George Baker got into the typewriter business in 1932 when his father, who had worked many trades but found himself out of work in that depression year, asked him very simply if he would "like to have a go at the typewriter business."  George agreed, and remained in the typewriter business in Elyria, Ohio from that year until July 30, 2006 when he officially retired at age 92.  We had the opportunity to interview Mr. Baker and his lovely wife a few days later and got a great insight into the business, and Mr. Baker's incredible history.

It seems that his father had been in the typewriter business, rebuilding machines, a number of years prior to this attempt.  However, his partner in the business suddenly left for Canada and took the machines and everything with him, leaving the elder Mr. Harold Baker high and dry.
Harold Baker had held a number of jobs in factories and foundries until, as mentioned, he decided to try the typewriter business once more, this time in his new home town of Elyria - and he asked his son George (fresh out of high school) to join him.  George decided to go along with it, and they began approaching businesses in town with offers to maintain and rebuild their machines.  "I remember sitting on the porch many days and nights scrubbing small parts with a brush, gasoline and my bare hands" George told us.  They rented a house in Elyria to use as their place of business for the fee of $15.00 a month and soon were off and running.  George told us that his father really taught him the business, and how to sell people on the services they were providing - and taught him how to deal with customers as people, and with people as customers.  The venture did well enough, even in those tough years, that the duo decided to make a stab at actually becoming dealers for one of the big makers.  George recalled with some pride the finalizing of the arrangements that made the Baker Typewriter Company an official dealership for the Royal Typewriter Company in 1934.  That development proved to be pivotal.
Baker Typewriter had made a wise choice in Royal, considering the market at the time -- Royal had only just then introduced a segment-shifted version of its well established No. 10 Standard, and the Bakers used it to their advantage.

"You could sell the Royal as oppossed to an Underwood with the heavier carriage shift if you just let the secretary or typist try it out and said 'See how easy that is?' " George told us.  "That look on her face, with the boss watching, would usually do the trick.  Now, the L.C. Smith already had segment shift from way back, but at that time they still hadn't started using the segment yet - still had separate type bar bearings.  So, you could take a Smith that was kind of worn out and type on it erratically and if you knew how to do it, you could get it to print all over the place - and then you type off a page on the Royal you're demonstrating, and everything's in line and of course the boss just goes right for that."  So, while it's true that the Royal of this exact time period had a lot to commend it, it's also true that the Bakers were particularly direct and experienced in selling typewriters in general, and this new segment-shift Royal in particular.  It worked magic.
Baker Typewriter moved a few times as the business grew, until it had a proper storefront in 1940.  The business was doing very well, but something happened to interrupt it - the Second World War.  George wasn't immediately drafted, and didn't immediately enlist, and told us that there was some pressure from the townspeople in the way of offhand remarks, and looks.  Harold Baker told his son that if he wanted to really make it in the typewriter business in that town following the War, he'd better enlist and come back.  George did, and although he originally was slated for a program related to office machines (they tried that when they discovered how much he knew about typewriters) he ended up changing entirely and going over to armor!  George Baker became a member of the now legendary 749th Tank Battalion, which saw service everywhere in Europe from the invasion of Normandy to the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes, to the final assault on Germany and the occupation.  George Baker returned not only having served, but as a decorated hero.
George soon took over the business entirely from his father, who passed away soon after the war's end.  George forged ahead, and even invested locally when he had the Baker Building constructed in 1955; George is seen in front of it in our first picture.  Baker Typewriter moved into this building in 1965 (the rest of it being rented) and in 1966 George decided to switch affiliations and became an Olympia dealer; he's seen here with an Olympia keyboard chart.  Baker Typewriter was the number one dealer, rebuilder and license/contract maintainer of typewriters in Lorain County and had a number of important school contracts.  As with all typewriter businesses, demand waned and competition increased and although Baker outlasted everyone in the county, 2006 marked the end.
George likes to recall the good old days though, and that's how we like to think of him.  "I remember carrying two typewriters in each hand, with my hands and fingers just so (he showed us) and I could get them from offices to the shop and back that way.  Later of course I could only carry one in each arm, and later of course less!"  George also related to us how his father Harold schooled him in the true art of salesmanship.  "My father taught me never to oversell the machine, or services, but to deal with the customer honestly and squarely.  When the customer asked a question like 'how much then is it for the wide carriage' or some other such thing you had described, you just stopped talking right there because the sale was made."  For many years, George Baker's life was simply inundated by typewriters front to back and all day long - and while it seems like many men who worked years in the trade found it to be just another job, it was clear as we shook hands and said good-bye that George Baker really loved the business - every minute of it, every aspect of it - and perhaps liked to remember the "good old days" as well as we did.

We talked about a horde of things that day unrelated to typewriters - so many things that his poor wife was almost late for an appointment! - and it became clear to us that George Baker should not be remembered only as a man who spent a good honest life in business, or even as that and a decorated veteran of the greatest armed conflict in history.  George Baker is more - an honest, likable man who still at 92 has a twinkle in his eye, who can still change subjects as fast as anyone, who can still use five words where anyone else needs twenty, and someone just quite plainly remarkable.  We wish him well and hope to talk with him again.
Our interview with George Baker is a great way to start our new presentation on the sales and service aspect of the whole "typewriter business," as Mr. Baker described it.  Of course, that phrase to him encompassed so many things it's hard to think of them all today - and since the interview, we like to think of the "typewriter business" in a whole new way as well.  Below we'll have links to new articles and features based on this sort of viewpoint; some of the material is from Mr. Baker himself.