'I knew it was Tom Hanks': Mystery packages arrive at typewriter shops

A large box arrived at the door of Philly Typewriter about a month ago, prompting Bryan Kravitz to phone his business partner, Bill Rhoda.

"Bill, are we expecting a typewriter in the mail?" Rhoda recounted to ABC News.

They weren't.

Nor were Ian McAndrew of Iron Fox Typewriters, Tom Furrier of Cambridge Typewriter or Scott Connors of Stephentown Typewriter Company expecting packages, yet the Fedex package arrived on each of their doorsteps last month. They were all from Santa Monica, California.

Inside, the small business owners found typewriters draped in green towels with the logo for Playtone -- a production company founded by Tom Hanks.

"The second I saw that I knew it was Tom Hanks," Furrier said of the logo.

Hanks, a well-known typewriter collector, had signed each machine and included a typed and signed letter. McAndrew received a 1934 Underwood Portable "Four Bank" -- referencing the number key rows compared to the smaller "three bank" model -- while Connors received a 1967 Olympia SM8.

The machines had seemingly lived many lives before landing in their shops -- from the factories where they were built decades ago, to a household or office or two, perhaps, and on to an attic or antique store. They ended up in Hanks' personal collection, before finally being sent on to the small businesses.

"He's just sending some people without notice," Furrier said, describing the joy of receiving his typewriter. "They're just showing up on doorsteps unannounced."

Hanks has amassed hundreds of typewriters in his own collection, though the current number following his recent surprise gifts is unclear. Hanks' agent did not immediately return ABC News' request for comment.

The letters Hanks sent indicated which part of the "Tom Hanks Collection," recipients had been gifted. Furrier received a typewriter that Hanks labeled "TM Collection # 086." Meagan Syata, the owner of the Unplug Typewriter Company, received #175 as a surprise in early March.

"It is yours now," read the boilerplate letter, which had empty spaces for Hanks to sign and fill in the make and model of the typewriters. "Take good care of it and halp (sic) it keep doing it's (sic) job for another hundred years."

Hanks has become somewhat of a celebrity in the small world of typewriter collecting. He published a book of short stories, each featuring a typewriter, in 2017. A year prior, he was featured in the documentary "California Typewriter."

"If there was a patron saint of typewriters, he was it," Connors said.

Hanks is also known as a reliable correspondent. Send him a typed letter and you're very likely to receive a response if you wait long enough, according to Syata and Connors, both of whom have corresponded with Hanks in the past.

Fans of typewriters say they've witnessed a resurgence of interest since 2020, as some discovered family members' old typewriters in their attics or simply wanted a way to disconnect from their screens.

"I could just write out some things without 100 notifications going off," said Syata.

As other antiquated forms of technology like record players and manual watches see a similar boost in interest, fans like McAndrew see typewriters as a way to focus on a singular task, feel more grounded or just soak in nostalgia.

"I think everybody is seeking to reach back to the analog to feel some sort of authenticity," he said.

By sharing his love for the machines, Hanks has brought additional attention and seeming regularity to the once-quirky tools for apparent luddites.

"That kind of brings you out from the sort of anachronistic shadows into something that is slightly more relevant to the mainstream," McAndrew said.