Much in the same way that digital cameras made Polaroids obsolete, the proliferation of the personal computer and the printer ended the usefulness of the humble typewriter after over a century of being the most convenient way to type letters and novels. If you learned to type on a typewriter, you're likely a more accurate typist than anyone who learned on a computer keyboard; in the old days, you couldn't just hit the 'delete' key to correct an error. You had to start all over again!
Hipsters love typewriters. They might even love taking pictures of their vintage typewriters with their vintage Polaroid cameras just to feel extra-smug about them. Even something that was once as common as the Hooven Automatic Typewriter is now worth $7,500. If your house is home to an old Malling-Hansen Writing Ball, though, you could be sat on a $100,000 fortune that you never even knew was there.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.