In the age of autocorrect, this typewriter shop owner in Hamilton wants you to write with intention

Jonathan Marshall says the goal of his new typewriter repair shop is to get people thinking more intentionally about the words they use.

Typewriters, he says, are one of the best mechanisms with which to do that.

“Using a modern word processor, my writing is a bit sloppy because I’m able to make mistakes,” Marshall said, but when he writes using a typewriter knowing a mistake could mean restarting, it focuses his mind. 

“When you really have to put yourself into the work, you start writing differently,” Marshall told CBC Hamilton. 

On March 28, he officially opened the Hamilton Typewriter Company within The Cotton Factory — an arts, events and office space in the city’s industrial sector. In addition to being a repair shop, the business is also a museum of sorts, with an open-door policy on Fridays, and availability by appointment the rest of the week.

Diverse community of collectors

“Typewriters for the longest time have been sort of relegated to attics, basements, crawl spaces, and thrift shops. What I wanted to do is give them a place where people could come in and interact with them,” said Marshall, who goes by Jonny Types professionally.

Over 200 people came to the shop’s opening, Marshall said and, as of late last week, he already had over 30 appointments scheduled. He said he’s heard from people across the country and as far away as the Northwest Territories. 

“I was very surprised in just how many people in Hamilton alone collect typewriters,” Marshall said, noting he scours resale websites and thrift stores in Hamilton, Niagara, Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph and the Greater Toronto Area, finding at least a dozen new machines on the market each month. 

People of all ages and genders love typewriters, Marshall said, noting he’s had fun introducing children to the machines at Hamilton’s regular Art Crawl events.  

The 31-year-old says he got into typewriters about 10 years ago on a maritime road trip when he purchased a Remington 17 typewriter at a thrift store. Realizing it was broken, Marshall took it apart and put it back together. 

“It was like my whole future opened up to me,” he said. 

Now he has 50 typewriters, including Corona, Olivetti, Brother and Royal Arrow models. His oldest is a 1920 Remington model. 

Some of Marshall’s collection is for sale and some pieces will remain in the museum, but he says the goal is for everything to be in working order. 

With technologies such as artificial intelligence changing faster than many can keep track, “people are looking for something a bit more vintage, nostalgic or traditional,” Marshall said.

In January, Rachel Spence — who runs a similar business to Marshall in Queens County, N.S., told CBC News that for many people, writing without AI, autocomplete or the opportunity to easily correct mistakes allows them to be more creative.

“I think that even for kids, it’s actually really a good skill for them to learn, which is that making mistakes is OK,” she said at the time.

Marshall also enjoys how it feels to use typewriters, adding they “are an absolute dream to write on,” with keys that feel “like butter.”

Keep machines free of moisture

Marshall uses typewriters to write letter mail to friends as well as holiday and birthday cards and catalogue tags. 

For new people interested in typewriters, Marshall recommends researching different models online, finding one you like the look of and trying it out.  

And if you buy a model and want to care for it, he recommends regular dusting and keeping it free of moisture. 

“Just use it,” he said, adding the machines were designed for frequent use. “My ultimate goal is just to have these machines re-enter our daily life and routines.”