For some, it’s the tactile pleasure of hitting the keyboard.
WHO RAYMOND LOH, FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL OF EDUCATION FIRM, RAYMOND’S MATH & SCIENCE STUDIO
THE COLLECTION VINTAGE TYPE WRITERS
MIND GAMES
For some, it’s the tactile pleasure of hitting the keyboard. For others, it’s a typewriter’s sheer visual charm. But for Raymond Loh, his passion for typewriters springs from how these bygone writing instruments represent a romantic pursuit of knowledge. “I respect objects that have academic value. Typewriters, as old writing instruments, are for me a symbol of knowledge,” says Loh, who collects anything related to math, science, learning and writing.
CREAM OF THE CROP
While he’s been collecting typewriters for almost a decade, he is selective with what he acquires and has only five so far. “I look for typewriters with a lot of history and tradition,” he says. He’s particularly fond of old, American typewriters as they are the most skilfully constructed. “The good ones are hard to come by,” says Loh, who relies on a dedicated antique supplier to source for interesting pieces in good condition.
MECHANICAL MARVELS
Loh’s treasures include the elegant Blickensderfer Model No. 7, a popular edition released in 1897, which spots a wraparound space bar. He also owns a Smith Premier 1, a double-keyboard model where the inner mechanics of the typewriter are visible. Another notable design is the Salter Standard No. 10, a downstrike typewriter made by UK’s George Salter & Co. His favourite model in the collection is the classic Hammond Multiplex Closed Universal, which he admires for its “simplicity and beauty”. Designed by American journalist James Bartlett Hammond in 1913, the machine features a Qwerty keyboard elegantly laid out across three rows of white circular keys. Its keyboard mechanism was also capable of producing very even- looking print — a rarity for typewriters of that decade.
HISTORICAL GRAVITAS
It is not just the aesthetics of the objects that command his attention. Its prove- nance intrigues him as well. He explains: “I always wonder about the previous own- ers of these typewriters. It excites me to think that it could be a learned man, or somebody great but unknown.”
