A typewriter ribbon is a strip of cloth that is bathed in ink. When you strike a key on a typewriter, the ribbon is pressed upon the paper and the letter is stamped onto the surface of the paper. Now, typewriter ribbons have changed a lot since their original inception in 1870. They no longer come in beautiful tins and are made out of slightly different materials. In the old days, typewriter ribbons would come on spools. Now they are cartridges. A little too modern for my tastes, but change happens.
Are Typewriter Ribbons Expensive?
Not at all! Most typewriter ribbons go for $4 of $5 dollars and are one of the cheapest things to replace on a typewriter. You can find most of them for even less if you shop around online. There are also several tips and tricks for making typewriter ribbons last longer which are explained below.
Tricks for Typewriter Ribbons
- Try a spray of WD-40 onto a fully wound and dry ribbon. Leave it to soak in for an hour, and then reinsert. It comes out behaving as if you just bought it
- If you can't find an old spool type ribbon just buy any spooled ribbon and rewind it manually into your present spool. Fingers get messy as hell and it's also a time consuming but at least you don't have to throw away the old typewriter that you love so much!
- To renew an old ribbon, roll the ribbon on a spool and apply a small amount of glycerin with a fountain-pen filler. Roll up very tightly and lay aside for a week or so. Careful! If you apply too much you will get a very sticky typewriter ribbon.
Typewriter Tin Collecting
There is a hobby of sorts that is growing amongst typewriter aficionados: Typewriter Ribbon Tin collecting. You see, ribbons used to come in little tins that were quite decorative. After the 1960's manufacturers stopped packaging them like this, making some of these tins very valuable to collectors! If you want to start collecting try looking in your local antique shops and on Ebay.
That's all for today! Please check back often for more little blurbs about typewriter ribbons!
