It’s set to become even more challenging to write (or at minimum type) like Sylvia Plath

Since Tom Furrier announced the closing of Cambridge Typewriter, his phone has been non-stop ringing.

“I’m exiting on a high note,” shouted the 70-year-old during a recent morning at his storefront on Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington, the location where he relocated the business he acquired from his former employer in 1990. “I’m more active than ever.”

Furrier’s cramped shop stands as a mid-century artifact, with the aroma of ink permeating the air, period advertisements framed on the walls, and numerous vintage manual typewriters showcasing brands like Underwood, Remington, Smith-Corona, and Royal positioned on shelves and resting on the floor in robust cases.

Much like many enterprises, Furrier’s faced interruptions due to the digital transformation of the 1990s. However, recent years have ushered in a small resurgence for this 19th-century communication device as a fresh wave of younger customers who favor manual typewriters has positively impacted the store’s finances.

This new demographic joined the dwindling number of loyal patrons, which over the years has featured esteemed authors such as Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough, novelist Celeste Ng (“Little Fires Everywhere”), memoirist Susanna Kaysen (“Girl, Interrupted”), and poet Louise Glück, who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2020 — along with generations of Harvard, MIT, and Boston-area students and faculty members.

Even though his business remains strong, Furrier expresses he’s prepared for retirement. Years of lifting and repairing typewriters (approximately 30,000 by his estimation) have resulted in damaged cartilage in his hands and chronic back discomfort. After unsuccessful attempts to sell the shop twice, he plans to close by the end of March.

It is a bittersweet moment.

“I’m truly going to miss this establishment,” Furrier said, his work jacket exhibiting tenacious grease marks while his pockets held his favorite tools: a spring hook and a small screwdriver to access the machines’ nooks and crannies. “I’m going to miss my clients. My regulars are quite upset as they will have to travel to southern New Hampshire, Rhode Island, or southern Connecticut … But I’m simply finished.”

A forestry enthusiast and lifelong tinkerer, Furrier started as a typewriter repairman in the 1980s, at the age of 25. Back then, he primarily made service calls at MIT and Harvard Law School, restoring machines utilized by academics like Lawrence Tribe, Alan Dershowitz, and others, he mentions.

In recent times, others with affiliations to Harvard have paid visits to his shop, including Tayari Jones, a 2011-2012 Radcliffe Fellow who became a fan of typewriters.

Jones’ meeting with Furrier was as fortunate as it was pivotal. Battling writer’s block, she entered the shop in search of motivation.

“Tom converted me,” remarked Jones, a creative writing professor at Emory University, during a phone conversation. “It wasn’t until I encountered Tom’s place that I discovered manual typewriters … Tom is the finest typewriter technician because he doesn’t operate his shop as if it were a museum. He’s not fussy or pretentious about it. He’s very pragmatic and approachable. He wants us all just to enjoy the typewriter; just get one; insert some paper; make some noise and create some art.”

“Tom is the finest typewriter technician because he doesn’t operate his shop as if it were a museum.”

Tayari Jones

Nowadays, Jones creates on vintage manual typewriters. In fact, her 2018 award-winning bestseller “American Marriage” was produced entirely on a typewriter — one of the 11 in her collection, five of which she purchased from Furrier.

“There’s immense pressure in this field to be quick,” Jones noted. “Using a typewriter allowed me to feel like I can slow down and work at my own speed … And there’s something immensely gratifying about making a clatter while using a typewriter.”

Professors Jill Lepore and Leah Price visited Furrier’s shop while preparing for “How to Read a Book,” a seminar they co-taught several years ago. The course prompted students to reflect on the tools they utilize to take notes by revisiting the history of note-taking technologies, Lepore detailed in an email. Students utilized clay and a stylus, paper and quills, typewriters, and smartphones.

Lepore mentioned that she utilized the typewriters she purchased from Furrier in a history course she taught during the fall.

“We visited Cambridge Typewriter

“Several years ago I decided to stock up,” remarked Lepore. “I still utilize the three typewriters I purchased from him back then … It’s becoming increasingly challenging to find operational typewriters. When the ones I currently possess malfunction, or when I can no longer replace the ribbon, this essential fragment of technological history will vanish.”

Contacted via email, Price, a member of Harvard’s English Department and Henry Rutgers Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University, expressed that she experienced a sort of revelation at Furrier’s shop.

“Visiting Tom’s store made me realize that generating ideas is the simple part,” stated Price. “Maintaining the tools that document and convey those ideas turned out to be unexpectedly complicated, and typing their thoughts on a typewriter keyboard helped our students slow down to a rhythm that required them to contemplate before they wrote. Should an apocalypse occur, every Crimson journalist might wish to know how to change a typewriter ribbon.”

“Visiting Tom’s shop made me realize that generating ideas is the simple part.”

Leah Price

Patrons frequently visit Furrier’s store as if it were a museum or a curiosities shop.

“If individuals come in solo, they often return with family or friends, insisting, ‘You’ve got to check out this shop,’” Furrier mentioned. “Or some bring their grandchildren to demonstrate that this is how they used to compose their written work.”

Furrier stated he was taken aback when a younger demographic began appearing in the early 2000s. Some were aspiring authors wanting to follow in the footsteps of legendary figures, like the customer seeking to acquire a Hermes 3000, the model famously utilized by American poet Sylvia Plath. Others were in search of an experience that computers cannot provide.

“Writing on a typewriter delivers an entirely different experience compared to composing on a computer,” Furrier remarked. “It’s a sensory experience; the sound of the click-clack, the tactile sensation of the keys and the paper, the aroma of the ink. Moreover, there are no interruptions. Typewriters have a singular function; you can’t multitask on them, which is a novelty for younger generations.”

“It’s a sensory experience; the sound of the click-clack, the tactile sensation of the keys and the paper, the aroma of the ink. Moreover, there are no interruptions. Typewriters have a singular function; you can’t multitask on them, which is a novelty for younger generations.”

Thomas Furrier

Looking back on his journey, Furrier expressed that he treasures the friendships he formed with writers and several customers, along with a few consulting roles as a typewriter expert for period films, including one by documentary filmmaker Errol Morris.

Other memorable moments include when actor Tom Hanks, a typewriter enthusiast, presented him an autographed Olympia SM4 machine, accompanied by a typewritten note requesting him to “take good care of it and help it continue performing its function for another hundred years.”

Additionally, there was the instance of being acknowledged by Jones in “American Marriage.”

To bid adieu, Furrier will host a retirement gathering featuring typewriters for individuals to utilize on March 22 at the Fox Library in East Arlington. Longtime patrons, friends, and the public are all welcomed.

“It has been beyond my wildest aspirations,” Furrier commented regarding his career. “For a tinkerer like myself, mending typewriters has been delightful and fulfilling. I got to forge friendships with incredible writers and enthusiastically discuss typewriters. And how many individuals can claim they’ve received movie credits and a mention in a book?”