Past advancements in history could simply disappear if we never look back. If we never go back or look to our elders in the present and ask simple questions.
Last night, it hit past midnight and I realized it was my mother’s birthday and after the standard “Oh it’s your birthday, mom! Happy birthday!” I mentioned “Wow, you’ve seen a lot happen. You’ve seen so much technology! Before the cell phone, possibly before the landline?!”
She mentioned “Taquígrafo”, a stenograph and the telegram. She claims she actually knew how to read stenography (the “hieroglyphics” as she called them).
She was born in the Dominican Republic in February of 1952 so I imagine the technology was a bit more delayed there.
Eventually, of course the typewriter came into place. Something used today to do as a recalling of a vintage pastime to make cute poetry writings on the streets, or at weddings and private events for money and expression.
Pretty amazing to think of these past pieces of technology that were once so ubiquitous. People were hired to use them. Executives, secretaries and assistants — actual jobs where people sat, not in front of a screen, but in front of paper by a lamp.
It’s just the feeling of a time that forces me to wonder. My mom said she learned of the passing of her father via telegram. Can you imagine? That’s just wild.
