Tom Hanks, the Girl Scouts, and Los Altos Business Machines

Two Coronas in my collection — note “Rest” key on left machine — and a box of Girl Scout cookies. Got the cookies from a kid in my neighborhood.

What a thrill this story gave me: “Tom Hanks surprises Girl Scouts.” Visiting Los Altos, the actor purchased cookies from the Girl Scouts and then offered to have his photo taken with anyone else who purchased cookies. A stand-up guy, he is. But the real thrill, honestly, was seeing my favorite typewriter shop mentioned in the news —

Hanks, accompanied by his college-age son, Truman, was in town to visit the typewriter shop, Los Altos Business Machines, at 100 State St. Truman is a freshman at Stanford University. It turns out that Hanks is a big typewriter collector. He initially went to the store to have his son’s typewriter repaired, but he ended up buying two vintage Smith-Coronas.

I’ve purchased one typewriter from this shop, which is run by John Sansone, and have had several machines repaired there. It’s a small outfit, but large on spirit. Back in 2009, NPR recorded this piece about the shop, found here. It goes without saying that I highly recommend the place. And spare a few moments to hear the stories John tells.¹

Visit Los Altos Business Machines.

Oh, heck, and while we’re at it…

© 2015, Mark Adams. All rights reserved.

1. For example, he might tell you about the customer who left his Royal Futura 400 in the shop for five months, forgetting that he owned it, having so many typewriters in his collection! [↩]