Page 148 - The Hunt - Spring 2022
P. 148
VINTAGE
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. The sentence contains all 26 letters of the alphabet and, as such, was a standard speed test for young typists. As a forgettable exercise in nostalgia, try keyboarding that same sentence on a laptop—so it’s no surprise that a growing number of analog-obsessed younger adults are composing term papers, love letters and even novels on vintage typewriters.
For older generations in business, government, academia and the arts, a typewriter was a constant companion. John
Quintus was introduced to typing in 1959. “I took a typing class in ninth grade,” says the retired Foreign Service officer and adjunct faculty member at the University of Delaware. “It was, in many ways, the most important class I took in my secondary education. I memorized that keyboard just as assiduously as I’d memorized the multiplication tables in elementary school. I was fast and accurate.”
Quintus started with an Underwood, a popular brand in the day, graduating to a Smith Corona portable in college. “May the Lord always bless Smith-Corona,” he
146 THE HUNT MAGAZINE spring 2022
By RogeR MoRRis
Reverting to Type
The clatter of typewriter keys lures old and young alike.
