As a writer (well, a bit of an exaggeration in my case, but not wholly inaccurate wouldn't you say?), I am sometimes at a certain disadvantage. I often wonder how much background I should provide in these little posts. Do I take my readers for granted and assume they know all about it and proceed? If they do not, they are bound to be mystified and perhaps even irritated. On the other hand, if I decide to provide a detailed background, and they already know a lot, they are going to be bored and are apt to point their mouse at the back arrow on the top of the page. For example, I think most of my readers will remember Job Typists. Then again the younger ones may not know what I am talking about. I suppose I had better strike a balance with a brief introduction.
I don't know about you but when I was young, the typewriter was typically not a household appliance (come to think of it, I cannot remember any appliance in the house when I was growing up). All correspondence was simply written by hand. But now and then, there was the need to prepare a professional document, whether it was a business letter, a resume or an affidavit - in other words, the need for a neatly typed document. In this situation, the job typist or freelance typist was the person we employed. While demand for typing services may have crashed with the PC revolution, many freelancers can be found online today working on transcription and other jobs. Before the PC, it was of course a different story. I guess ours is the generation that can look at everything in life and say how it was different before the PC.
Many of these documents were required at least in duplicate and since you would need a copy for yourself, you needed to make three copies in all. Photocopiers were not ubiquitous then. You could not run out to the corner store and get copies made. If you needed hundreds of copies, you could use the commercial process for duplicating documents, called Cyclostyle duplication. The typewriter was perfectly suited to make three copies with carbon paper inserted between sheets of plain paper.
Offices then used to employ many typists. Typically, there was a pool of typists on whom everyone (except executives who had their own assistants) depended to prepare reports, invoices, and a myriad other documents. The sound of the keys striking paper was everywhere on the office floor with bells going off every now and then. The noisy machines were later replaced by the stylish electric typewriters which had, how shall I put it, smoother rounded out clicks and sexier fonts. The more important letters had to be typed on these rather than on their aging ancestors. Ultimately, with cheap PCs and software, everyone now types his own documents. The only fly in the ointment I see is the printer which can time and again flummox even the brightest among us. The term 'Printer's devil' has acquired a different meaning - the printer is the devil now. But hey, no worries, the promise of a paperless office is just on the horizon, right? Sorry, I am digressing.
Having mastered the computer keyboard with the hunt and peck method, we may be tempted to think that a typewriter would be easy to use. But if you have ever used one, you would know that proper training is essential to master this instrument. Good typists and stenographers were in great demand at the work place and I suppose those that didn't make it there, found their way to the freelance marketplace. You would find signs advertising the services of typists all over the place but over time these have given way to signs for photocopying, desktop publishing, etc. Many of these typists for hire would be found in crowded market places in what can only be charitably called holes in the wall.
The first time I had the need for one was at college when I had to prepare my final year project report. As my partner and I needed to keep a copy each for ourselves, this had to be produced in triplicate. We got our report typed by a job typist and then got the copies bound into thin volumes complete with a dust jacket. But this did not entail much legwork since year after year students had patronized these businesses and the process was honed to near perfection.
My first real encounter with the job typist was a few years later when I had to prepare a semi-legal (or at least legal sounding) letter to a builder. It should have been a routine, humdrum affair but the person I engaged had other ideas. If you walked into a barber shop to get a shave and found an apprentice there wielding a brand new knife with a supremely keen edge, you could be forgiven for feeling nervous. My experience was kind of similar except that I had no idea of the typist's level of skills until after the job was completed. It turned out that he was still learning to type and to make things worse he was also learning English at the same time.
When I collected the typed letter (with two carbon copies), I was surprised to find many misspellings because I had given him a clear well written draft and I seldom made spelling errors. It was definitely not a case of mere typos. The word 'agreement' which was the main topic of the letter and hence repeated a number of times was typed as 'aggrement' every time. To make matters worse, when I pointed this out to the typist, he started arguing with me and maintained that that was the correct spelling of the word. In other words, he had not mistyped the words at all but had taken it upon himself to make corrections!
After a few exhausting minutes of heated argument, I finally got him to agree to make the changes. As I walked off, I could feel him shaking his head in disbelief at the back of my neck. No doubt he was incredulous that someone would deliberately ask for a word to be misspelled. Later when I returned to collect the revised document, I thought he looked a little sheepish and somewhat subdued. Most likely he had looked up the word in the dictionary and found out that he was actually wrong. It was kind of ironic that our disagreement should have been about the word 'agreement'. Every time I hear someone say the phrase, 'agree to disagree', I am reminded of my encounter with this job typist.
I don't know about you but when I was young, the typewriter was typically not a household appliance (come to think of it, I cannot remember any appliance in the house when I was growing up). All correspondence was simply written by hand. But now and then, there was the need to prepare a professional document, whether it was a business letter, a resume or an affidavit - in other words, the need for a neatly typed document. In this situation, the job typist or freelance typist was the person we employed. While demand for typing services may have crashed with the PC revolution, many freelancers can be found online today working on transcription and other jobs. Before the PC, it was of course a different story. I guess ours is the generation that can look at everything in life and say how it was different before the PC.
