My Typer Tale

I purchased this typewriter from an antique shop in Grand Junction, Colorado in July 2017 and brought it back home with me to Texas. It has proven to be an excellent machine for creativity. Inside it's case, was the bank loan ticket for it's initial purchase(see below).  The original owner's name was "Mrs. L.C. Ridennoure". I began to wonder what her story was. An simple google search yielded one hit from a 2012 online article from the La Junta Tribune-Democrat newspaper. The only thing that I was able to surmise was that Mrs. Ridennoure herself had once been a columnist for the paper. I emailed one of the paper's reports(who had known Mrs. Ridennoure) and in turn, she gave me the name of one of her grandchildren to contact. Between the information from both of these sources, I was able to piece together her story.

Etha Lynn(Taylor) Ridennoure was born in Vera,Texas on August 24,1904. She and several of her siblings came to Colorado in a covered wagon by themselves when they were young. She settled near Higbee, Colorado and later married Lawrence Cuberson Ridennoure.  She finished school through correspondence courses and later began reporting on local Higbee Valley news to be submitted to the La Junta Tribune-Democrat. She lived on Highway 109 between Higbee and La Junta. Lynn and "Cuddle" had eight children, one of which is still living in La Junta. When she retired, he children helped her move to Fowler, Colorado. She said she like her retirement house because it as the same age as she was. she died in 1996 at the age of 92.

It is thought that this typewriter came into possession of her close friend in Fruita, Colorado after her death. Fruita is only about a fifteen minute drive from Grand Junction. This would account for the long 350 mile trip it made from Higbee to Grand Junction.

The typewriter now happily resides with me on the outskirts of Houston, Texas where I use it to write poetry and letters nearly every day.