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Typewriters through the years: from tools to inspiration

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This week, Knopf announced it will publish a short story collection by Tom Hanks. It came as a surprise: The Oscar-winning actor has published just one short story, and hasn’t been known -- at least, not yet -- for writing fiction.

In a release about his upcoming collection, Hanks explained that he was inspired to write the stories by his typewriter collection.

“I’ve been collecting typewriters for no particular reason since 1978 -- both manual and portable machines dating from the ‘30s to the ‘90s, “ he said. “The stories are not about the typewriters themselves, but rather, the stories are something that might have been written on one of them.”

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So typewriters have come full circle. Once they were tools that writers worked on -- such an improvement over writing by hand! Then they were displaced by home computers and printers, eventually becoming such an obsolete tool that they gathered dust in garages, went unloved at yard sales.

Then the almost-forgotten machines made a comeback. Not as a tool so much but as a collectible -- an art object, a valuable item, particularly if it was owned and used by someone interesting. No longer a tool, they’re now to be dusted and admired -- and serve as Tom Hanks’ muse.

Take a look at some typewriters throughout history and their owners at work in the photo gallery above.

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Twitter: @paperhaus

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