Want a Safe Investment? Typewriters.

Yes, it may sound odd, but the now now collectible mechanical typewriter machine is a good investment. Why is it you may ask? If you have not already heard, the last mechanical typewriter manufacturer, Gorej and Boyce closed the doors of the solitary remaining factory in Mumbai, India still producing the first writing machine. Electric typewriters will still be manufactured, but the classic mechanical typewriter is no more. It's the end of an age, leaving us only electric machines as an alternative to the pen and paper. They will soon no longer be for sale, but will actually become collectibles much like rotary phones and vinyl records. If you have one, hold onto it. If you don't have one, consider becoming a proud owner of one soon. Obviously, the older (and more pristine) the model, the better.

It's always odd to me to see a common household or workplace item turn into a sought after antique and something that will soon be in a museum. It's hard to imagine that one day floppy discs, VCR's and full-size TVs (and rabbit ears antennas) will be worth much more than the junk it is considered now. My advice to grab onto some of these things or older things and hold onto them just for the nostalgia. Possibly, later down the road, they could yield a pretty penny or just be something of value to pass onto the next generation.

I'm a collector myself, and a lover of all things vintage. My area of hoarding is newspapers. I have a collection spanning from a 1645 London newspaper of current events from Vatican city to the 61st home run of Roger Maris. Not only are these things just cool to have, but they're also worth some cash that I can get now or 20 years from now. Either way, they're a solid investment, because they will only appreciate in value.

So, as typewriters have just joined the list of the items officially of yesteryear, they will soon be a rarity. Get one within the next few years to preserve a piece of history and have an investment that is sure to mature for you or your kids or grandchildren.

On This Day in Typewriter History (XVII)

In the Smith-Corona 50th anniversary publication of 1953, the story is told that “Wilbert [Lewis] Smith, who ran the [small shot guns factory in Syracuse], engaged Alexander T. Brown who had been recommended as a person of considerable inventive talent. And it so happened that Alexander T. Brown not only improved the Smiths’ gun, he also interested the brothers in an entirely new venture. “In 1876, at the Centennial Exposition [the first official World’s Fair in the US, held in Philadelphia] Brown had seen a single case typewriter [the Sholes and Glidden] and was convinced that he could design a better one. So great were his convictions that Wilbur L. Smith became interested and personally financed the building of a working model of Brown’s machine … the Smiths liked Brown’s typewriter and decided to put it into production at the gun works.” Today, interestingly enough, Brown and Stillman are best known for their invention of the pneumatic tire for vehicles , patented on December 20, 1892. Production of this tire started at the Hartford [Connecticut] Rubber Works in 1895 and in July that year Charles Duryea used the Brown-Stillman tires on his “Motorised Wagon” (above) to win the $5000 first prize in the 54-mile The Chicago Times-Herald Alexander Timothy Brown was born in Scott, New York, on November 21, 1854. Credited with more than 100 inventions, he was at various times president of the Smith Premier Typewriter Co, the Brown-Lipe Gear Co and the H.H. Franklin Manufacturing Co, and a stockholder in the Syracuse Aluminium and Bronze Co, the Globe Malleable Iron Works and the Pneumelectric Co, a director of the Third National Bank, the Journal Printing and Publishing Co and a trustee of Syracuse University; he was a life member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and of the National Geographic Society, and a member of the Transportation Club of New York City and the Automobile Club of Syracuse. On this day in 1946 , the Basketball Association of America was formed in New York City. The BAA merged with the National Basketball League in 1949, forming the National Basketball Association . Six teams from the BAA are still active in the NBA. Quiet why Gilbert Jay Arenas Jr of the Orlando Magic posed with a Royal typewriter I don’t know, but it’s a nice image anyway. series.