My first typewriter was a Remington Streamliner. It was a sweet little machine.

‪#‎TBT‬ When I started high school, I asked my grandmother to get me a typewriter for Christmas. (I’d already tapped my parents pretty heavily that year.) She said, “Sure, honey, but I wouldn’t know what in the world to buy.”

Well, I just happened to have picked out the one I wanted and had an ad for it in my pocket. She asked me why I wanted that particular typewriter because, she said, “It looks nice, but you might want something larger, more substantial.”

Christmas arrived, and my new Remington Streamliner was under the tree. I never did tell her why I picked out that particular typewriter, but I’ll share the reason with you:

It was the Remington model that Dick Van Dyke—as Rob Petrie—used on The Dick Van Dyke Show when he was working from home at 148 Bonnie Meadow Road, New Rochelle, New York.

Sally Rogers at the Remington Streamliner

My Streamliner moved to New York with me in 1969, and I used it for nearly a decade. I was really fond of that machine.

Even today—after all these many, many years—I’ll sometimes hear the ping of a small bell with a certain high pitch and feel, in response, as if I need to push the Streamliner’s sleek, chrome carriage return to the right and begin a new line.