Visiting Martin Howard in Toronto

After my recent trip to America for the International Typewriter Collectors Convention (Milwaukee), I stopped off to visit my friend Martin Howard in cosmopolitan Toronto.
The special welcome, which included American delicacies, was only the warm up for the fantastic afternoon spent together. Seeing Martin’s typewriter collection first hand is something that every collector should experience.
Martin is a collector who really cares about his typewriters and he handles them "with kid gloves."

Every typewriter is housed in an illuminated display case which shows off its beauty. The attention to detail paid to each typewriter is incredible and all are in excellent working condition.

During the tour, which was accompanied by a good glass of Canadian wine, we exchanged a lot of useful information.  All collectors should aim for a real "cultural exchange" like this one, without any envy or jealousy, which can sometimes be experienced.
We should be humble and always have a thirst for knowledge.  We can experience and share new ideas.
It was nice when I saw my website on Martin’s computer monitor, and I was completely overwhelmed by the many compliments I received about my passion for restoring typewriters.

I had to answer a lot of questions, and sometimes even make up words in English.
It was interesting to see some rare typewriters working and to examine their internal mechanisms. Martin and I have the same way of “living” a collection and preserving the integrity of each typewriter.

Despite not having such a large collection, the quality and uniqueness of some of the pieces ranks Martin’s as one of the finest collections in the world.  Once again I thank Martin for his kindness and especially for allowing me to share in his passion.

It’s enough to see his license plate to understand how passionate he is!

Visit the gallery to view the photos.