What About Correcting Typos?

In Typewriter Video Series Episode 323, Joe revisits the subject of correcting typographical errors, and reviews the Post-it Labeling & Cover-up tape as an alternative method.

[@Olpossum53]

When I was first away at college I received a letter from my father. It was elite type, single spaced, and one full page, top to bottom. There was not a single mistake or correction on the entire page, which amazed me, because my typing was never that clean. Years later I asked him about that, and he said, "Well, when we took typing in High School, the standard was perfection." So yes, "Don't make mistakes" really did used to be a solution.

[@sandrodunatov485]

In the golden years of typewriting, there was no time to waste for corrections, people was expected to write quickly and without ANY mistakes. In the comic strip Bristow, the capital punishment for female employees was to have the carbon paper seized.

[@aphexteknol]

I don’t know about anyone else, but I came to this channel for the typewriters. I stayed for the photography, road trips, and philosophy.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Thank you, Mitch!

[@mikequinlan9585]

Me too but I got hooked on Joe’s story telling capabilities.

[@LuisBorba]

Joe, I love all your videos. Thank you for creating them.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Thank you!

[@tmunk]

heh "What's the best correction method?" "Don't make mistakes!" :D can't argue with that.

[@saulysw]

8:35 I was confused about how many tweezers you had. I'm glad you clarified! My correction methods are, in order : 1) Ignore it if trivial, 2) retype over the wrong letter if it will look mostly ok, 3) x over the letter or 4) whole word and type after, 5) Start whole document all over again - I've never done this last one though! Errors are part of the experience of manual typewriters, I think you need to accept them as they are. Do it once, do it right...or at least, try. I don't have any tape, liquid or erasers, I can't be assed with any of that. Each to their own tho. My main tip is to not try typing anything important while you are drunk!

[@Joe_VanCleave]

I like your method! Regarding the tweezers, one of them had bent tips that wouldn’t pick up anything thin, making it useless!

[@wonderbubble3980]

I've only just found your videos today while I wait for the auction on my first typewriter to come to a (hopefully successful) close, and I wanted to say thank you for them being filled with extremely helpful information while also being very much entertaining and understandable! I was also very unprepared for that ending, I was mid-sip of coffee and I believe my moustache catching it all was the only thing that kept it off of my monitor and keyboard.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Thank you!

[@activelow9297]

The Post-it cover up tape is what we used to call "paste up tape" back in the day. Before Macs were a thing and people did manual page layout, it wasn't uncommon to cover a page in paste up tape and then photocopy it to get a clean image on paper. For typing these days I prefer the Wite-out cartridges. The key with those is you have to let them dry before you type or write over the whited parts.

[@yarngear]

Typos are one of the reasons computers are some of the best things ever. I still love typewriters though so cover-up correction tabs are my fave. I don't even care if the paper isn't white. I've used almost every correction method & brand, and they all have their pros & cons. As always ❤ your video, Joe!

[@depotshredder6938]

Your point at the end about embracing our mistakes is rather significant for me - as someone who struggles with perfectionism, it causes an almost physical cringe reaction when I hit the wrong letter. However, learning to simply strike through and leave my mistakes visible has been a great way to bring a deep level of vulnerability to my letters, as I am someone who does not readily admit that she makes mistakes, and takes every precaution to avoid them. Typewriting has been a boon to my self-worth.

[@dannyschwarz9208]

I really like the philosophical Joe. Great little video!

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Glad you liked it!

[@robertbuck5399]

Joe, thanks for the review. I particularly enjoyed your philosophy segment.

