About & Contact
Meet the collector: Jett Morton

Morton (left) and Travis Hamric visit Price’s Chestnut Ridge Typewriter Museum

Morton’s Corona No. 3

Jett Morton, a native of Morgantown, West Virginia, began collecting typewriters around the age of seven. After touring the office of local accountant Herman Price, which housed hundreds of antique typewriters, Morton was given the machine that began Price’s collection, a Corona No. 3 typewriter. Morton began attending typewriter collector meetings.
[1][2][3]
He also contributed to multiple issues of ETCetera – Journal of the Early Typewriter Collectors’ Association.
[1][2][3][4]

Morton, photographed by Ron Rittenhouse/The Dominion Post

Morton, as seen in AntiqueWeek Magazine

In May 2009, Morton's collection was featured in The Dominion Post. By this time, Morton’s collection had grown to 91 typewriters, many of which were acquired at yard sales, flea markets, antique malls, and estate sales.
[1][2][3]
This article was subsequently published in the Charleston Daily Mail (now the Charleston Gazette-Mail).
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It was also published by the Associated Press (AP).
[3]
In December 2009, an article written about Morton’s collection was featured in AntiqueWeek Magazine.[5]

Morton on WBOY-TV

Cover of The Oliver Typewriter Company: Machines and History

Morton on Don Polec’s World

In 2011, Morton published The Oliver Typewriter Company: Machines and History, a history of The Oliver Typewriter Company.
[6][7][8]
In June 2011, Morton was interviewed by local television station WBOY-TV about his collection. At this time, his collection consisted of 220 typewriters.[8] That same month, Morton was also featured in a Don Polec's World segment on Philadelphia's 6abc Action News, highlighting typewriters.[9]

Morton in The Typewriter (in the 21st Century)

Morton in California Typewriter

In 2012, Morton appeared in The Typewriter (in the 21st Century), a documentary film directed by award-winning filmmaker Christopher Lockett. By this time, his collection totaled about 250 machines.[10] In 2016, Morton made a cameo in California Typewriter, a documentary film directed by Doug Nichol, featuring Tom Hanks, John Mayer, David McCullough, and Sam Shepard.
[11][13]

Some of Morton’s typewriters on display at WVU’s Evansdale Library

Morton operates an Oliver

From August 2020 to May 2021, Morton displayed a portion of his typewriter collection, then consisting of 300 machines, in an exhibit through the West Virginia University Art in the Libraries program.
[12]
Once his collection reached somewhere between 300 to 350 typewriters, Morton began tailoring his collection toward the Oliver typewriter brand. He already had several rare Oliver typewriters and liked their design. In March 2021, after selling some of his other machines, Morton’s collection housed 54 Oliver typewriters. His Oliver collection was featured in a story published by West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
[13]

Morton’s Oliver No. 5, as seen in the Grater G. Woodson Home National Historic Site brochure

The National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior included a photo of an Oliver No. 5, part of Morton's collection, in a brochure for the Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site.
[14]
References
^ 1.
Reinke, Malinda (May 3, 2009). “A young man with a passion for old typewriters”. The Dominion Post (Morgantown, West Virginia).
^ 2.
Reinke, Malinda (May 2009). “Boy, 13, has a passion for typewriters”. Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, West Virginia) (The Dominion Post).
^ 3.
Associated Press (May 5, 2009). “13-year-old boy not a typecast collector”. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
^ 4.
^ 5.
McKerrow, Katherine (December 14, 2009). "Early typewriters charm 14-year-old collector". AntiqueWeek Magazine.
^ 6.
Morton, Jett (2011). The Oliver Typewriter Company: Machines and History.
^ 7.
Messenger, Robert (March 28, 2011). "New Typewriter Book: Oliver History". ozTypewriter. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
^ 8.
Arquilla, Dana (June 2011). “Typewriter Collector Has Hundreds of Unique Models – WBOY-TV”.
^ 9.
Polec, Don (June 2011). “Don Polec's World – 6abc Action News - WPVI Philadelphia”.
^ 10.
^ 11.
^ 12.
WVU Art in the Libraries: Passion or Obsession? (2020). “WVU Student Jett Morton's Typewriter Collection”. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
^ 13.
^ 14.
United States Department of the Interior / National Park Service. Carter G. Woodson Home / National Historic Site / Washington, DC.