My name is Ian J. McAndrew and I am the owner of Iron Fox Typewriters based out of New Jersey. I have been a typewriter enthusiast for about 6 years now and have been practicing typewriter repair and customization for nearly 4. It feels trite to say that I felt a “calling” to start Iron Fox Typewriters when more realistically it all just happened to come together at a time when fascism, racism, anti-intellectualism and  seemed to hit a fever pitch in the United States and it seemed like the right time to join the fight to protect not just the freedom to create but the “means of production”. 

One of the wonderful things that I came to find was that I wasn’t the only one acting on that impulse; through the internet I was able to connect with loads of creatives who seemed equally motivated to fight back by utilizing the digital to revive the analog. I feel like my work through IFT gives me the ability to help folks think and connect creatively with themselves and one another while providing a disconnect from the constant stream digital distraction that is a direct result of doom scrolling social media and the 24 hour news feed. I have had the sincere pleasure of meeting and making friends with poets, artists and small business owners who have shared with me their creative sparks and encouraged me to push into new territory and expand what analog creative culture can look like and how to make it more widely accessible.

None of this prepared me for what came next though. At the beginning of April I opened the IFT Gmail to find a short message that made maximum impact. In short Tom Hanks wanted to gift me a typewriter however they (his assistant) needed a valid shipping address for FEDEX. Normally an email like this would be HIGHLY suspect, the analog nerds version of the “Nigerian Prince” scam. I’d honestly have just deleted it if were it not for a colleague of mine who had already received this email and her own mystery box who verified the legitimacy of the source. What followed was not what I would call “my greatest showing”;

I THANKED
I ACCEPTED
I THANKED
I HEAPED PRAISE
I THANKED
I ASKED FOR A TRACKING #

I spent the next week and a half running through a gamut of emotions: elation, anxiety, pride, imposter syndrome. In an effort to cool my heels and break an unhealthy addiction to refreshing the FEDEX site my family and I decided make an overdue Girl Scout cookie delivery to Paranormal Books in Asbury Park, NJ. It had been a little too long since my last visit and I had a blast catching up with some friends that work there and taking in all the new changes around the shop. Imagine my surprise when I spy a real-live (ish?) Zoltar machine just like in the movie “Big” starring none other than Tom Hanks. I decide to sacrifice a dollar to the powers that be, asked my oldest to take a video and waited on my future. Out spits the best possible fortune I could have received: “YOUR WISH IS GRANTED”.

My first instinct is to write it off and question whether or not all the tickets dispensed said that. So I dig into my pocket and fish out another dollar and run a control; I let one of the fox cubs get their own fortune. While not a wholly unpleasant fortune, it was NOT another wish that was granted that day (better luck next time kit). Maybe it took a while to get over the kitschy-cool factor of getting to use a Zoltar machine, or maybe the transcendent mixture of homemade pasta, sauce and whole cloves of garlic that I packed into my Pasta Volo dinner kicked loose a creative realization: I had just taken the footage that’ll be the premise for my reveal/thank you video!

And so, on Monday April 17, 2023 I received my own mystery box from the man who famously made his bones explaining all about mystery chocolate boxes. At this point FEDEX had delayed the delivery about THREE times so I was naturally concerned about the state of the machine inside. It’s hard to explain exactly what I was feeling as I peeled back the box flaps. On one hand I am a married 40 year old father of three; I’ve had to model patience well enough to convince all these kids at least a few times, right. I mean I Should be able to “fake it to make it” one more time in case the machine was irreparably damaged or worse, I’d been taken for a rube and hustled in some sort of elaborate prank.

Instead what I found was a brand new green and yellow golf shammie with the PLAYTONE logo on it (for the unfamiliar this was the record company in a little film called “That Thing You Do”) , a typed form letter that explained the nature of the gift and his intention in sending it. This came signed by Tom and neatly tucked into a matching green envelope. As I scanned the letter for clues as to the true contents of the box, I only see: UNDERWOOD. This was particularly exciting because the total shipping weight of the package was 25 pounds. Given the clues up to this point I knew it was Underwood, I knew it was small and I knew it was old based on the case.

Any amount of trying to manage my own expectations had left the room and with it went the air. I held my breath and steadied my hand as I lifted the top of the case. It was the color that got me, a glossy but earthy shade of green played off of the light as I revealed the bottom of the plating and with it those exquisitely old and dignified words “UNDERWOOD PORTABLE” sat nobly under the space bar. The next things to catch the light were the silver plated keyrings, not dull and evident of it’s time on this earth but instead glowing blindingly like polished aluminum on an airplane. The rest of the machine followed suit in kind: Original Underwood spool covers, clean typebars, slugs and segment. And if that wasn’t enough the plates were all still smooth and glossy, with only a few small spots of pitting (which is actually extremely common in these models) and of course there is Tom’s signature scribbled in gold on the front left side of the front plate. Even the color choice for the signature seemed intentional…gold over green. It pops, it’s classy and timeless. WOW.

With the deed now complete, I am left looking at a stunning, clean, working 1934 Underwood 4 bank. Truth be told I am an ENORMOUS fan of the Underwood 4 Bank and even designed my next tattoo using that beauty as the anchor point that brings the artwork together.

In short; having been gifted this just seems like kismet and serves in its own way as a validation that the work I have been doing is important on a level I had never expected it to reach. 

You can find more about Ian and his Public Typewriter Project at www.IronFoxTypewriters.com