How Tom Hanks Turned a Lifelong Typewriter Obsession Into a Gift for the World

Tom Hanks has spent decades collecting vintage typewriters — not as a prop, but as a passion. Now, the Hollywood icon is quietly giving them away, one signed and lovingly packed machine at a time.

Long before Tom Hanks became one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors, he fell in love with something far less glamorous: the typewriter. What began as a teenage habit of collecting old machines turned into a lifelong passion, and now, into a generous mission to share that love with others.

Hanks told The New York Times in 2019 that he began collecting typewriters at 19, drawn to them during a time when his life was in constant motion. “I had nothing, actually, that stayed with me all through my life,” he said, reflecting on a childhood marked by frequent moves.

Typewriters, for him, became something grounding and permanent. He called them “brilliant combinations of art and engineering,” adding, “Every time you type something on a typewriter, it is a one-of-a-kind work of art.”

Over the years, his collection grew into the hundreds. Hanks would use them to write letters to friends and co-stars, including Sally Field. He even developed a mobile app, Hanx Writer, to simulate the tactile feel of typing on the real thing.

By 2019, his collection had slimmed down to about 120 machines, and he expressed plans to eventually keep just one model — the one that brings him the most comfort.

But rather than quietly storing the rest, Hanks did something unexpected. In early 2023, typewriter repair shops across the country began receiving mysterious packages shipped from Santa Monica. Inside were vintage typewriters, each signed by Hanks and accompanied by a typed letter bearing the Playtone logo, his production company.

Some of the notes included his classic dry humor: “On the one hand you are taking [this] off my shelves… on the other hand, you are giving me more space and less clutter. On the third hand (?) you just may be giving this miracle of a machine a fuller, newer life.”

Each recipient received a different model, including a 1934 Underwood Portable and a 1967 Olympia SM8. The notes identified the machines by number — “TM Collection #086,” for instance — confirming they came from Hanks' personal archive.

Hanks’ generosity isn’t limited to anonymous surprise packages; he also keeps his word in more personal ways. In 2023, during a stop on his "The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece" book tour, he visited Type Space, a small typewriter shop in Portland, Oregon, and promised owner Antony Valoppi he’d send him an autographed machine.

“We had such a great time… geeking out over platen knobs, escapements, and all the glorious quirks of these machines,” Valoppi recalled on Instagram. Two years later, Hanks delivered on that promise with a signed 1955 Rheinmetall typewriter, which Valoppi called “priceless” and proudly displayed in his store.

This wasn’t the first time Hanks used a typewriter to connect with someone in a deeply personal way. In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, he sent a Corona-brand typewriter to an Australian boy named Corona De Vries, who had been bullied for sharing a name with the virus. Along with the machine came a typed letter of encouragement: “I thought this typewriter would suit you,” Hanks wrote. “Ask a grown-up how it works. And use it to write me back.”

Hanks’ gifts were more than just charming surprises. For small business owners like Ian McAndrew of Iron Fox Typewriters, who started collecting after losing his restaurant business in the pandemic, the gesture felt like a vote of confidence. “It’s one thing to be beautiful; it’s another thing to be fully functional,” McAndrew said of the Underwood he received. “The message from Hanks is the ultimate affirmation: Keep doing what you’re doing — keeping history alive”

In 2025, 35 typewriters from Hanks’ collection were featured in an exhibition at The Church in Long Island. Titled "Some of Tom’s Typewriters," the show was curated by Hanks himself and designed by Simon Doonan, former creative director of Barneys. It offered visitors a chance to experience these machines as artifacts of history, design, and personal storytelling.

Through his quiet generosity and enduring affection for analog tools, Tom Hanks has done more than collect old machines; he’s helped keep them alive, relevant, and surprisingly full of life.