'They say it's old school'

MILTON — Raymond Johns owns two pieces of technology that many millennials may never have seen.

They can put words on paper without the aid of electricity. They are Underwood typewriters.

One he’s had for 15 years, he said, and the other he received as a gift.

"I got it about two days ago from two older ladies," Johns said. "They were trying to sell it to a local pawn shop that didn’t accept it."

Johns was nearby when the women tried — unsuccessfully — to pawn the antique tool. After he bought a few pieces of art from them, they added the typewriter at no cost.

"I tried to introduce my children to them [typewriters]," Johns said, "[but] the kids haven’t used the typewriter. "They say it’s old school, but look at how old people used basic things to be successful."

In the 1980s, typewriters could cost as much as $800. Now, the once highly-sought-after office fixtures have all but disappeared, although some businesses still use them to simultaneously produce multiple copies, especially for legal documents.

According to Johns, both of his typewriters still work.

"I still have the ink ribbon," he said. "They’re still intact."

The tools remind Johns of learning how to type in the 1970s. Typing on typewriters was much different from today's typing classes that use computer keyboards.

"When you got home, you had sore fingertips," he said.

At the time, Johns said he was learning how to play bass guitar — which proved particularly challenging after typing.

"It made it hard with my fingertips sore," he said. "I remember it made (them) sore from pecking more than strumming."

Although word processors and computers have supplanted typewriters in most homes and offices, Johns said he still finds the machines useful.

Johns said he uses a typewriter to type letters — and a children’s book he started.

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: 'They say it's old school'