[@douglasjackson9058]

We laughed,we cried,it was better than cats 🤣

[@BrianGoodeBass]

I want to watch it again and again

[@BokBarber]

After messing around with this, I've found that the best decently available correction option is the White Out pen. These are pens full of correction fluid that you shake then press down on the paper, basically working like a regular rollerball paint pen. The point is fine enough that you can correct words a letter at a time, but they work fast enough to remove full words too. for whole sentences you're probably looking at tape (but at that point you might as well just rewrite the page.) They're also tidy enough where you're not likely to spill any into the typewriter, as long it has a decent paper table and you're not excessively clumsy with the application. The only issue with them is that, like all correction fluid methods, they take a minute to fully dry. If you don't sit there and wait until it's fully safe to type again, you run the risk of getting white paint on your card guides and paper bale rollers. Then again, if you thrift typewriters, chances are that they already have corrective fluid on the card holder and paper bale rollers... so maybe this doesn't matter too much. Anyway, I usually just type over my mistakes, or maybe X them out if it's a bigger mistake. I only bother with corrections in the cases where I'm mailing somebody a letter or am making a point of having a mistake free page, and I've only made one or two small mistakes towards the end of the page.

[@guillermoochoadeaspuru625]

There is another system: a white thick fluid that you apply with a small brush on the paper and then it dries quickly. I know it by the commercial name of "Tipp-Ex". But I don'r use it anu more, nowadayss I wathc cat videis.

[@wildbill23c]

Most common name would be "White Out" in the US market LOL. The problem with it is it takes a while to dry completely. Interesting story behind White Out too, invented by a woman typist who kept making typing mistakes and was told she would be fired if she kept making them, so she invented it in her kitchen...course its taken on several different names over the years by different companies. I've found the correction tape in the dispensers you roll across the paper to work the best and the quickest. Without having to wait for the liquid to dry...there are also correction fluid pens as well, but you have the same issue of waiting for it to dry.

[@IzzyOnTheMove]

@@wildbill23c In Canada we call it "Liquid Paper" 😆

[@gamingchinchilla7323]

I actually had an old Sears typewriter that could take ribbons that had three colors: black, white and red. The white of course was the correction stripe and it worked out quiet nicely. I kind of regret getting rid of that typewriter some years ago but I needed to make room, and I hardly used the thing. It was sold to a mother who's daughter wanted to get into writing. I hope it served her well and is still serving her well. Also this is the first video I've seen of yours where you mentioned the white ribbon solution, for a while I was wondering if I was having a Mandala Effect moment and there was no such thing. xD

[@bentbilliard]

It's great that you keep revisiting stuff like that!

[@jrmcferren]

I use correction fluid. I found it to work the best for me. Erasing works well if you have the proper ink and paper combination. In my experience, a nylon ribbon and 24lb or heavier paper work fine. Once you get to standard 20lb paper or a cotton ribbon I run the risk of erasing a hole in the paper. I also like lift off correction on machines capable of doing that, but of course I get too reliant on that and make far more mistakes. Maybe I should do some typing practice on my electronic and try to reduce errors.

[@lsvemir27]

Excellent video :-)

[@c0nstantin86]

What about triple bands (black/red/white) ? My Brother typewriter has 3 positions, I'm guessing the "white" position is for eraser band

[@wildbill23c]

I have an Underwood electric typewriter that has the 3 color positions as well, but I've never seen a ribbon for it that has anything other than the standard black and red. So I wonder the same thing, or how it would be used otherwise?

[@brettmanuel3440]

The “white” disengages the ribbon for when people who used to type on stencils.

[@wildbill23c]

@@brettmanuel3440 Hmm, ok now I need to find out how that worked LOL.

[@brettmanuel3440]

@@wildbill23c see kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYrNm2lomqyqmZo … I’ve never actually done this myself but they were still using these at my dad’s work when I was a young kid - I remember the smell of the ink/chemicals

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Mimeograph stencils! I still remember the smell of the duplicator fluid!

[@ruzwatson6007]

Really great thoughts, thanks!

[@Nick215NY]

Great video Joe, thank you!

[@Joe_VanCleave]

You're welcome!

