{"id":1003,"date":"2021-11-24T21:13:03","date_gmt":"2021-11-24T21:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aaronkuehn.net\/tol\/?p=1003"},"modified":"2021-11-24T21:13:03","modified_gmt":"2021-11-24T21:13:03","slug":"a-personal-plea-to-tom-hanks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aaronkuehn.net\/tol\/?p=1003","title":{"rendered":"A personal plea to Tom Hanks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Frame grab from www.vanityfair.com\/video\/watch\/tom-hanks-changes-the-ribbon-on-a-typewriter<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hi, Tom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is perhaps rudely familiar\nof me to address you by your first name. Those of us who are not actors tend to\nfeel like we \u201cknow\u201d those of you who perform for our amusement and distraction.\nThis of course is absurd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve seen you take on the cloak of many people, and I shan\u2019t pick a favorite, but I\u2019m always impressed by the variety of the work you do. I suppose this has led me to feel a familiarity, as well as heartfelt respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, we are\nFacebook friends, after all. I\u2019ve liked several of your \u201cfound-glove\u201d posts,\nwhile you\u2019ve yet to react to a single one of my snarky posts or semi-macro\nphotos of fire hydrants. But that\u2019s okay. I know you\u2019re busy: travelling,\nlearning lines, answering the same question from the press for the bazillionth\ntime, choosing future roles and the like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Facebook post by Tom Hanks.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A Facebook post by Tom Hanks. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I have seen in the media over\nthe past few months that you\u2019ve been shedding some stuff. The Airstream and\nsome cars being among them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And of course, there are\nnumerous reports over the past few years of you gifting typewriters from your\ncollection to individuals. Such gifts touch the heart and how can I argue\nagainst your generosity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But those reports have gotten\nme to wondering, worrying to be honest, about the typewriters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What jeopardy might they face\nin years to come?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will they be dispersed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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See https:\/\/www.thethings.com\/heres-why-tom-hanks-collects-typewriters\/<\/a> for more!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Like you, I have a fondness\nfor typewriters. This affinity has been with me for as long as I can remember.\nAs a small person I watched my mom type on her Smith Corona portable electric\nthat she had used in college. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing I remember from\nthat machine is the fragrance. Like a new Volkswagen of the \u201870s, it had (and\ncontinues to emit) a wonderful aroma. It generates a unique olfactory sensation\nthat I cannot describe. It\u2019s not metal, it\u2019s not lubricant, it\u2019s not ink from\nthe ribbon. No, I feel it must be the vapor of the love that went into crafting\nthe machine in some now-defunct factory of the late 1950s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My grandmother also had a\nSmith Corona electric that she often typed letters on. As her arthritis\nworsened, she typed more and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was starting high school, my mom strongly encouraged me to take a typing class. Apart from having horrible penmanship, she argued that if I could master the keyboard, I\u2019d always have a job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another family member recommended that if I had the choice, I should learn on a manual typewriter. Much like driving a stick-shift, it would be a skill that would serve me well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I followed all of the advice\nand took up a seat behind a Royal manual typewriter in my high school\u2019s typing\nclass. We trained using the Century 21 method. It was hard work. My mind often\nwent numb while doing the drills. But I persevered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As my skills improved, I got\npleasure from my ability to turn out crisp, clean, elegant copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I continue to be in awe of the typewriter. The mechanical complexity of even the most basic machine, especially considering the times some of these gems were created, is stunning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider that when we type,\nwe\u2019re in close, almost intimate, contact with a hard piece of machinery: keys,\nsprings, wires, cogs, wheels, motors. And yet when you get your hands on a good\nhome row, it feels like you\u2019ve put on a perfectly-fitting pair of socks, fresh\nfrom the dryer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My wife and I still have our\ntypewriters of old. I have my mom\u2019s Smith Corona 210 that she used in college,\nas did I. My wife, who is from Romania, has her Bulgarian-made Maritsa 30. I\u2019m\ndrawn to them and appreciate them for their mechanical power, complexity and beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aaron’s Smith Corona 210 Electra.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Alina’s Maritsa 30.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You, to my knowledge, have perhaps the largest collection of typewriters in one place. Not because you have fame or relative fortune, but simply because you have the collection, I ask that you protect it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You owe me nor the world\nnothing, of course. But I appreciate that however you\u2019ve amassed the\ncollection, that assemblage of hardware is important: as historical artifacts\nand as art that should be appreciated and preserved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can only imagine the space\nthey must take up and I fear that as you re-asses the \u201cthings\u201d in your life,\nyou might consider breaking up the band, so to speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please do not do that! Not\nfor me, not for yourself, not for your children, but for the world. Please save\nthe typewriters. Keep them together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe set aside an endowment\nfor their care. Or bequeath them at the end of your earthly stay to a\nuniversity of design or engineering, a museum \u2013 someplace that will love them. Somehow,\nplease, I beg you, keep them all together and protected. Don\u2019t disperse them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If and when the time comes when\nthey are no longer your children, please adopt them out as the family that they\nare \u2013 for the benefit of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for everything,\nTom. Both for the entertainment that you\u2019ve given us and for the very fact that\nyou have brought attention to typewriters as the important players they are in\nour past and future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please follow these links for more about Tom Hanks’ love of typewriters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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