#Exhibit of the Month

Manufactured in 1902 by AG vorm Siedel & Nauman in Dresden, Germany.

Dimensions: Length - 38 cm, Width - 35 cm, Height - 20 cm. Weight - 16 kg. It entered the museum collection in 1984, transferred from the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History.

The typewriter features a standard carriage mounted on ball bearings and rollers, along with a keyboard equipped with 42 keys. These contain two complete sets of Latin and Cyrillic alphabets, punctuation marks, numbers, and mathematical symbols, enabling the typing of 126 characters. Beneath the metal casing, the type bars are arranged in a fan-like pattern, holding embossed characters and ink ribbon rollers. When the keys are pressed, the type bars strike the inked ribbon, imprinting characters onto the paper tensioned in the machine's roller system.

The side panels are elegantly decorated with refined cast-iron elements in the Art Nouveau style, displaying the brand name - "Ideal." The Polyglott model, featuring a bilingual keyboard patented in the United Kingdom by Max Klaczko from Riga, Latvia, was produced between 1902 and 1913, marking the first typewriter capable of writing in two languages. The "Ideal Polyglott" typewriter was actively sold in the Russian Empire and gained significant popularity in Poland, Bulgaria, and Serbia.
The typewriter - a mechanical device used for printing text directly onto paper - ranks among the most important inventions of the modern era, as it revolutionized communication. From the late 19th century to the early 21st century, it became an indispensable tool, widely used by writers, in offices, for business correspondence, and in private homes. The peak of typewriter sales occurred in the 1950s when the average annual sales in the United States reached 12 million units. In November 2012, the British Brother factory produced what it claimed to be the last typewriter, which was donated to the Science Museum in London.
The advent of computers, word processing software, printers, and the decreasing cost of these technologies led to the typewriter's disappearance from the mainstream market, turning it into a museum exhibit.
June 23 marks Typewriter Day, commemorating the date when American journalist and inventor Christopher Latham Sholes patented his typewriter. This day celebrates the simple yet revolutionary device that has become history, as well as the remarkable literary achievements it has enabled since 1868.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

„Manhood and Faith” (Military awards from the collection of NMHM)

May 17, 2014 -May 17, 2015

The National Museum of History of Moldova holds a rich collection of military awards from the 18^th - 21^st centuries. This valuable collection is very little known to the large public, this serving as motive for the organization of the exhibition „Manhood and Faith".

To crate a broader image regarding the origin of the military awards to the visiting public, the presentation is done in progressive order of chronological and typological perspective, and brings together a selection of over 200 representative pieces from this collection.

The exhibition discourse begins with two Sarmatian phalerae dated with the 1^st-2^nd centuries AD. The historic, artistic and intrinsic value of these authentic jewels should be remarked as they are symbols of the respective authority.

The modern and contemporary periods are the golden age of the decoration awards; more precisely from the expansionist policy of Friedrich II's Prussia and Peter I's Russia. The maximum centers of interest in the exhibition are the west-European, Romanian and Russian orders and medals from the 18^th-19^th centuries: Order of St. Stanislav, 3^rd degree. Russia, 1765; Order of St. Ana, 3^rd degree. Russia, 1787; Order Virtuti Militari. Poland, 1792; Order of the Rising Sun, 5^th degree. Japan, 1878. Among the pieces on display is remarkable the Order Star of Romania, the first Romanian order established by the law voted on May 10^th, 1877.

The military distinctions from the tumultuous period of the Russian-Turkish wars are of special interest: Medal Battle from Cahul. Russia, 1770; Medal Peace from Kuciuk-Kainargi. Russia, 1774; Medal Peace with Turkey. Russia, 1791; Medal Sea battle from Česmen. Russia, 1770 etc.

The distinctions from the period of the Russian-Turkish wars alternate with those from the two World Wars (1914-1918; 1940-1945): The Iron Cross. Prussia, 1914; Medal Cross of Fire. Austria, 1914; The Cross St. George, 1^st-4^th degrees. Russia, 1914; Order of the White Cloud, Manchuria. 1932; Order of the Polar Star. Mongolia, 1937; Order Kutuzov, 1^st degree. USSR, 1944; Order Suvorov, 2^nd degree. USSR, 1944; Cross Grünwald. Poland, 1944; Medal Ushakov, 2^nd degree. USSR, 1944; Order Za Vitezctvi. Czechoslovakia, 1945; Order Alexandr Nevski. USSR, 1944; Order Otečestvennaja Vojna, 1^st-2^nd degree. USSR, 1942.

The exhibition continues with a series of postwar orders and medals of the former socialist countries: Order Tudor Vladimirescu. Romania, 1966; Order Ian Žižca. Czechoslovakia, 1946; Medal Veteran Voorujionnyh Sil SSSR. USSR, 1976; Medal Za Otličie v voinskoj slujbe. USSR, 1974.

Some decorations are accompanied with patents with the name of the decorated person, the decree number and the reason for awarding the distinction.

The exhibition display ends with state military distinctions of the Republic of Moldova awarded for acts of heroism and cunning leadership of military operations. The highest distinction in this category is the Order of Ştefan cel Mare, established in 1992.

For a solemn and sober appearance, the exhibition is complemented with flags, banners, battle standards.

The exhibition Manhood and Faith distributes information about the past and awakens feelings of veneration towards the ancestors inspiring the desire to carry on their great goals.

#Exhibit of the Month

"Ideal" Mechanical Typewriter, Model A Polyglott

„Manhood and Faith” (Military awards from the collection of NMHM)

May 17, 2014 -May 17, 2015

#Exhibit of the Month