Lucas Dul: Typewriter Chicago

Lucas Dul has been fascinated with buttons and switches since he was a small child. Dul, who grew up in Downers Grove, Illinois, remembers taking apart cassette players, and broken items around the house and putting them back together when he was in elementary school. He loved renting VHS videotapes at Blockbuster with his dad and stealing his cassette tapes to figure out how they worked. As he got older, Lucas became fascinated with typewriters. He immersed himself in the history of typewriters and started dissecting old models piece by piece. He loved the feel of the the machines and the differing sounds they made.

In high school, Dul was a bit of a loner. But impressed a classmate when he asked Lucas to repair an old typewriter he found by the roadside. Lucas was hooked on typewriters and started earning money on the side repairing typewriters in his basement.
In 2024, Dul is one of Illinois only typewriter repair professionals. And certainly one of the nation’s youngest. At age 25, Lucas has his own business called Typewriter Chicago in Downers Grove repairing nearly any kind of typewriter for clients worldwide. He has a large backlog of machines.

As the owner and sole operator of the business, Dul has a community of typewriter repair professionals he shares knowledge and tools with to keep business steady and costs down. He’s also an avid photographer, and documents many of his machines on analog and digital film in beautiful environments. His photography has earned him a growing fan base on social media.
Dul keeps the big picture in mind as he runs a niche business.

“People want to be remembered and have a record of their life on earth. Using paper and ink to document your life, your thoughts, and your work is a tangible way to do it. Much better than digital media, which doesn’t really exist, if you think about it.”
Check out Dul’s website and photography here.