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Video: An Inside Look At New York City's Oldest Typewriter Shop
By
Scott Heins
Published Feb 16, 2016
Modified Feb 17, 2016
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By
Scott Heins
Published Feb 16, 2016
Modified Feb 17, 2016
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Gramercy Typewriter Company has been open for business since 1932, and its owners have no plans of ever calling it quits. In a new video feature, Paul Schweitzer draws the curtain back for a look behind the counter as he cleans, repairs, and inventories an array of typewriters. It's a soothing, ink-stained experience.
In an interview from 2012, Schweitzer described how he got his start doing house calls in the 1930s—back then, he and his father would visit businesses and clean company typewriters onsite. Things have changed as typewriters have vanished from office desks and libraries, and today they most often appear as hipster homeware decorations. Still, Schweitzer promises that his niche shop still does brisk business. "It never stopped, all these years," he says in the clip. We also meet the shopkeeper's son (and lead salesman) Justin, who is all too eager to show off a rack of vintage Smith Coronas, Remington, and Underwood machines.
"I think there comes a time for every business, but we're going to keep going," the younger Schweitzer boasts over footage of him and his father debating proper the details of typewriter repair. "You see my dad, he's working every day, and he has no plans on retiring because he enjoys what he does. I feel the exact same way. We like what we do." [via Huck Magazine]
Video directed by Alden Nusser
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Gramercy Typewriter Company
typewriter
Typewriters
Scott Heins
Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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