On a cool July evening, Trevor Brumfield is working on some old typewriters in his shop in an old industrial building on Linden Avenue.
TB Writers Plus is one of 14 shops in Ohio that repair and sell typewriters – and the only one in Dayton.
This unusual machine from the past is inspiring a new generation to slow down. The owners told WYSO they’re seeing increasing demand, especially from young people looking for an offline hobby.
“I think the older style of things is becoming cool,” said Trevor Brumfield, the store’s owner. “Vinyl, for example, is coming back, and a lot of things like refrigerators and microwaves have a retro design.”
Brumfield works as an auto mechanic. He became interested in typewriters in 2021 when he repaired an old machine. Two years later, Brumfield and his wife opened WHO TB Writers Plus, where they repair and sell cameras and typewriters.
Dusty shelves hold some of the most famous brands, including American Remingtons, Swiss Hermes and Italian Olivettis. A restored machine costs between $150 and $400.
For Mitchell Farley, one of Brumfield’s clients, the typewriter is both a therapeutic and creative outlet. He bought one at a garage sale in 2017 and has never looked back.
“I took it home and quickly realized how much fun it was to work with,” said Farley. He now uses his Hermes 3000 to keep a journal and write stories.
Farley is one of thousands of people who use typewriters as a hobby. Several typewriter groups have sprung up online, including a Facebook group for antique collectors with nearly 40,000 members.
Richard Polt, a professor of philosophy and typewriter collector, said hobbyists like Farley are part of a small but growing group of millennials in the U.S. and around the world who are interested in typewriters for a variety of reasons, including privacy concerns.
“Anything you can do where it’s just you and your activity, and maybe a machine like a typewriter that’s just for that and not connected to anything, anything like that is helpful,” Polt said.
He also believes that using the typewriter allows people to slow down their thought process, unlike new technologies like ChatGPT.
“Computers simply don’t have a process because they basically don’t have time. They just spit out a result,” Polt said. “When we obsess about the result instead of the process, we forget our humanity, and typewriters can help us remember that process.“.
Back at the shop, Brumfield is assembling a machine for a customer who will use it to write checks. Typewriters still have their place in law offices and government offices, where they are used to fill out forms. Even though business is sometimes slow, Brumfield says the demand is always there.
He enjoys repairing old machines, which are often over 100 years old.
“I like to imagine what this thing has been through,” he said, tinkering with a 19th-century Remington typewriter. “They’re all unique and interesting in their own way.”
