The Typewriter Project Has Blasted Off Thanks to Qwerty Lanoka Harbor NJ Man
When was the last time you hunted and pecked? We're talking about typing on a real-live (OK, old-fashioned) typewriter?
A Lanoka Harbor man has a strange idea: He wants to place typewriters at various locations in New Jersey and have you try them out!
Ian J. McAndrew is the self-described "Owner/Typewriter Mechanic" for Iron Fox Typewriters. (Find out more here.)
Iron Fox Typewriters is "...committed to the preservation, alteration, and proliferation of the last great equalizer: the typewriter. Unhackable, untraceable, and free from malware, bloatware, and digital distraction, the typewriter seeks to free your innermost thoughts and keep them right where you want them; with you."
How about that!
To further the typewriter's place in your heart, Iron Fox has launched "The Public Typewriter Project" which seems to entail putting actual typewriters in various locations in New Jersey, hoping people will pop in to do some actual typing.
How about you? Do you have a yearning to give it a whack?
Based on some videos found on YouTube, it looks like there are at least three locations where typewriters are waiting for you! Locations "up and running" are in Neptune, Tuckerton, and Point Pleasant.
Here's a look at where you'll find them:
According to McAndrew, "I have spent the last three years establishing and building my business around promoting the lost art of writing with true intention and freeing writers from the binary bonds of digital distraction and influence. Since 2019 I have been collaborating with other small New Jersey-based businesses creating and executing different events aimed at promoting writing and literacy."
This typewriter project certainly wasn't a spur-of-the-moment thing. A lot of thought and effort is behind it, according to McAndrew:
In 2019 I worked with Kathy Kelly, owner of "Paranormal Books & Curiosities" who was gracious enough to host New Jersey's first-ever "type-in" event. She supplied the venue and boosted the signal and I supplied nearly 25 different vintage typewriters, paper stock, and different events aimed at kick-starting creativity while being able to try writing on a serviced vintage typewriter (for the first time for many). Covid sidelined the successful return of this event in 2020, however in July of 2021 we pivoted and were able to throw a Covid compliant "Type-Out" event on a closed down Cookman avenue. The event had surpassed either of our expectations because it morphed into a larger creative event. Folks stopped and wrote, chatted, and bonded over their shared experience but we were also joined by street artists who began chalking out large murals on the street all around us. As we transition into a colder season full of unknowns I feel that it's important we continue to stoke that creative fire any way we can. I imagined the public typewriter project as a scaled-down covid compliant form of the traditional type in the event.
Still, yearning for more typewriter stuff? Check this out:
So, The Typewriter Project is underway!
I can tell you that the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. If you know what that means, this typewriter project-thing might be right up your alley.
I will say that none of this story was typed on a typewriter.
The reason, I didn't know how to change the ribbon.
SOURCE: Iron Fox Typewriters.
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