A guest post by Typewriter Poet, Molly Ovenden
Totally Typewriters, Ilkley, Yorkshire
I’d already planned to attend the Totally Typewriters event when our very own Michelle Geffken of Paper Blogging, who gave me my Smith-Corona Galaxie in Hunter Red, asked me to cover the event.
I was delighted to do so.
Wandering through Ilkley on Saturday, 11 October, I crunched rust-coloured leaves. Bright sunshine pierced yellowing autumnal Yorkshire. I felt immersed in You’ve Got Mail (1998), in which Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) and Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) exchange emails, one about autumn.
To shopgirl, ny152 says, “Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.”
This giddiness paralleled my own as I approached the Clark Foley Community Hub.
You can imagine my surprise when I was greeted by a life-size cardboard cut out of Joe Fox, rather, Tom Hanks.
Tom Hanks
In 2021, Totally Typewriters organiser, Lesley Ayres, sent a typewritten letter to Tom Hanks, typewriter collector and aficionado. Expressing her desire to host an event where people could try various typewriters, Lesley conveyed excitement about the actor’s own typewriter affection. Tom Hanks surprised Lesley by replying with his own typewritten letter, typed using green ribbon.
As a result of his encouragement, for four years running, this event has drawn attention from typewriter fanatics, collectors, and general lovers of old things.
Lesley posed with her prized possession, Tom Hanks’ letter. “He is the reason Totally Typewriters happens,” she said.
Here is the letter from Tom Hanks to Lesley. It may not surprise you that she has it displayed in a golden gilded frame.
All the Typewriters
“I blame my husband Mark,” she said.
According to Lesley, it’s all her husband’s fault that they have such an extensive collection. It began with an Empire Aristocrat. Then, Mark bought a couple more he found online. “Once they were in the house,” Lesley said, “I caught his enthusiasm and the collection took off.”
Inside the community hall, the sounds, sights, smells, textures (and if you have synesthesia, the taste of history) envelopes you in a cosy, educational nostalgia.
Typewriter brand names, such as Imperial, Bijou, Smith-Corona, AMC, Seidel and Naumann, Brother, Olympia, Schneidegger, Daro, Erika, and Hermes caught my eye. I was delighted to see my first typewriter, a Smith-Corona Classic 12 in blue, on display.
But the most magical of sensory observations was the sound of dozens of people pecking the keys of ancient machines. Some of the machines were fifty years old, and many older than that were on display—too fragile to be used by the droves of typewriter lovers. Myriad clunks, clicks, taps, and dings echoed with smiles in the community hall.
With so many shapes, colours, and sizes of typewriters, it was a deliciously dangerous place to be for an accidental typewriter collector—I only have two so far; both were gifts. But…I’m in the market for a lightweight model, and it’s all very exciting. I mean, just look at them! It’s like nerdy grown-up candy for the practical-minded who love the beauty of mechanics that last with a touch a nostalgia.
One visitor grabbed a fresh sheet of paper and a quote card from the inspiration basket for me to type while trying out a machine. She and her sister told me about their parents’ green Imperial Good Companion.
The visitor admitted her favourite so far was the AMC because “it was more bouncy and springy,” she said, but there were still many others she was keen to try, each appealing with their variety of typefaces and mechanical aesthetics.
Not only could attendees try each of the typewriters, but they could also learn about them.
Organisers set up a trivia scavenger hunt for a chance to win a typewriter. Information boards and stands told about specific models and historical facts about the social and industrial developments of the typewriter machine. There were even books written with the dawn of typewriters that had proper form templates to fill in the blanks for letter writing and etiquette. One example I found was a template to respond to a daughter’s birthday party from a lady’s etiquette book of letter writing.
Short & Few
With a typewriter, Short & Few’s owner, Zöe encourages the curious to embrace restrictions, study a typewriter’s capabilities, and push the limits. Her shop displayed colourful envelopes and thread to sew typewritten books.
Most attendees were interested in writerly aspects of typewriters. Graphic designer and typographist vendor Zöe of Short & Few brought a different perspective. Her love for typewriters comes from “the architecture of letter forms: the shape, the space, the relationship of letters,” she said.
For her, they emulate printmaking’s immediacy, creating imagery and textures for surface pattern design. As a tool for artmaking, certain restrictions with something mechanical can be beneficial.
“OuLiPo is a literary technique,” Zöe told me, that “emphasizes systematic, self-restricting means of making texts.” She explained that “the more constraints you impose, the more you free yourself.”
A typewriter is made for writing, but “Does it have to stop there?” Zöe wondered. With examples of her own typewriter-created surface pattern designs, we think not.
Repair and Braille
Also featured were typewriter repair tools and typewriters for Braille.
How fascinating that this machine could open up such a variety of communication for so many people.
