Here are a few photos of my oldest new toy, a 1958-vintage Royal All-American manual portable typewriter. It’s great fun to write with, as long as my correspondents don’t mind a few typos here and there.

Check out Independence Business Machines for all your Chicago-area typewriter needs. Steve Kazmier, the owner, is a very friendly and knowledgeable man.

The funny thing about our encounter is that even though I was already determined to buy a typewriter (why else would I visit his store?), Mr. Kazmier insisted on making some perfunctory and altogether unpersuasive arguments for why a manual typewriter might be preferable as a writing tool and not mere kitsch.

For instance, he said: “Now you can write even if the power goes out!”

“Uh-huh,” I said. “So how much is it?”