Are You Old Enough? Of Paste and Typewriters
January 8, 2008 by Anne Wayman
Filed under Jobs
The other day I was listening to A Way With Words, billed with the rather horrid tag line of “public radio’s lively language show.”
I think it was Grant who mentioned “cut and paste” and I found myself wondering if anyone under the age of what, 30 or so, maybe 20 or 15 even knows what paste is. I mean real paste, like the goo we made by mixing flour and water, or library paste… you know, the way we stuck pieces of paper together.
Paste had its application in editing. Because we used typewriters, (you do know what typewriters are don’t you?), we’d sometimes literally (pun not intended but I’ll let it stand) cut manuscript apart then paste it back together to avoid re-typing the whole thing.
Martha then began waxing nostalgic for typewriters. Ugh. Not me, and I’m way older than both of them. They even have an article on their site called, of all things, Typewriters We Have Loved.
I got my first computer because the word processing program would check my highly creative spelling, but it didn’t take me long to realize what a huge time save the ability to cut and paste is. I also like search and replace. Sure, you can get in trouble with any of these features, but, imo, the benefits far outweigh the problems.
What do you think? Do you remember either paste or typewriters of both?
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I’m plenty old, and have a background in small newspapers, so I know exactly what you are talking about. I have cut and paste many a time, although we tended to use wax instead of actual paste. Paste-up nights tended to run right into morning.
While I’m not too old (only 40), I do remember typewriters quite well. I learned to type on a Smith Corona electric, which served me well through high school and most of university. In fact, the first article that I was paid for was written on that machine.
In the late 80s, I saved my pennies and bought a Smith-Corona word processor — it also doubled as a typewriter (great for typing mailing labels).
The thing about that tag line is that when I was slapping the site together in August in a single day (we had to make a sudden move to new quarters!), I just slotted the copy in there to fill the hole, thinking we’d get around to changing it to something snappier. And there it still is five months later. So little time in a day, you know?
So, Anne, we welcome all suggestions from you and the community. I can’t promise we’ll use what you come up with, but I’m pretty sure the bright minds here will turn out some gems. I also can’t offer a prize or compensation but if we find something we like here, we’ll give the writer credit and a link on the web site and in the email newsletter (which has more than 1000 subscribers).
How does that sound?
–Grant Barrett, co-host of A Way with Words
The first thing I ever wrote on was the electronic word processor with the orange lit window that my mom used for college classes in the early 80s. I wrote a note to all the subscribers on my paper route. guess my age from that! haha
I remember both, and I still find myself occasionally needing to cut and staple. I have an easier time seeing things in black and white spread out on the floor than endless scrolling through a manuscript on my PC. But I do NOT miss the endless retyping and correction fluid and white tape!
John, the wax! Of course, and it was such an improvement over the paste, unless someone unplugged the gadget that kept it melted ;)
Scott, I got my first computer not too long after I’d gotten a self-correcting selectric typewriter ;)
Allena… I love the idea of you using your mom’s early word processor!
Kristi – I print more than I like to admit, and yes, I remember both white correction fluid… would always dry up in the little bottle, and the tape, which was great until you ran out ;)
Well do I remember the waxer at the newspaper where I worked! The smell of overheated wax, the big dummy sheets with the reflex blue grids, the massive Linotype machine, the PMT camera, and the little SE/30s in the corner that, with the LaserWriter, had taken over from the Compugraphics machine only months before.
ahh, reflex blue… yes… and even Linotype! I remember the first time I sent a publisher both hard copy and copy on a (floppy) disk with the manuscript… they had no idea what to do with the disk… I suggested they find someone who knew what cp/m meant and just give them the disk… maybe it was two… it was a pretty long book, maybe 250 pages… lol
I’ve never actually used a typewriter for my writing. I’m wondering if I should just to see what it feels like. But, I do know what paste is. Lol. I make my own sometimes for paper mache. :)
Katherine, although there are folks out there who will tell you typewriting is a “better” experience than computer keyboards, the same thing was said when we switched from the quill pen to fountain pens, etc.
I do miss the clack-clack sound of the keys sometimes though. Although all too often my keys would get all jammed up and then I would end up with ink on my hands from fixing them. Too many school papers went in with ink fingerprints caused by jammed keys. But boy I love spell check!
Yeah, I’ll trade spell check for the sound any day!
I took a typing class my senior year in high school in 1979 because I needed an elective and the typing class was populated mostly by high school girls. The goal was to get a date. Even though I was president of the FFA (Future Farmers of America) and had participated at the state level in soil judging and tree identification, the girls did not seem to be interested…Imagine that.
The typing class has proven to invaluable, knowing where your fingers should rest on the keyboard and using all 10 fingers to type is a important skill that is taken for granted.
I remember paste from grade school, it came in one gallon containers and I recall in the 4th grade we liked to eat it. Maybe it was a nutritional deficiency associated with rural North Carolina.
I remember the first time someone explained “cut and paste” to me back in 1998. I went WOW! Before that, any link I ran across, I would scribble on a mini legal pad and then type in the URL.
Now there is stuff like Wordtracker and Glyphius that makes testing copy fairly painless.
I am a 46 organic farmer and have great hope for the future. My favorite video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljbI-363A2Q
lol, I know FFA Dean… grew up rural too. My typing class was 7th grade… don’t remember a single boy.
Love your favorite youtube… thanks for the link to that… do you have a website?