Business Spotlight: Just the Type

Jot & Tittle Vintage Typewriters, an online based business out of Kimberling City, was born out of an incidental passion in 2018.

“I wanted to write with a typewriter,” says owner Laura Prather. “I didn’t even know if typewriters were still around.”

Prather’s husband, Rob, worked for Goodwill at the time, and she told him to keep an eye out for a vintage typewriter. After bringing home a few and searching online for how to repair broken ones, Prather realized two things: vintage typewriters were selling for hundreds of dollars online, and typewriter repair people were few and far between. After a two-hour drive to get her vintage typewriter repaired, Prather wondered if this was something she could do as a business.

“We were living in Colorado Springs at the time, and I had just closed a boutique I owned,” Prather says. “So, we got three or four old typewriters, set up a card table in the living room, and Rob started messing around with them.”

Without knowing much about the online reselling space, Prather set up an Etsy shop in September 2018 and listed her four vintage typewriters. “By the end of the month we sold five, and by Christmas, we sold 50,” she says. “We were honestly so shocked.”

Not long after starting the business, the Prathers fell in love with Table Rock Lake and moved from Colorado to Kimberling City. Despite the four-month hiatus, business picked right back up and found momentum in their new house, where they do business and repairs.

“It was perfectly set up for us, with a basement overlooking the lake, and where we can put the shop for repairs and my studio and workspace is all down there,” she says. “It was a gift. It was on a whim, and thinking that God said move out here, it was step of faith.”

The business name, too, is influenced by Prather’s faith.

“Jot & Tittle is inspired by a Bible verse talking about the dot of an i and the crossing of a t,” she says. “I thought that was really cool, and it worked really well for us.”

Prather says they originally sourced typewriters from thrift stores, but the market has become competitive so they have had to get creative in their searches.

“We primarily focus on selling a few specific brands, including Smith Corona, Royal and Olympia,” Prather says. Prices on their site range from $250 to $450 per typewriter, with servicing starting at $50 for regional customers only.  Depending on time and inventory, Prather says they can list anywhere from two to 10 typewriters a week.

“One year, we were doing six to eight a week, which brought us over $100,000 that year in sales,” she says. Because Prather and her husband both work full time in addition to Jot & Tittle, they currently add only two new typewriters to sell per week, which they announce in a weekly email to over 900 subscribers. “As soon as we post our newsletter they usually sell.”

After finding quick success within the industry, Prather decided to set up Instagram and YouTube accounts, where she posted photos of available typewriters and repair tutorials.

“We realized customers had either never typed on a typewriter or couldn’t remember, so I’m going to do a video of all our typewriters to prove they work and how to use them,” she says. “This was really just for the customers. I knew nothing about the platform, and the next thing I knew people were following.”

What started as a free service for her customers ended up being an unintentional marketing boost, Prather says. Jot & Tittle’s Vintage Typewriter’s YouTube account, which has almost 3,000 followers and over 700 videos, helped build a robust and loyal clientele and community, she says.

Nashville-based technical writer Roy Burkhead is one of those loyal customers who found the business through a web search. In 2022, Burkhead purchased a new ribbon from Jot & Tittle Vintage Typewriters for his manual Smith Corona, and because of the age of the typewriter, he needed help putting it together.

“They make it easy,” he says via email, adding that he had remote help and phone calls from the Prathers. He says he also loves the weekly e-newsletter he receives from the business. “It’s not spam,” he says. “I’m always happy to see it arrive in my email inbox, and it always has interesting information.”

Because the typewriter community is so tight knit, according to Prather, they have caught the attention of a Hollywood celebrity: Tom Hanks.

“He’s huge in the typewriter community, and really reawakened the interest,” she says. Prather had heard rumblings of him sending different typewriter businesses pieces from his collection, and was honored, but not surprised, when one day she received a 1956 Voss typewriter, signed by Hanks. “The typewriter world is small, and we’ve been around and our name is out there.”

 The typewriter is currently on display at their house, with a framed letter Hanks sent with it.

Jot & Tittle Vintage Typewriters also offers accessories, including typewriter ribbons, cloth covers that Prather’s mother creates, and nonslip felt pads which sell for $30. “We designed and worked with a manufacturer for those,” Prather says.

While growing the business isn’t a top priority for Prather, she says that being an active part of the community is.

“When you write, you share your heart and passion, you’re being really vulnerable, and people respond to that,” she says. “A typewriter helps people connect with their thoughts, so you can’t help but be intimate in the typewriter community. I can’t give that up, I want to keep with this. It’s just so lovely.”