[@SunshineFL]

Great information

[@dadtype2339]

The other lol Magical way this works and I guess maybe this comes from a job I had yeah, Years ago, during a time when two machines with white out worked together under one roof and during one period...the copier. So yes you would want to type making as little mistakes as possible, if you made a lot, you would just retype it now let's say the second attempt has one or two mistakes maybe three, well you could try to type it a 3rd time hoping to not mess up but you almost always will or make more mistakes and lol this is taking a bit much time So you would use correction fluid and it didn't matter if it was whiter the the paper because the next thing would be to run it through a copier to clean the document and it's print off or offspring would look like a perfectly typed document. Which is why as correction fluid and methods went on the commercials ran with statements like never show, or invisible, and people forget you have to run the master through the copier to get that no show or invisible look. Hopefully that helps fill in some of the mystery. I will say I hate eraser type correction method, I'm currently cleaning a SCM Electra 110 it must have been in an office because it's just full of eraser bits those fine messes of white I call shavings, it's horrible to clean off inside the machine as it sticks to the parts and oiled surfaces. No amount of compressed air will blow the machine clean, you go through a box of Q-tips really easy maybe even two just trying to clean that crap up. Also there used to be electric erasers in the 50's 60's and 70's that was used and that leaves a nuke level amount and I am wondering if that's not what I'm cleaning up after. Taken me nearly a week of cleaning to get it out. Drafting classes would utilize these electric erasers, they were giant for hand held took a long skinny worm looking eraser you fed into you, think glue gun but this thing was round with a flat plat trigger you pressed with your index finger as you held it like a pen or pencil. Between jobs, my knowledge of History and past lives I got it pretty much covered lol. Thanks Joe, you know you are good when you can hold our attention on corrections. That and we all share that office supply junky addiction! Love the way staples are packaged in a box, oh God and remember how they did lead for mechanical pencils in those first paper rolls that you twist open and then later plastic containers with black diamond shaped tops you pull off....I need to call my sponsor, it's 446AM and I may need support and Intervention. Hahaha 😂😆 Box of pencils and the smell....oh Man..glue sticks and chalk, high lighters and a big bag of rubber bands was like getting a bucket of gummy worms. Okay this went into a strange place. Always a 👍

[@douglasjackson9058]

Thanks Joe,lots of options:)

[@Joe_VanCleave]

😀

[@bisnaut2751]

Is it illegal to make a photocopy of your work after you have made corrections to hide your mistakes? Does that take away from the typing experience? You still typed it...does a copy make it less so?

[@Joe_VanCleave]

That’s a great idea! There are no rules, or you make your own rules.

[@cjfisher7853]

1 line cover up tape is very hard to find

[@miskaflixazoxy8792]

thanks ! :D

[@sandrodunatov485]

I have to admit that I have too much experience with correcting tape, and they work much much better with frequent use 😥

[@demonprincess5634]

YEAH cat videos :)

[@dianemaher3538]

Another dimension to this story would be correcting the upstrike or blind typewriters.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Indeed! Though, since I don’t have an upstrike machine, perhaps you could give us some tips to corrections, as I consider you to be one of the current experts.

[@dianemaher3538]

@@Joe_VanCleave I regularly use the Bic Wite Out correction tape. I have never seen the correction cover-up tape, though it looks like it would be usable. The issue of smearing would definitely be an issue with the cover-up tape. Does the cover-up tape snag on the bottom scale if you try to move the paper down to fix something above the error you fixed? Moving the platen up half a line to re-type a word is not ideal with the blind typers, though it would be doable on double or triple spacing. I have used the correction tabs using a pen or pencil the same way you used the tweezers in your video to make corrections. You can't hold the correction tabs over the print point without the tabs being considerably longer. I like what Olpossum53 said below, "the standard was perfection".

[@Joe_VanCleave]

@@dianemaher3538 I'm assuming the Bic Wite Out correction tape IS a cover-up tape, in cartridge format that rolls on the paper and covers up the paper with a thin, white, dry film? That's what I'm referring to as cover-up tape. That said, I personally like correction tabs better, especially for covering up printing on non-white paper, as the white mark is only visible on the corrected portion of the printing; whereas the roll-on correction tape leaves a bright white strip of cover-up that's rather unsightly on non-white paper.

[@typewritermuse]

Can you do a cat video?!? This would xx be great and thanks.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

I need a cat first! :-)

[@IzzyOnTheMove]

@@Joe_VanCleave Here a cat and typewriter video! kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6bEkKRjic59kM0 👍

[@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536]

Your video doesn't need corrections.