Ancient and Modern

Was lying in bed last night wondering what I might blip today (do other blippers do this?) - and decided that the sea had had its fair share, so today it is A & M.

The wonderful old portable typewriter, a Smith & Corona, was given to me by a friend. It had belonged to his father, and as he knew I had been a typist all my life, he wondered if I would like it, so it's now mine! I had lent it to another friend, who is an artist, and she was delighted to see such an old typewriter and to be able to draw it from the real thing!

Got me thinking about when I first learned to type - on something not quite as old - but an ancient Remington. I thought of my teacher, the gentle Miss Jerram, who used to wander around the room, watching us type, to make sure we didn't look at the keys - and to get the rhythym right we used to type to The William Tell Overture!

Back then, in the early 1960s, when we typed a tabulated piece, we had to outline it in red ink - not a biro but using proper ink, which nearly always smudged - and then marks were deducted. Mind you, it all stood me in good stead, as I can still type faster than my boys (it used to be 130 wpm but not sure it is that fast now) - about the only thing I can do faster than them on a computer!

Then I thought of Miss Church - she was certainly not gentle, but she was fair - and she taught us shorthand - Pitman's, my dear! I could write shorthand at 100 wpm but unlike being dictated to in the workplace, where people tended to stop and think, she just ploughed on and we HAD to keep up with her. I didn't like her much at college, I thought she was too strict, but when I visited her after I was married, collecting for Christian Aid, she was rather a sweetie - or perhaps I had grown up - 16 year old girls can't be easy!

And then there was Mr. Moon, who taught us bookkeeping - a class of 16 year old girls with a young man as their teacher must have been very interesting and I know we didn't make life easy for him!

I left college with good qualifications and got my first job in Lloyds Bank - I never wanted to be "on the counter" but was keen to try out my secretarial skills. I was proud of the fact that at 17 years of age, when his much older secretary was away, I was asked to take dictation from the Manager, Mr. Plimsoll, and in those days, if he told you to jump, you jumped first and asked questions afterwards! He was a lovely man, and could actually write Pitmans shorthand himself, so I could always ask him if I got stuck, and he was always very helpful.

So more reminiscences and all because I have acquired an old, portable typewriter. You might like to know that when I took it to church sometime ago, when we were asked to bring something that reminded us of our working life, the children asked "Where's the screen?" How times change - and not always for the better - I can never remember having RSI when I was using a manual typewriter!

Off to the Salvation Army this morning - so expecting to have a good sing and listen to some stirring band music. Happy Sunday to all my fellow blippers.