To the Thrift Store Junkies. . .

[autowasherfreak]

If you ever come across any of the following items, and the price is not too high could you please purchase them for me. I would like to have them in my collection of IBM Typewriters.

IBM Composer any variation (Check the link for more information)
IBM Mag Card Selectric Typewriter
IBM Mag Tape Selectric Typewriter

Even though this isn't a typewriter, I still want one a complete IBM Displaywriter word processing system--keyboard, CPU, monitor, and 8" floppy disk drive unit. Here's a picture of the IBM Displaywriter. I'm getting 50lb box of software and manuals for the Displaywriter from a very nice lady in Florida, just need the system to go with it.

ibmcomposer.org

This domain may be for sale!

ibmcomposer.org

 

[danemodsandy]

IBM Mag Tape Selectric:

You just made shudders run up and down my spine!

Many years ago (around 1981), I had to use one of those things regularly for work. Crankiest, most temperamental piece of machinery I've ever been around - and you're talking to someone who once owned an Eagle Premier.

I never knew if it was the nature of the beast, or if we just had a bad one. I was working for people who would sell their grandmothers before they'd spend money on repairs or maintenance.

 

[reversajet]

Slave to the Grind

I too operated the MT/SC system in the early '70s for about 5 years, until phototype slowly pushed IBM out of the market. Word processing was white-hot then, columns of help-wanted, name your hourly rate, quit a job and start anew the same day! Plenty of easy work for part timers, freelance, night shift. As I remember the actual "furniture" I worked on was leased and went back to IBM, maintenance was prompt and under warranty. Biggest problem was "record" heads and tape errors. Later, I began to see the stand-alone Composers left abused and uncovered in corners of print shops. I'd venture to say no-one could have afforded one for home use, but I did once see the most gi-normous Selectric memory typewriter in an antique mall... it must have been 3-foot wide, for $75. I'd be happy to connect you to something but the east coast has pretty much made everything IBM into landfill by now. Will advise!

 

[autowasherfreak]

I saw a Mag Card Selectric and a Composer on eBay about two years ago, but the bidding war on the was unbelievable. I didn't stand a snowballs chance in hell at getting them. But I think it would be fun to have one especially if it works.

Did the typewriter you saw at the mall look anything like this one?

 

[whirlcool]

I have an uncle who used to be a lawyer before he retired and he had two of those displaywriters in his office. He had all the legal form templates loaded in them. It had the huge 8" floppies too. I know they were very expensive, but at the time he said he couldn't find anything else that could handle forms the way this machine could. It was connected to an IBM Daisywheel printer.
I always thought of these machines as a predecessor to the original IBM PC.

 

[cadman]

Strange...

Jim, I have the Mag tape model in your photo, only in black. Complete with operators manual and upgrade that doubled the page memory. Sorry, no sale! ; )

At a time when the internet and PC's were pretty common place, I got a kick out of using it to draft reports and such for high school. I never had a lick of trouble with it aside from a sluggish carrier.

Now the strange part of this thread is that just this morning, before I came here, I was researching terminal-type Selectrics and Flexowriters (I have 2, both now kaput) and thinking about casting a net out for such beasts!

That Display Writer is something else-
Cory

 

[joelippard]

I saw one of these

on ebay recently. I've got a blue Selectric II Correcting and I absolutely love it!

If anyone here is interested I also have an Electronic 85 that needs what I think are some minor repairs. I wouldn't mind selling it, though I'll bet shipping is high due to it's weight.

 

[ironrite]

Worked on One

Back in 1978, got a job at the Federal Reserve San Francisco. Met a guy there that was both a temp and a word processor. I asked what the heck was that. He was making $12.00 an hour compared to my $6.00 and then showed me the Displaywriter. It took a couple of years after that when I trained at Manpower to run the Displaywriter, Xerox 850/860 and Wang. The Xerox was a nightmare. A forerunner to the Macintosh it used a touch type mouse pad and I recall this "Domino" on the screen that held all your formating. The Displaywriter was more intuitive to use. I finally landed a job running a Wang System 5 at a small computuer company. They had two of them. Cost? They claimed $25K each. But they were looking at these new things called P/Cs.

Now one of my older sisters was a production typist in the early 60s. She could run Justowriters, Flexowriters, Varitypers and the IBM Composer. She started her own business and as a kid I was fascinated by these machines. She taught me how to run an IBM Executive, with the unit spacing. I was the only one in our business machines class that got an A on that machine. Surprised the heck out of my teacher! Would love to find an old IBM B model Executive someday.

 

[petek]

Cory, do you have a Flexowriter? Can you post a pic. I used to use one way back in the 70's for creating lumber orders and invoices at my 2nd job MacBlo before Crown Zellerbach bought them out. They were quite interesting in that you could use continuous folding punch cards you kept in a special flexowriter hanging file beside the machine for easy access and some of the machines would use a paper punch tape drive (like a telex tape) that was about the size of a tall dehumidifier with two large tape reels and a large connector cable. The paper tape could also be routed thru the puch card reader as well iirc.
So long ago yet I could probably sit right down now at one and still work it LOL

 

[autowasherfreak]

I wouldn't mind having a Model A, B, and C Executive to go along with my D Executive. I saw a Model C Executive in red on eBay once, placed one bid, and that was it, I think the winning bid was around $300.00.

Cory, I would love to see the Mag tape in operation sometime. A friend of mine from the typewriter group in New York has a Mag Card Selectric and either a Memory 50 or 100 can't remember. The Selectric part of the Mag Card works good, but the Mag Card unit has problems. He loves the Memory 50/100, and would rather use it than his Wheelwriter 15.

 

[cadman]

I dug through my archives and came up empty, alas, on a shot of the Friden. I have two, both rescued from a const. co undergoing demolition a few years back. At that time I was able to coax the one into punching some tape for me but, both having lead tough lives, need some work.

I tell you what, when I finally host a wash-in I'll be sure to have all the typewriters dug out of storage : ) You can also see the mint Executive ordered up by our local school system for my grandpa back when he taught. He lost his left arm in the war so it was supplied from IBM with a right-handed keyboard arrangement. Very interesting. - Cory

 

[autowasherfreak]

Well, hurry the hell up Cory, LOL.

 

[westie2]

Friden Flexowriter

I remember those well. My first job out of college programming was for GSI part of Texas Instruments. We had the flexowritere for programs and the tape with holes in it was ready into the computers. The dtata tape was a black paper tape and the program tapes were from a blue mylar tape.

We had about 20 flexo operators all in a padded room to keep noise down.