Festus Manoj with his Molle 3 typewriter
| Photo Credit: Ciju P Cherian
Festus Manoj does not let history pass him by. He preserves it, one object at a time, in a little museum that is part of his home, ‘Manoreshma’ in Kundara, Kollam. His curious assortment of collectibles includes telephones, pagers, timepieces, coins and currency notes, cameras, morse keys and stamps among other things. Manoj has been picking out these objects from fellow collectors, scrap and antique dealers over the past 35 years to curate a collection that reveals entire time periods in the pre-digital era. But among his most prized possessions is a vintage typewriter that would turn 105 years old on November 11, 2023.
The Molle 3 manual typewriter was manufactured by the Molle Company founded by John E Molle, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the United States of America, during the period of the First World War (1914-1918). Molle 3 came into the market in 1918 and is believed to have been used for war time correspondence. The war officially came to an end on November 11, 1918.
The Molle 3 is also a collector’s favourite as the company is known to have manufactured only a limited number — 5,000 to 7,000 units. It is slightly bigger than a portable typewriter, but not as bulky as the typewriters of the time, says Manoj, who also has over 20 other vintage typewriters including Remington, Halda, Adler (made in West Germany), Olivetti (made in Mexico), Olympia’s Carina 2, Godrej and All (made in Japan). He also has a Braille typewriter in his collection.
Manoj, who has learnt typewriting, had always wanted to add a classic typewriter to his collection. That was when he found out through a friend that an antique collector and dealer in Thiruvananthapuram had a Molle 3. Manoj bought it from him nearly five years ago.
“However, owning the Molle 3 is like owning a vital part of history. Many a document concerning the fate of nations would have passed through its keys,” says Manoj. The Molle 3 has a QWERTY keypad with coloured keys.
Manoj’s Molle 3 typewriter
| Photo Credit:
Ciju P Cherian
“One has to take real good care of the typewriter. It has to be cleaned and lubricated often,” says Manoj, who takes the help of his son, Alex Christopher, a Class X student of St Alberts Higher Secondary School, Kochi. Alex shares his father’s passion for antiques and helps preserve the collectibles, many of which have to be handled with care.
Manoj first started collecting coins when he was in school. The passion grew and all through his college years, he kept the interest alive, collecting stamps, coins and currency notes. “By then, I had started looking at objects differently. We had an old radio at home and I began thinking of all the devices that were used for communication. I set ‘communication’ as a theme to my collection and searched for objects used before computers came in,” he says.
Among the first machines to get replaced were Malayalam typewriters, says Manoj. “The government offices would put them up for auction and they would end up with scrap dealers , who break down the machines to take the metal. I have bought a few Malayalam typewriters from scrap dealers especially from Tamil Nadu ,” he adds.
Manoj has over 500 telephones, including the earliest models. Telephones used in defence, railways and ships form part of his collection. He has also preserved punched cards, which stored data using punched holes. These were used before the floppy disc came into existence.
The Molle 3 typewriter
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Manoj, a college faculty, says his hobby is an expensive one. “But that has never stopped me. My family has been supportive too,” he adds.
Manoj has showcased his collections in exhibitions organised by the Numismatic and Philatelic Association he is part of. The last exhibition he conducted was on February 13, 2023, in Kollam to mark World Radio Day.