Tom Hanks Surprises Massachusetts Typewriter Company With Thoughtful Gift

An Arlington typewriter company recently received an unexpected package from Tom Hanks and it came with a pretty awesome letter from Tom himself.

Cambridge Typewriter Co. has been around for just over 55 years. It was founded by Ed Vanderwalle as a typewriter rental company and evolved to also provide repairs and restoration.

The shop is now owned and operated by Tom Furrier, who happens to be a pretty big Tom Hanks fan — so much so that his apprentice reached out to Hanks a few years ago and ended up getting a birthday letter for the boss, so this isn't the first time the company has heard from Hanks, who is a huge typewriter fan.

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The antique typewriter arrived via FedEx on April 4 all the way from California. It came with a letter infused with typical Hanks charm.

Hanks wrote of the autographed typewriter:

On one hand you are taking off my shelves and out in the greater world. On the other hand, you are giving me more space and less clutter. On the third hand (?) you just may be giving this mircale of a machine a fuller, newer life of use.

You can imagine Furrier's surprise in opening such a thoughtful gift from someone he admires.

"I was tickled pink to get something like this from Tom," he said.

As far as Furrier's plans for the typewriter, he says he will keep it for a while and restore it to like new. He will then probably take it home for a while and type on it. Eventually, he is going to either sell it or donate it. He is leaning toward donating it to a charity auction.

"Donating it to a charity is more in line with something Tom Hanks would do," Furrier said. "That's why I'm leaning more toward that."

As far as why Hanks is sending typewriters to people, well, that's because he has a pretty big collection and is downsizing while hoping that the shops he sends them to will give them new life.