Last month my wife, mother-in-law, and I visited a little museum in the town we now call home. It was not the largest museum I've ever visited (not that I've visited many...)--no, far from it. But, it captured a feeling that exists here...the agrarian culture, the harsh conditions, the pioneer spirit that built the community.
Though small, the space had many interesting things. Looking back at my saved photos, I took pictures of two items...a quilt covered in VW beetles, and an old typewriter, an Oliver Typewriter, an Oliver No. 9, to be exact.
A brand I've never seen before, and--by process of elimination--the coolest thing I saw in the building.
Years ago I watched a show about the invention of the typewriter and how groundbreaking it was. I think most would agree that it was an important invention, but something they said in the show told me just how amazing the invention it was. They said that for the first time in the history of mankind, the typewriter allowed words to be written that did not require a human to touch the material being used. So, before the typewriter, a person had to actually use an implement to write on paper, rocks, canvas, whatever it was. After the typewriter, a person touched a key that touched the paper.
Maybe it's not the coolest bit of trivia out there, but it has stayed with me since then.
Maybe the typewriter wasn't the coolest thing I saw that day. I thought the Oliver was interesting enough to take not one, but three pictures of it.
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