Matt Whistler finds an ancient typewriter

The other day, (yes, I know this sounds like the start of a bad joke) I found not an iPod or the latest Xbox, not a Smartphone or Wii game, but the most out of this world, up to date, out of date Imperial 1958.

My street wombling tat expertise shone through today. There it was at the bottom of Waterloo Street in a hard brown case. A shiny green and beautifully chromed typewriter. Not only was the typewriter in perfect nick, but there was already one small solitary piece of lined paper loaded up on the roller with the words “hello, we are the people and a water dragon” typed on it.

So, off I tootled with my antique space-age technology to the Brunswick Festival. I unveiled the typewriter and let it rest on the grass and the story unfolded. Within the space of one hour scores of people came to talk about the altruistic object reflecting brightly in the sun.

A poet, clown, plus actor and owner of The Lion And Lobster Gary Wheelan, all typed on the piece of paper. It was almost like a form of therapy while taking a rest from modern day technology.

One lady was screaming at a guy and took out her angst by writing something on the typewriter. One hypnotised kid – who may have never seen a typewriter before – hit several keys at the same time and the flying letters all jammed against the piece of paper. Once he grasped the grace of tapping each letter he appeared more at ease.

A pixie looking character wrote four digits, announced it was his pin number, and then bolted behind a tree.

The day ended in an executive decision. Do I get the bus home or do I buy a veggie burrito in a Mexican café and walk two miles with my new find. As I have always somehow been walking streets with strange objects I guess it’s burrito time!