When Typewriters Once Wrote The Words

Meet Hobart Reese of Washington, D.C. This picture of him is from the U.S. Library of Congress archives. In 1922, he created a stir with his dramatic typewriter art. He specialized in doing presidential and movie star portraits. Little is known of what became of Mr. Reese. In the computer age, what he did is easily done with the push of a button. The article caught my eye because his dexterity with a typewriter is in direct contrast with my typist skills. I was all thumbs in trying to type. I took a typing class in the tenth grade and abhorred the typing tests. We had to type as many words possible in a set time and make as few mistakes as possible. My typing tests had all sorts of red corrections made on them. I only passed the class because a buddy who was a natural typist did a few tests for me. I learned on a manual typewriter. The electric ones were too expensive. At any rate, I thought I'd never be worth a spit as a typist. Flash forward a few decades, and I've published fifteen books. So, I guess in that respect I haven't done too badly. But I'd never do the spectacular artwork Hobart Reese did with his typewriter.

See the online article here:
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/01/the-original-ascii-art-was-just-this-guy-and-his-typewriter/