Thrifty find: Not just another vintage typewriter

The clicking sounds of a typewriter are punctuating my days lately. Yes, I am the proud owner of the lovely typewriter you see in the photo below. At a mere six dollars at a local thrift store, the aqua-colored beauty was just too tempting for me to pass up.

To my credit, I did not wrench it free from the little girl playing with it when I first walked into the store. I waited patiently nearby, browsing the book section, and forced myself to count to five before walking over to the typewriter after she abandoned it. As I examined it, I reminded myself that I already had two other vintage typewriters at home, one a steel blue and the other a creamy white. I really should have put it back on the shelf when I realized the typewriter is far from perfect, with some minor cosmetic flaws marring some key areas.

Instead, I took it home.

Once home, I made a terrific discovery. The typewriter has a Spanish keyboard. Imagine my great delight at realizing that I can now use my typewriter to write in my native language with the ever-important ñ and all the á, é, ü, ¿ and ¡ characters that I would need to write a note in Spanish.

Oh, happy days! Further adding to my joy, my daughter has now made the typewriter her newest toy, reminding me of my days as a six-year-old playing secretary as I tapped away furiously at my pretend typewriter. My daughter uses the typewriter to play store and pretends to write letters on it, which is great practice since she will be starting kindergarten in a few months and a firm knowledge of all the letters will be important.

You will think I'm a dinosaur but I learned how to type on a typewriter and even took a final exam in one of my journalism classes in college on a typewriter.

I did some research and found out the typewriter is an Omega 30 Spanish typewriter, which seems to be relatively rare since I found only one listing for it on Ebay for a whopping $300 and none on Etsy. One of the cosmetic flaws I mentioned earlier is that the manufacturer tags are missing, which probably means I can't sell mine for $300.

It is just as well because this baby is staying home with us for a while.

As you can see, it does need a new ribbon. In case you can't read the note I typed above, it reads: "I love typewriters. A mis niños también les encanta. (My kids love them, too.)"

Now if I could just find a typewriter with a French keyboard.