Many of these documents were required at least in duplicate and since you would need a copy for yourself, you needed to make three copies in all. Photocopiers were not ubiquitous then. You could not run out to the corner store and get copies made. If you needed hundreds of copies, you could use the commercial process for duplicating documents, called Cyclostyle duplication. The typewriter was perfectly suited to make three copies with carbon paper inserted between sheets of plain paper.
Offices then used to employ many typists. Typically, there was a pool of typists on whom everyone (except executives who had their own assistants) depended to prepare reports, invoices, and a myriad other documents. The sound of the keys striking paper was everywhere on the office floor with bells going off every now and then. The noisy machines were later replaced by the stylish electric typewriters which had, how shall I put it, smoother rounded out clicks and sexier fonts. The more important letters had to be typed on these rather than on their aging ancestors. Ultimately, with cheap PCs and software, everyone now types his own documents. The only fly in the ointment I see is the printer which can time and again flummox even the brightest among us. The term 'Printer's devil' has acquired a different meaning - the printer is the devil now. But hey, no worries, the promise of a paperless office is just on the horizon, right? Sorry, I am digressing.
Having mastered the computer keyboard with the hunt and peck method, we may be tempted to think that a typewriter would be easy to use. But if you have ever used one, you would know that proper training is essential to master this instrument. Good typists and stenographers were in great demand at the work place and I suppose those that didn't make it there, found their way to the freelance marketplace. You would find signs advertising the services of typists all over the place but over time these have given way to signs for photocopying, desktop publishing, etc. Many of these typists for hire would be found in crowded market places in what can only be charitably called holes in the wall.
The first time I had the need for one was at college when I had to prepare my final year project report. As my partner and I needed to keep a copy each for ourselves, this had to be produced in triplicate. We got our report typed by a job typist and then got the copies bound into thin volumes complete with a dust jacket. But this did not entail much legwork since year after year students had patronized these businesses and the process was honed to near perfection.
My first real encounter with the job typist was a few years later when I had to prepare a semi-legal (or at least legal sounding) letter to a builder. It should have been a routine, humdrum affair but the person I engaged had other ideas. If you walked into a barber shop to get a shave and found an apprentice there wielding a brand new knife with a supremely keen edge, you could be forgiven for feeling nervous. My experience was kind of similar except that I had no idea of the typist's level of skills until after the job was completed. It turned out that he was still learning to type and to make things worse he was also learning English at the same time.
When I collected the typed letter (with two carbon copies), I was surprised to find many misspellings because I had given him a clear well written draft and I seldom made spelling errors. It was definitely not a case of mere typos. The word 'agreement' which was the main topic of the letter and hence repeated a number of times was typed as 'aggrement' every time. To make matters worse, when I pointed this out to the typist, he started arguing with me and maintained that that was the correct spelling of the word. In other words, he had not mistyped the words at all but had taken it upon himself to make corrections!
After a few exhausting minutes of heated argument, I finally got him to agree to make the changes. As I walked off, I could feel him shaking his head in disbelief at the back of my neck. No doubt he was incredulous that someone would deliberately ask for a word to be misspelled. Later when I returned to collect the revised document, I thought he looked a little sheepish and somewhat subdued. Most likely he had looked up the word in the dictionary and found out that he was actually wrong. It was kind of ironic that our disagreement should have been about the word 'agreement'. Every time I hear someone say the phrase, 'agree to disagree', I am reminded of my encounter with this job typist.
5 comments:
My father had a 'ladies' Royal typewriter that was pretty handy. But changing the ribbon was a problem. I did attend typing classes and it came in handy as I can churn out more than knocking out with two fingers.
In later years we had typewriters where you could correct typos applying a white sticky and type over it.
Even to this day, you can find Job Typists in front of Courts in India where they still type on 'Stamp' Paper. Any errors on this means you need to type again! Hence the premium rates for 'Stamp Paper Job Typists'!
There still is a job out there.. typists.
Nostalgic indeed. I remember getting my first science report for some national science scholarship in high school typed through my dad's office typist. Several typing schools got started around the neighborhood just like the tutorial classes today. My favorite CPA friend would use a typewriter for addressing the envelopes for sending official letters until recently. Computers have made us all "typists"!
Nice. I started learning to type in 10th standard and gave up. I also than spell check and word processors. Without these I would be a dead duck.
Yes you took me down memory lane. Thanks.
Nostalgic. Took me back. We had typing as an optional in SSC. Most students preferred that to other subjects (like Sanskrit), as it was supposed to be a high scoring subject.
This was one of the most sought-after skills by the South Indian middle class, as it would assure one a job as a typist. Even in the North (India), most shorthand typists were from the South with their typing skills combined with a supposedly superior knowledge of (written) English.
I still have an old portable that my father used to keep. I think it still works, although I have no idea where I could get the "ribbon".
In the good old days the typists used to type in double space of the dictation for the boss to conveniently comment. The boss after reading the typed letter completely change the order of words and sentences. The typist will have to type it atleast two more times to get final version.
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