About Ben

My interest in typewriters began on April 2, 2020. With little to do on a Saturday during the early days of the pandemic, I decided to clean up a Royal typewriter that I had inherited from my grandmother. Naturally, I turned to YouTube to find a video about cleaning and using a typewriter. To my surprise, I discovered a vibrant community of typewriter enthusiasts. A few years later, I am still fascinated by typewriters and the never-ending quest for the most interesting and elusive machines.

When I'm not tinkering with typewriters, I enjoy cheering for the Kentucky Wildcats and spending time with my wife, family, and friends. Professionally, I'm an attorney for a credit union in Denver. I'm originally from the Bluegrass State and a proud alum of the University of Kentucky.

About the Collection

My collection includes about 100 typewriters plus ephemera, books, tools, and accessories. Within my collection, I have subcollections based on 1) type styles, 2) early American-made folding typewriters, 3) other portable typewriters, and 4) field typewriters used during World War II.

Initially my focus was on building a collection of typewriters featuring an array of type styles (also known as typefaces). My collection includes type styles such as Vogue, Simplicitas, Art Gothic, Numode, Magnatype, Sight Saver, Congress, Double Gothic, Italic, Techno, Canterbury, Bodoni, Script, Medium Roman Script, Vertical Script, and more.

After tracking down many type styles, I began assembling a collection of early American-made folding typewriters. As far as I know, this is the world's most complete set of early Standard Folding, Corona, and Fox Portable typewriters. As of 2023, some highlights of this subcollection include:

1907 Standard Folding No. 1 (SN 634, OHA & Peter Weil)
1908 Standard Folding No. 1 (SN 978, OHA & Peter Weil)
1910 Albus (SN 253, French keys)
1910 Standard Folding No. 1 (SN 5414, extended paper table)
1910 Standard Folding No. 2 (SN 5764)
1910 Standard Folding No. 2 (SN 8424)
1912 Piccola (SN 21841)
1912 Corona 3 (SN 22954, pivot bar)
1914 Corona 3 (SN —, bearing bar)
1915 Corona 3 (SN 52901, transitional decal)
1918 Fox Portable No. 1
1919 Corona 3 (SN 219776, italic typeface)
1920 Corona 3 (SN 279344, L-shaped folding arms)
1920 Fox Portable No. 2
1921 Fox Portable No. 3 (Sterling)
1922 Corona 3 (SN 461384, double gothic typeface)
1922 Corona 3 (SN 468888, apothecary keyboard)
Accessories: Corona Tripod, Label Holder, Rest Keys (x3)

I've also assembled a collection of other early portables. My collection includes early Blickensderfers, a Postal, Chicagos (No. 1 and No. 3), a Munson No. 3, a Hammond, a Gourland, a Roberts Ninety, a Victor Portable, and early Underwoods and Remingtons.

I have also built a subcollection of about a dozen typewriters used by the armed forces during World War II. I have U.S. Navy and U.S. Army-branded typewriters from all four major American manufacturers, a British telegraph typewriter, and typewriters used by the Axis powers.

Beyond these four subcollections, I also have a variety of other interesting typewriters, including a very rare Duplex No. 1, a Corona Musician Model, and a first-generation Hermes 3000 autographed by Tom Hanks.