the market was still ongoing.
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| the Antwerp cathedral - marvellous |
The special thing about Antwerp's Friday market is that the items - mostly the usual fleamarket objects, with quite a bit of furniture as far as I saw - are being auctioned off. What was not my surprise to see; that the person who registered the sales was using a manual typewriter! An Olympia, to be more precise.
Lateron in the museum we learned by a documentary from 1991 that this is the very same procedure as used then. It even seemed to me that the man on the video typing in 1991 is the same as the one I saw yesterday.
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| scene from the auction site |
Should you ever come to Antwerp, make sure to visit the Plantin-Moretus - it's gorgeous!
Looks like a very wonderful place. I like the contrast of the man using a typewriter beside a man using a notebook computer.
ResponderBorrarNice discovery of a typewriter still in use ... the cathedral is sublime!
ResponderBorrarVery interesting. I'm reminded of the stories of typists in Mexico who would type up any document for a pittance, and who sat on streets or in bazaars just with a typewriter, a table and paper. I wonder if that is still happening?
ResponderBorrarLooks like a fun encounter. He seems to be all business.
ResponderBorrarThat is very, very neat. I would love to see more people typing publicly around here...but then again, I don't get out and type. I will have to make the effort.
ResponderBorrarAwesome that the older man is using an Olympia. Looks like a more modern, plastic machine. The side profile looks like it would nearly match an SM9, but the feed release is different, as is the back of the carriage. More rounded.
Thanks for sharing!