Hamilton Typewriter Company opens at Cotton Factory, reviving vintage craft

A new type of business is opening up in the Cotton Factory in Hamilton. Technically, it’s an old business that works on antique typewriters.

But for Jonathan Marshall, he’s counting on nostalgia to make the Hamilton Typewriter Company successful.

Marshall goes by the handle @jonnytypes on social media and he’s looking for a certain type of customer for his new repair business.

“I’m here to introduce people to typewriters and have them reconnect with writing machines of the past,” said Marshall.

He set up shop at the Cotton Factory in Hamilton. Today was his first day and he cut a typewriter ribbon to kick it all off.

“There is an underground movement of people moving back to these old writing machines, partially due to the nostalgia of it, and also I think because of the backlash towards a lot of new hypermodernity and AI. People are losing touch with the meaning of words and I’d like to help reconnect them to them,” said Marshall.

One of those people is local poet Ris V. Rose who has a 1923 Underwood Typewriter that she uses often.

“I type up my poems on him, so I’ve got some nice paper and I type them up. I give them to my friends as gifts or on special occasions like engagements and weddings. And I was selling them at Authors in the Park this past summer,” said Rose.

She says there’s just something about pressing the keys of an old typewriter.

“There’s nothing really like it, like typing on a vintage typewriter and getting to see exactly what your fingers put on the paper,” said Rose.

Mary Duncan is excited about the launch of the Hamilton Typewriter Company. She has her grandmother’s old typewriter but it’s broken.

“It’s exciting on a number of levels. The fact that it was my grandmother’s and she used to type our Santa letters response on them so we wouldn’t recognize the writing. And so, there’s a lot of nostalgia. And I’m a bit of a luddite. I appreciate modern technology but I really appreciate old school,” said Duncan.

“I’m very proud to not only restore the machines but share that love and that passion with people who are either coming to learn about the machines just now or have had a love for them their whole lives and are looking to rekindle,” said Marshall.

Check out the Hamilton Typewriter Company website for hours of operation and to book an appointment.

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