Typewriter Poetry
As a typewriter poet, I was excited at the chance to have someone write me a poem. Unfortunately, the scheduled typewriter poet cancelled.
One of Lesley’s highlights, however, she told me after the event, was “the serendipitous moment a lady arrived who happened to be a typewriter poet.”
Privileged to be that lady, I wrote a poem each for twelve attendees that ranged from friendships turned to marriage, fencing, Taylor Swift, fox children, aunt-niece affection, a husband’s hobbies, bright colours, poetry, typewriters, grandparenting, being a secretary, and the artist’s journey. This variety of topics kept me on my typewriter poet toes.
Nigel Dalsh, resident of Ilkley and one of the recipients of a poem I wrote, came in search of a typewriter with a Cyrillic alphabet. The subject of his poem was clear once he shared this. Hoping his unique request might reinvigorate his love of Russian literature, history, and language learning upon retirement, he was thrilled to find such a typewriter on display.
Everything about the event proved enjoyable for him. “What’s amazed me and delighted me,” Nigel said, “is to see the kids engage in a whole new world. Transferring those digital skills to manual … I didn’t expect for kids to be so into it.”
Lesley said children’s reactions were a highlight for her, too, “seeing kids sitting down and typing for the first time, then carrying on for ages - engrossed (and away from a screen!)”
David Trapps of Qwerty Zone
David Trapps of QWERTY ZONE repairs typewriters, both to sell and in service to others. He posed by his typewriters for sale.
It’s “my ideal job,” David said.
When he took pleasure in disassembling all kinds of things, his uncle, a typewriter repair shop owner, gave David a chance at fixing typewriters. Once, David’s uncle left his 14-year-old nephew in charge of the shop while away on holiday/vacation. David remembered being told to “take these apart [and] put all these parts in these drawers.” That transformed into a love affair of fixing things, especially typewriters.
In 1977, David got to repair a typewriter for the first time: an Olympia SGE40 with an electrical fault.
While he had a large typewriter collection of his own, he sold them because he’s always loved most “the buzz of fixing things.” Accompanied by the challenge of fixing typewriters, David continued in the work because, he said, “I didn’t want to be in a factory watching the clock.”
David’s Top Tips for Typewriter Care:
“Don’t oil it,” he said, “it’s a killer for them really.” Oil collects dust and other muck. This grime spreads more problems throughout the machine. “Keep it simple,” he said with a laugh. Some people get over-zealous at trying to repair their own machines and take every single part off, when it’s not as complicated as they might think.
And, when in doubt, call David Trapps, your friendly typewriter repair guy.
Heidi Barker was a vendor who collects typewriters to resell on eBay. Some are particularly suitable for Harry Potter fans. She also told me she’s been known to acquire portable machines solely based on the beauty of their leather carry cases.
Not Just a Load of Old Machines
Many people shared stories with me of how typewriters changed their lives.
One woman remembered learning touch typing with a metal shield covering her fingers on the keys. She shared about lining up her hands from the outside of the machine with her pinkies and practicing to type by feel.
Another woman told me how revolutionary the typewriter was for her to become a secretary. This skill proved useful throughout her life.
Here’s a diagram for learning touch typing.
“You may think it’s just a load of old machines, but it’s much more,” organiser Lesley said.
She loved hosting this event, hoping it surprised and delighted people, moving them to “appreciate analogue stuff in a digital world.”
The constant flow of visitors was proof that this space was curated for appreciation.
Organiser, Lesley Ayres, lover of old things, posed, holding the poem I wrote for her.
Now that this year’s event is over, I can’t help but wonder more about You’ve Got Mail.
What might “ny152” mean to Joe Fox and Lesley Ayers? Perhaps it’s 152 typewriters in a growing collection. We will never know, but, as Tom Hanks encouraged Lesley, “Yes, set up your machines for that Type-In and watch everyone break out into smiles.”
She’s done just that. Thanks, Tom and Lesley. And, “thank yer, everyone” (last You’ve Got Mail reference).
I do think Mr. Hanks and all the creators of these typewriters over the last century would be proud, indeed.
Totally Typewriters 2026
Mark your calendars for the fifth and final year of the Totally Typewriters event, mid-October 2026, in Ilkley, England. Follow @totallytypewriters for the most up-to-date information.
Until then, happy typing—and may you break out into a smile.
““Yes, set up your machines for that Type-In and watch everyone break out into smiles.””
Thanks, Molly, for this vivid report. I feel like I took a trip to Yorkshire and was there with you. And thanks to Lesley Ayres for permission to use the header photo and for organizing such a glorious event!
And the story of how I came to give Molly one of her two typewriters
This week, I bought the next giveaway typewriter for the annual Paper Blogging Typewriter Giveaway! Subscribe to the free monthly newsletter if you’re interested in a chance to enter.
Poems for My People, volumes 1-5, by Molly Ovenden