Found a weird fact about old typewriters that sparked a whole story idea

I was reading a local history blog about my town's old newspaper office and it mentioned they used to keep a jar of pickle juice by the typewriters. Apparently, the acid helped clean sticky keys (which is kind of gross, but it worked). That one detail made me imagine a 1930s reporter with ink-stained fingers, always smelling of dill, trying to meet a deadline. Has anyone else stumbled on a random historical tidbit that just clicked for a character or setting?

2 comments

2 Comments

craig.grant11d ago

Old telegrams had a secret shorthand for gossip.

river_burns11d ago

Secret gossip shorthand" sounds like someone just needed an excuse to be nosy lol.

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