A thin layer of dust covers
the antique relics cluttering
the small storefront at the
Mesa Typewriter Exchange.
Vintage manual typewriters
from the early 1900s sit
broken on the shelves, their
ribbons, once a writer’s lifeline,
long dried out. On the
adjacent wall, huge four-footwide
electrical machines from
the second half of the century
are stacked one on top of the
other, their plastic cases yellowed
from age.
Sitting at a wooden workbench
littered with old typewriter
parts, shop owner Bill
Wahl is tinkering on one old
typewriter, a screwdriver in
hand. Suddenly, a gray-haired
man enters the store carrying
a worn black case. Wahl
enthusiastically stands, pushes
an old machine aside and gestures
for the man to set it
down.
“We found this in the attic,”
the man tells Wahl, removing
an old typewriter from the
case. “Do you think it’s worth
anything?”
Wahl examines the machine
for a moment and proceeds
to give a history lesson on
the typewriter—a Remington
Model 2 from 1926. The
value, Wahl tells him: “Not
much.”
The typewriter is missing
parts and needs work.
he’s perfectly willing to pay
$150 for a little nostalgia.
“We’ve had it in our family
a long time,” says the grayhaired
man. “We just want
our grandchildren to be able
to use it.”
As a typewriter repairman,
Bill Wahl is by all accounts
a bit of an anomaly and one
of just a handful left in the
Valley who still buy, sell and
repair typewriters. Of course
in 1948, when Wahl’s grandfather
started the business,
typewriter repair wasn’t any
more an odd job than the
IT guy who now shows up
to fix a network. Times have
changed, and Wahl, whose
business has been in about a
20-year decline, works primarily
for a small clientele
of collectors. Still, Wahl says,
there is an increasing segment
of the population becoming
interested in connecting with
the past through typewriters.
“Frankly, ten years ago I
didn’t think I’d still be doing
this. As the late ‘90s rolled
around, I thought, ‘Okay,
maybe another year or two
and all these older people and
companies will stop using
these machines,’” Wahl says.
“But now there’s this resurgence
of younger people looking
for these older collectable
machines.”¦
AGE: 53
COMPANY: Mesa Typewriter Exchange, 30 S.
Macdonald, Mesa
YEARS IN BUSINESS: The Typewriter Exchange
has been in Wahl’s family since 1948, when his
grandfather opened the shop. Wahl’s grandfather
passed it down to Wahl’s father, who
in turn passed it on to Wahl, who has run the
store since 1992.
CLIENTELE: “It’s a range. I think everyone
assumes it is for old people who don’t have
a computer—that that is my niche. That is
one of the segments, but in the last few years
I’ve been getting a lot of younger people—
from ten years old to college age—who are
interested in writing and want a typewriter. I
actually had a guy in here the other day who
is an author who writes the second and third
draft of his novels on a typewriter.”
REPAIR: “I have a room in back filled with
junked-out typewriters—there are literally
hundreds in there. When someone brings in a
typewriter that needs a part, I just start digging
through the piles. Most of the time I can
usually find the part that I need.”
VALUE: Some customers come to Wahl with vintage
typewriters from the ‘20s and ‘30s assuming
they are valuable antiques. Typically, however,
typewriters sell for
around $5 to $200.
“There are some collectable machines that are
worth a lot of money, but they’re rare.
FUNCTION: Wahl says many law firms, school
districts and insurance companies still use
typewriters for various tasks. “They’ll do 99
percent of their paperwork on the computer,
but there are occasional things that come up,
like labels and stuff, where they find a typewriter
more convenient.”
CHANGING BUSINESS: “In the ‘70s we were really
busy all the time. Then through the late ‘80s
and early ‘90s everything gradually tapered
off. Today, however, I’m actually busier than I
was a few years ago. You can attribute that to
there’s not as many people doing this as there
were a few years ago and there is starting
to be a resurgence of younger people using
machines. I’m spending more and more time
overhauling and fixing up the collectables.”
BEST PART: “I like working for myself.”
WORST PART: “The only bad part about the
job is the income is not like it was back in
the day.”
SALARY: Not much. Depending on the part and
labor, it costs anywhere from $20 to $150 to
repair an old typewriter. “I could be a greeter
at Walmart and probably make more money
than I’m making here, but I like what I do and
I enjoy working for myself.”
