By Sharon Oliver
Contributing Writer
ARLINGTON – After more than 50 years in business, owner Tom Furrier has made the decision to close up shop, and this is no ordinary shop. Cambridge Typewriter was a dinosaur of sorts. A non-digital, mechanical machine used for writing, like a typewriter, is foreign to much of the younger generation. Not so long ago, young women took typing classes in high school in hopes of landing a secretarial job post-graduation. But on March 31, Furrier will lock the door and turn off the lights for the last time and the myriad of typewriters from his shop will go silent.
Long before computers, laptops and tablets came on the scene, people depended on this ancient marvel for neatly typed documents. Even fictional author Jessica Fletcher of the TV series “Murder, She Wrote” was reluctant to trade in her trusty mechanical machine for a personal word processor. Alas, brands like Hewlett Packard and Dell came to replace Smith Corona, Royal Underwood and their ribbons for office use.
Last of its kind in the area
Furrier admitted that he was upset for his customers because there would be no place for them to go and his customers are not happy about Cambridge’s closing but are happy for him. For 45 years he lovingly repaired countless typewriters and sold them as well after buying the shop from its original owner.
He had held out for a year in hopes of someone buying and preserving his business but that never came to pass. He plans to sell as many of the hundreds of typewriters on hand as possible, telling Boston.com, “I’d rather do that than see them get thrown away. There’s a lot of nice, working machines in here.” He added, “(There’s been) an outcry … people love their typewriters. They love the shop, they love coming in. People are really going to miss this place.”
Famous actor sends typewriter
Cambridge Typewriter made headlines in 2023 when Academy Award-winning actor and typewriter enthusiast Tom Hanks sent an autographed 1960s Olympia SM4 typewriter which Furrier plans to keep for a while but will eventually donate it to a local charity to be auctioned off. Although Furrier had easily guessed the FedEx box contained a typewriter, the Santa Monica return label had him a bit perplexed.
As soon as he opened the top flaps, he noticed a golf bag towel with the Playtone (production company) logo on it and immediately realized Tom Hanks had sent it. The “Forrest Gump” actor also wrote a note which read, “I am presenting you with this typewriter … to do with as you please. On one hand you are taking it off my shelves and out in the greater world. On the other hand, you are giving me more space and less clutter. On the third hand you may be giving this miracle of a machine a fuller, newer life of use.”
Photo/Tom Furrier
Hanks had been collecting typewriters since he was 19 years old according to Business Insider, and has a reputation for helping the typewriter community. And speaking of the typewriter community, there is a typewriter and voice percussion ensemble based in the Boston area called the Boston Typewriter Orchestra (BTO). The group uses several varieties of manual typewriters and performs at house parties, clubs, festivals and museums.
Worcester roots
The city of Worcester played a key role in the invention of the typewriter. Although there is a list of persons who have invented their own versions of the machine, East Brookfield native and Worcester resident Charles Thurber is among them, having patented his invention, the chirographer or typographer, a machine for the blind, disabled and those nervous about writing by hand in 1843. It was never manufactured for commercial sale, but a surviving model is owned by the Worcester Historical Museum. In 1887, Scientific American magazine called Thurber’s machine “the first American typewriter.”
Cambridge Typewriter was founded in 1973. Tom Furrier began his career as an employee there and later bought the store from the original owner. It is where the 69-year-old Furrier hosted his annual typewriter parties and is one of the last of its kind in New England.
RELATED CONTENT:
How Earl Tupper turned one product into a household name
A melted candy bar brought the world the microwave oven
Harvard homework assignment led to creation of first computerized spreadsheet
