Gossip Friday: Typewriter Doctor

From October 1934:

Milo Whitlatch doesn’t have to be told that Clark Gable has been to the mountains or beach for a vacation.

Whitlatch, typewriter doctor at Gable’s studio, had only to inspect the star’s “portable” when it’s brought in repairs.

If Gable has been to the beach, there’s sand in the mechanism. If he has chosen the mountains, there’ll be a pine needle or two stuck away under the keys.

If the art of conversation has died, the business of writing letters in longhand has all but perished too among Hollywood’s letter answering stars. Whitlatch attends to 355 typewriters, 200 of them belonging to writers, directors and stars, the rest in use by secretaries and stenographers and business offices.

The typewriter as an index to its user’s personality is a familiar thing to Milo Whitlatch. He says he can tell pretty well that user’s personality, the state of his nerves, his education, and his background, simply by an inspection of the machine. 

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A lost art and profession, certainly!