Page 550 - Demo

Fools%u2019 Journey544he was going to charge $25, saying, %u201cThat%u2019s two dollars for the part, and $23 because I knew which part to replace.%u201d Then he added, %u201cI%u2019m going to wait a few days before I call them to come pick it up, so they won%u2019t realize how easy it was.%u201d This was in the 1960s, when he was a regional Olympia typewriter dealer, and a new Olympia portable cost just over $100. Sometimes, when he sold a new one, he might accept an older typewriter%u2014like an Underwood%u2014as a trade-in, but usually only offered $5 for it. After giving the trade-in a mild servicing%u2014not the complete Stanisol treatment%u2014he%u2019d price it at $50. I thought his markups were a bit steep, but then I didn%u2019t have a mortgage and a herd of kids to feed.So, when I saw the Underwood No. 5 on the Estate and Downsizing Specialists%u2019 website, it brought back a lot of memories, and it aroused my curiosity. I thought it would make a nice decorative object, but I also figured I could actually type something on it occasionally (with my two-finger technique). Maybe I%u2019d even restore it and learn about all its intricacies in the process. Lynn and I knew a man in Fort Wayne who owned about twenty typewriters. His name was Scott Sprunger, and when I asked him what the old Underwood would be worth, he said they usually sold for between $50 and $125. So I put in a high bid of $60, but lost out to somebody who wanted it more than I did.Scott used all of his typewriters regularly, often to write poetry, which was quite good. In fact, it was so good that one year I nominated him to be Indiana%u2019s Poet Laureate. Because most of Indiana%u2019s former Poet Laureates were college professors, Scott probably never had a chance, but I stressed on the application that he worked in the tradition of James Whitcomb Riley and that, %u201clike Riley, he is a working man, not an academic, and his poetry comes directly from his soul.%u201d Scott was very honored to be considered, but he wasn%u2019t selected for the post. Over the next few months, I kept thinking about that old typewriter, and started doing some online research. One of the first things I gleaned was that the Underwood No. 5 was one of the most popular typewriters ever produced, and it was being manufactured until the early 1930s. Because 5 million of them were made, it was still relatively easy to find one, and I was able to watch several videos