#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.

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Exhibitions

"With coats of arms at the table - in the world and at home..."

Exhibition of everyday objects dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Heraldry Cabinet within the Office of the President of the Republic of Moldova

March 30 – April 30, 2023

In our century, coats of arms represent the most solemn segment of emblems in use. Their highly elaborate artistic aspect and the enciphered symbolism that cannot be penetrated at first adds to the solemnity a touch of mystery intimidating to the man of today. Or, once the coat of arms could be seen everywhere, because it also had the function of a property mark. It was worn by numerous objects, including everyday and not very solemn ones.

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Heraldry Cabinet within the Office of the President of the Republic of Moldova (April 1, 2013, by the appointment of the first State Heraldist of the Republic of Moldova), this exhibition is part of the series of events promoting heraldic knowledge and use, supported by the National Commission of Heraldry attached to the President of the Republic of Moldova, from the moment of its establishment, with the support of traditional scientific partners, among which the National Museum of History of Moldova takes the leading place.

The purpose of the exhibition is to sensitize public opinion on the fact that a coat of arms can and must be used in everyday life without any restraint, in some mundane activities and situations. It is primarily about family and territorial coats of arms, because national symbols - official, cultural and natural - have never left our visual space, occupying more and more space.

The table, which brings together family members or friends, colleagues or relatives, has always been an opportunity to promote ideas. Table, tea and coffee services, cutlery, napkins and tablecloths, adjacent decorations and surrounding furniture began to be decorated with coats of arms right from the appearance of heraldic insignia. Thus, the compartments "A tea with a coat of arms", "A cup of coffee with a coat of arms", "A dairy with a coat of arms", "A beer with a coat of arms", "A wine with a coat of arms", "A strong drink with a coat of arms", "At the table with the Dutch royal family" reflects precisely this extremely widespread worldwide use of the coat of arms and complementary emblems.

The compartment "At the work table with coat of arms" marks the use of armoured objects when the man is working: at the writing table, at the sewing table, etc. Two other compartments "At the gaming table with a coat of arms" and "At a cigarette with a coat of arms" mark the other facet of human nature - the pleasure of entertainment. Two applied, historical domains were chosen, which also correspond to the structure of the collection.

The last two sections - "Daily heraldic use in the Republic of Moldova" and "Daily heraldic use in Romania" - present the situation in the Romanian space, which has not evolved much and is still mainly limited to the promotion of national heraldic symbols - the coat of arms and the state flag -, the other types of heraldic and complementary emblems remaining in the shadows. This exhibition is organized precisely to change this situation in our country, where the economic premises already allow the embodiment of such ideas that must not be delayed.

After the exhibition closes, most of the exhibited pieces, with historical value, will be donated to the Museum.

The exhibition "With the coat of arms on the table - in the world and at home..." will be open from March 30 to April 30, 2023, in the hall on the ground floor of the National History Museum of Moldova, str. 31 August 1989, 121A.