In Eyüpsultan, 62-year-old İsmail Hakkı Candar has dedicated 46 years to repairing typewriters, a once-essential tool now relegated to nostalgia. As one of Istanbul’s last two typewriter repair masters, Candar has struggled to find an apprentice since 1993, underscoring the profession’s decline with the rise of modern technology.
Candar’s fascination with machinery began in childhood, leading him to apprentice with a typewriter repairman at 16. After eight years of training, he opened his own shop, which has now become a museum of sorts. Despite the dwindling demand, typewriters remain popular in the film and TV industry.
“We are left with only two old masters who repair typewriters,” Candar noted. “The typewriter is my everything. I take great pleasure in repairing them. While other masters have left the profession, I continue with the same enthusiasm as my first day.”
Candar lamented the lack of new talent in the field, attributing it to the disinterest of today’s youth in learning technical trades. He innovatively uses 3D printing to fabricate parts no longer available. “Typewriters are not produced anymore, with the last factory in India closing in 2000,” he said, expressing hope that the timeless machines will endure for years to come.
Ahmet Faruk Sarıkoç