#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

Events Archive

The International Museum Day and European Night of Museums

18 May 2019

National Museum of History of Moldova, under the patronage of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, organized on May 18, 2019, between 10.00 – 24.00, the International Museum Day and European Night of Museums. This year the events was held under the theme “Museums as Cultural Hubs: The future of tradition”.

Program included:

Visit of the Exhibitions

1. Permanent exhibitions „History and civilization”

2. Innovatic Fest Roboshow, rooms 1-4, 10:00 – 24:00

At the exhibition visitors enjoyed the poetry recitals by the Tespian robot and danced together with the dancing robots, remained amazed at the ease with which robot spiders overcome obstacles and fascinated for life by the star of the Las Vegas Innovation Exhibition 2019 - the puppy Aibo!

Access to the exhibition “Innovatic fest” was possible with discounted tickets.

3. “Bucharest: a Novecento portrait”, the lobby, from 10:00 to 24:00

The temporary exhibition about the 20^th century Bucharest bringed this city to the attention of the public from the perspective of a twentieth-century journey, without limiting itself to the evolution of urban society, but also trying to show some changes in behavior, way of life, concerns, living and indoor surroundings.

4. “Fashion and style in Chişinău and Bucharest of the 30s", room 12 / Blue Room, 10:00 - 24:00

A unique collection of dresses of the famous stars of the Romanian stage and some of the most rare accessories from the 30's of the 20^th century. Every dress has a special story.

The exhibition represents a retrospective of fashionable silhouettes of those years, which fits perfectly with the interior of the National Museum of History of Moldova. Guests will also be able to admire several images that demonstrate the beauty, elegance, expressiveness of the silhouettes and the glow of the creations of that time.

5. New pieces from the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova.

In the framework of the exhibition “Antiquity and Medieval Age” were presented, for the first time, copies of two metopes from the Trajan's Column and the layout of the Căuşeni Church.

Participation in the Events

1. Book presentation „Piese de giuvaergie antică din colecțiile Muzeului Național de Istorie a Moldovei”, author Ana Niculiță, blue room of the museum, 12:00.

2. Chamber music concert, National Chamber Orchestra, Conductor Vladimir Andrieș, blue room of the museum, 13:30 – 14:30

3. Musical show performed by the students of the lyceum S. Rahmaninov, blue room of the museum, 16:00 – 17:00

4. A movie at the museum. „Expedițiile memoriei”, room 10 / Modern history. OWH Studio; recent productions from the Cronograf Festival. 17:00 – 20:00

5. Painting on ceramics workshop. Room 6 / Red Room.

Workshop by Svetlana Şugjda (Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, “Ion Creangă” State Pedagogical University) and Alena Stoica, ceramist artist. Visitors had the opportunity to paint decorative motifs typical for the Cucuteni culture and to take home their works. My pot - my work! from 10:00 to 16:00

6. Medieval calligraphy workshop. Room 8.

Handing feathers and nibs on old paper with wonderful inks, visitors wrote their own letters and papers, strengthened them with the seal of the museum and gave them to their loved ones. No one left the museum without a memory! from 10:00 to 16:00

7. Craftsmen fair (with selling). Museum courtyard, 10:00 – 20:00

Creative workshops with the participation of craftsmen

Ion Prividiuc – potter

Grigore Pasternac – carpenter

Oksana Bureak – jewelry from leather and natural stones

Victor Pelin - carpenter

Nadejda Sîrbu – toys from clay

Olga Koshel – potter

8. Night concert, museum courtyard, from 20:30 – 23:00

... and other beautiful surprises!

On May 18, 2019, between 10:00 and 24:00 hours, access to the museum's rooms and participation in all activities from the program, with the exception of the Innovatic fest exhibition, were free of charge.

#Exhibit of the Month

"Ideal" Mechanical Typewriter, Model A Polyglott

The International Museum Day and European Night of Museums

18 May 2019

Participation in the Events

#Exhibit of the Month