There are two more typewriter talks by Bryan Kravitz at the Free Library. Here are the topics and dates.

The Typewriter Revolution of Today
Wed, July 19, 2023 5:30 p.m.

Philly Typewriter: The Age of Restoration & Preservation
Wed, August 16, 2023 5:30 p.m.

Location:
Parkway Central Library
1901 Vine Street 
Classroom at the back entrance of the Library on Wood Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Here is write up of the tour to Philly Typewriter taken by members of the Oliver Evans Chapter. It appears in the Spring 2023 (Vol. 52 No. 2) issue of the Society for Industrial Archeology newsletter.

On East Passyunk Ave. in South Philadelphia, a street lined with shops and restaurants, Philly Typewriter makes its home. Oliver Evans chapter members visited on March 11, 2023. A talk and tour of the premises was given by the owner, Bryan Kravitz, who has established a workshop with machines and tools for restoring typewriters and sharing his passion for them with others. Bryan said, “Come visit our 2,000-sq.-ft. location in South Philadelphia and see our workshop, meet our apprentices learning the trade, sign-up for a repair class or take in our exhibits and writers’ lounge.” While Bryan spoke to the group, a small tv played an endless loop that documented various aspects of typewriter machinery and culture and highlighted typewriters in movies and tv shows. One clip featured Ruby Keeler and a partner tap dancing on the keys of a giant typewriter. On the walls of the shop are framed newspaper articles showing press coverage of Tom Hanks speaking in Philadelphia on his book Uncommon Type: Some Stories. Hanks is an avid typewriter collector and in an Inquirer article he called Philly Typewriter “a national resource.” The shop holds more than 1,300 typewriters, many used for parts. It features several workstations with specialized tools for repairing all models of typewriters. Bryan explained that an IBM Selectric has more than 2,800 parts and many now have to be specially made because they are no longer available. In the fall of 2022, Bryan was tapped by the Literature Department at Philadelphia’s Parkway Central Library to present an 8-part series entitled “The Typewriter in the Workplace.” Bryan is so committed to preserving a connection to these machines that he recently established the Philadelphia Public Typewriter Program. The goal of the program is to place vintage, rare, and fully working typewriters in hundreds of locations in the Philadelphia area. Bryan hopes it will be a means for people of all generations and diverse communities to connect with typewriters and the non-digital, elegant world they represent.