Typing enthusiasts say goodbye to Massachusetts' last typewriter shop

03:51

March 28, 2025

Jack Anderson

Two typewriters in for repairs at the Cambridge Typewriter Co. in Arlington. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Tom Furrier still remembers his first day on the job at Cambridge Typewriter 45 years ago. His friend’s dad, who owned the store, asked Furrier to work on a Smith Corona 2200. By the end of the day, Furrier knew he’d found his career. Now, he’s retiring, and after a nationwide search to find a new owner and repairman didn’t pan out, the Arlington store is closing.

Cambridge Typewriter Co. owner Tom Furrier looks at one of the typewriters in his store in Arlington. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

As he prepared to shut down the business, Furrier spent some time tinkering with one of the last typewriters in his shop — a Spanish-language Erica made in Germany — but there was a problem with the machine: It was dropped.

“You know, you can type on it and beat on it for 50 years and it works perfect,” Furrier said. “But knock it off the table and it's dead.”

Cambridge Typewriter Co. on Massachusetts Ave. in Arlington. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Throughout his career, Furrier often took tricky repair jobs home. Sometimes the answer to a puzzling issue popped into his head while mowing the lawn or drifting off to sleep.

“I always feel like I could fix everything, even though that's impossible,” Furrier said. “I do fix 98 or 99% of everything, but those couple that I get every year, you know, kind of haunt me a little bit.”

A shelf of typewriter ribbons for sale at Cambridge Typewriter Co. in Arlington. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Furrier considers Cambridge Typewriter more than a repair shop.

“It's kind of like a hangout place, a meeting place where people who are into anything old-school basically can hang out, meet other people that are like-minded,” Furrier said. “People are really gonna miss having a space like this to come to.”

A Corona typewriter, similar to the one used by Ernest Hemingway during the First World War, sits on a table at the "type-In" event at the Edith Fox Library in Arlington, Mass. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Furrier helped cultivate that community atmosphere through his store’s “type-ins,” which are essentially typewriter parties. He celebrated his long career by holding one final type-in last week. More than 100 friends and customers gathered to swap machines and even compete in speed-typing.

The crowded basement of the Fox Branch Library in Arlington, the site of the final type-in, hummed as typewriter enthusiasts hammered away on their beloved machines. Satisfying dings occasionally cut through the layers of furious clacks.

Artist Marilyn Lasek tries out a typewriter at the "type-in" event at the Edith Fox Library in Arlington, Mass. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Marilyn Lasek, an artist who uses typewriters in her work, has been visiting Furrier’s store for over 20 years.

“It feels like going into the past,” she said. “I feel like I'm going into a museum, and there's a wonderful ambiance and a wonderful atmosphere there.”

The typewriter serves as a memory-catcher for Lasek. Her machine was a gift from her partner, who passed away.

“This is my treasure,” Lasek said. “I love this machine.”

Cambridge Typewriter Co. owner Tom Furrier talks with a participant. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

It’s not just memories that typewriters preserve — many of the attendees, like James Bustos, said that using the analogue devices allows them to access a level of focus from a less distracted time.

“When you use a typewriter, you are actively watching the imagination in your mind come alive and be put on paper as you are thinking and typing,” Bustos said. “When you type, you are actively creating.”

High school teacher Max Hekler types on a typewriter at the "type-in" event. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Typewriters are often especially attractive to digital natives. Max Hekler is an English teacher who said using typewriters in the classroom often helps his students maintain focus.

“I had a couple of kids…who just couldn't sit down, but nevertheless had to do this project. So I brought in the typewriter and I suggested to one of them, ‘Hey, why don't you try writing your story on the typewriter?’ Kid sat down for 80 minutes straight and didn't even get up,” Hekler said. “I've never had 12th grade boys in the springtime fighting over who gets to write next. I was like, ‘there's something to this!’”

Typewriter art by James Brockman, at the "type-in" event at the Edith Fox Library in Arlington, Mass. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Just before the speed-typing competition, as Furrier outlined the rules, an attendee raised his hand.

“Yes,” Furrier said, calling on him to ask a question.

Instead, the man simply said, “Thank you, you’re the best.” The crowd roared into applause, nearly everyone rising to their feet to show their gratitude. Furrier’s wife, Anne Marie, handed him a tissue as tears formed in his eyes.

While the event marked the end of an era, it also struck an optimistic key. The strong community Furrier’s store helped to build imitates the cardinal virtues of typewriters: durability, focus, and a deep commitment to preserving memories of the past.