Over a quarter of a century ago I first read the original Pern books by Anne McCaffrey. I have my criticisms about the books - I am a reader of Pern not a fan - but there are nuances of social living that McCaffrey created that my utopian self finds interesting. One of these is the notion of fostering.
On Pern, as noted in the Wikipedia article about the social structure known as the Weyr, "Parental ties are loose, and children are considered to be the property of the Weyr, not of the parent." Typically, children are fostered out, that is raised by others. Fosterage is a long time, real human tradition.
"Fosterage, the practice of a family bringing up a child not their own, differs from adoption in that the child's parents, not the foster-parents, remain the acknowledged parents. In many modern western societies foster care can be organised by the state to care for children with troubled family backgrounds, usually on a temporary basis. In many pre-modern societies fosterage was a form of patronage, whereby influential families cemented political relationships by bringing up each other's children, similar to arranged marriages, also based on dynastic or alliance calculations." [from Wikipedia article on Fosterage]
When it comes to typewriters, for some of them in my collection, I think of them more as fosterlings than as machines I intend to keep. I don't always know that when I see them, but this latest acquisition I recognized immediately as one I would care for only temporarily. When it moves on has yet to be determined, but here are some pics for your Typospherian entertainment.
It was the case that caught my eye. A bit briefcase-y with a wrap-around handle that had a bit of the original Star Trek design flavor.
Inside the case were some paper goodies!
Including this cryptic bit of medical speak which showed off the small, elite font nicely.
The machine itself -- a Remington Performer -- showed some dings along the outer edges, but is, in the main, in pretty good condition.
A neat stylistic feature is the red spacer key.
And is it possible that the ribbon spools aren't those old, pokey ones my older Remingtons use?
Most curious, in terms of its design lines are how it looks quite chunky from the sides and very flat from the rear!
What I like, and will miss when it moves on to a new home, is the comfortable keys that Remington specializes in. A little smaller than those on the Hermes portables, they type comfortably and smoothly.
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Professor Remington
(holding 1940s era Skyriter)
Addendum: The Professor Remington referred to in the title of this post is the name of one of my alter egos. She came into being in an instant this past summer when my brother Architect suggested I might enjoy participating in the annual Summer Solstice celebration over in his town of Madison, WI. I offered to host a Type-In. Keeping with the theatrical nature of the event I created a character - Professor Remington - who came dressed in full, if comical, academic regalia. I still have her wig, costume, and advertising billboard. Who knows when Professor Remington shall make future appearances!
