Tom Furrier is out of repair tags. He's out of invoices. He's almost out of time, with his store Cambridge Typewriter set to close at the end of March 2025. But he is not out of typewriters, media requests, or kudos from customers.

A Facebook announcement in January let drop the news.

It set off a storm of responses, interviews, and a flurry of inquiries about repairs and machines. Along with an outpouring of gratitude from the hundreds of customers who rely on Boston’s last typewriter repair shop.

Oh noooooo, this is such sad news. This store is amazing. That's where I got my typewriter.

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— Celeste Ng (@pronounced-ing.bsky.social) January 16, 2025 at 8:00 AM

My typewriter, from the Cambridge Typewriter store.

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— Celeste Ng (@pronounced-ing.bsky.social) January 16, 2025 at 10:19 AM

Boston-area novelist, Celeste Ng, lamented the demise of Cambridge Typewriter over on Bluesky and then went to buy another machine. As one does.

A Year in Review

I’ve been following the up-and-down saga of the store’s fate for the past year. It’s been quiet here at Paper Blogging, but typewriter life has flourished. Last May, I put on a writing event at a stop on the Freedom Trail—Park Street Church—with twenty-five typewriters. Tom kindly lent five from his sales shelves. In June, I messaged Tom a video of my ancient-language-loving daughter opening her birthday surprise. An early Underwood with Greek keys. A gratifying squeal from her; Tom’s responding joy at a job well done and appreciated. We plotted that one for several months. And so the year unfolded, rich in typewriter stories, all with an undercurrent of, ‘Oh no, what will happen to the shop?’

Knowing that change was afoot whether a buyer was found or not, I wondered if I could capture the shop in a sketch. Last October I stopped by with a huge pad of engineering vellum and my go-to sketching fountain pen. It’s almost impossible to capture the melee within, but the invitation of the open door, that I could draw.

Hot October afternoon, open door, fan propped up on a great pile of unrepaired machines—I am working this up into a finished piece.

One Last Repair

So here at last is an end, and a well-deserved rest.

I stepped through the familiar doorway a few days ago, the bell clanging with its usual jangle—and there was Tom Furrier at his desk at the rear of the shop nearly barricaded in with waiting repairs.

“Hey, Michelle! Come on in,” he gesticulated as he took a phone call.

Cambridge Typewriter in all its machine-filled glory, January 23rd, 2025

I had a fall downstairs in late December. No broken ribs, but I had put myself out of commission for at least a month. I was thankful to be mobile again and able to drive … and get one last typewriter repair.

Braving icy sidewalks, I hauled the silver-colored case of my first typewriter, an Olympia SM3. I bought this burgundy and butter-yellow beauty in 2017 after weeks of research. This was the one! It continues to be a go-to typewriter.

The last time I used this beloved machine, the scraping carriage return warned me the bushings had gone, the little rubber grommets that commonly soften with age on this model. A simple repair, that yes, I will have to do myself in the future.

Olympia SM3, at work amid the happy art studio muddle. Fall 2024.

"The bushings are gone," Tom said. Yes. "Shall I spruce it up for you, as well?"

Sure, one last clean.

"I'm all out of repair tags," Tom commented as he wrote my phone number on a scrap of paper. "I can't retire fast enough."

One Last Refurbish

I have one other machine at the shop, which has been there since November, the latest find.

A Mountain Ash Scarlet Remington #2 Portable. The Remington 2 is one of my favorite machines, snappy and glorious, especially for writing poetry. I've been looking for a Mountain Ash Scarlet for about six years.

This was listed in Massachusetts on Facebook Marketplace under a one-word description: antigue.

Antique, misspelled, with no mention of the word typewriter.

The last Paper Blogging typewriter—Remington Portable #2—waiting for a deep clean and repair at Cambridge Typewriter

“Wow, someone is going to be so excited to find that,” I mused at a pressed-in season when I couldn’t drive out and get it.

“Is it still there?” I wondered, a week later. It was! No mention of the magic search term 'typewriter.' I guess no one else saw the ad.

It turned out the seller was in Boston every week for church. We met in the parking lot of Leon de Judah after the service. To our mutual surprise, we had so many points of connection that we parted like long-lost cousins, with great hugs and thanks. They messaged a week later with another machine they wanted to give me for my in-person letter-writing events. We met to pick up that machine the following Sunday.

The greatest find is often not the typewriter but the person, the connection.

Cambridge Typewriter, January 23rd, 2025

For many customers, the simple act of getting a typewriter repaired turned into a wealth of connection. The treasure proved to be the excellent repairman at Cambridge Typewriter. Which is why, when Tom Furrier conjures the final miracle of an emptied shop and closes the chapter of store owner next month, there will be a hole in the fabric of the typewriter community.

March 2025

If you can, come by Cambridge Typewriter in March to buy a piece of store history or haul away a few machines. Everything will be for sale. All those typewriter parts, all those ads on the wall, all that accumulated knowledge stored in those machines.

102 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA. As usual, call before you go.

Also, celebrate Tom’s forty-five years of typewriter service at a great big farewell Type-In on March 22nd. For all the details and to RSVP.