Last of a Breed: Postal Workers Who Decipher Bad Addresses

London’s Most Mysterious Museum Exhibits: Part 1

Dossin Great Lakes Museum reopens with new local focus

Reddit restores 87yo Grandad’s Navy Photo

3D printing comes to Chicago

It’s Member Appreciation Days at The Henry Ford, Nov. 9-11, with all kinds of members-only specials, giveaways, discounts and other good stuff.

Not long ago, I heard someone refer to an annual membership at The Henry Ford as a “super pass.”

It’s a great description, since a membership means a year’s worth of access to Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village without paying general admission. That benefit is the one I love the most. It gives my family the flexibility to head to the campus for a few hours to attend a special event, activity or exhibit, or just to stroll around one or more of the venues for the sake of strolling.

Checking out the Lego Architecture Exhibition on opening day.

This past Sunday was a perfect example, I took my son and his friend to see the LEGO Architecture: Towering Ambition exhibit in the afternoon, and we ended our visit by catching the “Rocky Mountain Express” IMAX film. (Which we all thoroughly enjoyed.)

It was great to have free admission to Henry Ford Museum when it was open late for the Titanic Tuesday Lecture series.

I can’t begin to tabulate the number of great memories we’ve had at The Henry Ford. There’s a certain element of wonder to each visit. We always enjoy it and learn something new, while the stream of special events and activities keep us engaged and coming back for more.

Checking out the chair in which President Abraham Lincoln sat when assassinated.

The mere fact that we can so readily stand thisclose to some of the most significant and iconic artifacts in our country’s history just never seems to get old.

I did a completely unscientific poll of my own friends I found (as I suspected) that many are or have been members of The Henry Ford and have enjoyed the benefits I mentioned above. I got a lot of comments along the same lines of the “super pass” bonus.

“We love to go walk around the museum or village for a couple hours on Sunday afternoons.”

“We go to the special events like the Civil War encampment and try to catch as many historic baseball games as we can.”

“It takes the pressure off of an all-day visit with the little ones.”

“We’ve been members for 15-years and have enjoyed watching our children’s knowledge grow.”

“I like going to eat at Eagle Tavern, especially during the fall. Being a member makes it an option.”

“We love the ride pass. I’m not sure why, but riding in a Model T never gets old.”

But this comment struck me …

“We got married at Martha-Mary Chapel and have been members ever since –even if we can’t always make a trip during the year.”

About 90 percent of memberships are purchased by local folks like us, who take advantage of more than one annual visit. There are also members who reside in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Canada, and states as far away as Florida, Texas, Arizona and California. These are folks who obviously aren’t dropping by for an afternoon visit but are choosing to support this gem of an institution by purchasing a membership.

Visiting a few times during the summer months gives us a chance to catch most of the dramatic performances. “How I Got Over” was definitely my kids’ favorite this year

There is a menu of memberships to fit all kinds of different scenarios. Since we typically buy the family pass, I didn’t really know all the flexible options that are now available. Companion, Family, Flex Family … the list goes on. In addition to including admission for more guests, some of the higher-level memberships include invitations to behind-the-scenes tours with curators and experts at The Henry Ford.

With each membership, there is the option to add a Ride Pass to fit the scope of the membership. The Ride Pass was introduced in 2006, and this year, more than 12,000 members purchased it. The pass allows for unlimited rides on all the historic transportation in the village and on the Herschell-Spillman carousel.

The kids had some good laughs and good times at the 2011 Members Holiday Lighting Ceremony, not to mention, Santa was there! We’re looking forward to this year’s event.

Members also often have the opportunity to purchase tickets for special events before they go on sale to the general public, receive discounts at The Henry Ford gift shops as well as are offered reduced prices for the IMAX Theatre and Ford Rouge Factory Tour. There’s also a special member price for the summer Discovery Camp. I didn’t know this until just recently, but there are even special member offers for discounts for local hotels and dining in the community.

Betty Speyer – who is the marketing manager of consumer engagement at The Henry Ford – said that the people who receive the most up-to-date information and perks are members signed up for the monthly “eUpdates” and those enrolled in the Member Text Club. You can join by texting the word “member” to 36698. The Member Text Club was completely new to me. When I signed up, I received a text for one free guest admission, good until December 30th. That will certainly come in handy when one of our children wants to bring a friend along during the holidays.

Betty also told me that in the future, these electronic methods will be the only methods members will be up-to-date on special freebies offered, so it’s well worth the time to sign up for these communication channels.

We consider our membership an annual gift to our family and a great gift to give – since it’s one that keeps on giving.

Congratulations to this week’s Titanic Ticket Tuesday winner, Kari Ternes! Enjoy the exhibit.

My name is Danielle and I am currently a museum studies graduate student interested in becoming a museum registrar. I spent this summer at The Henry Ford, working in the department of Historical Resources to digitize the museum’s typewriter collection.

As an intern in the Registrar’s office, I had the opportunity to work with the museum’s extensive typewriter collection, which consists of over 100 typewriters. The typewriters range from a Sholes & Glidden, invented in the 1870s, to a Typatune musical typewriter (above). The collection also includes typewriter accessories, such as stands and cleaning kits, as well as trade catalogs produced by typewriter manufacturers and photographs of typewriters found in offices and workspaces.

The Henry Ford is currently in the process of digitizing its collection. This process requires that records for each object must be up-to-date and the object properly cleaned and photographed before it can go online. My job was to update the records for each typewriter and to assist in cleaning the typewriters and preparing them to be photographed.

When I was not updating records, I spent time in the conservation lab cleaning a caligraph typewriter from the early 1880s, pictured above. This machine was invented by George Washington Newton Yost and manufactured by the American Writing Machine Company in New York City. It was the first commercial type-bar machine that was sold with a key for each character that it printed.

This typewriter has an awkward keyboard design that was influenced by the QWERTY design. Through my research on typewriters, I learned about the history of the QWERTY keyboard. It was patented by Christopher Latham Sholes in 1878, one of the men credited with inventing the first commercially successful typewriter. Several explanations for the rationale behind this arrangement have been offered, but they have all been disproved. This leaves typewriter collectors and historians with the conclusion that there may be no legitimate reason for the most popular arrangement of the keys.

Although this is the most common keyboard arrangement and the one we are most familiar with today, it is not the only arrangement. There are typewriters with two keyboards and the Ideal keyboard, with “DHIATENSOR” in the home row. The earliest keyboards only had capital letters, while others intended for use by the blind only had seven keys. Some typewriters even had keyboards that could be used to type in several different fonts, types, and languages.

This summer, I learned about the operations of a large museum, its collections, and the various responsibilities of the museum’s staff. I had the opportunity to interact with multiple departments and experienced the process of digitizing a collection from start to finish. My internship was a rewarding experience that taught me that The Henry Ford is not only a great place to visit but a great place to work.

By Danielle Bowman
Summer Intern, Historical Resources

Excellent writing, communication and computer skills required. Intern candidates need to be comfortable with PowerPoint presentations, client services, business calls, research, maintaining databases, as well as assisting with selected events and programs. This internship requires a minimum two-day commitment per week; evening and weekend hours may be required for events; and junior/senior year preferred.

Please send or email resumes with cover letters to: Employment@TheHenryFord.org.

Halfway through the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, I’m here in metro Detroit wishing I had access to some of the Union Jack souvenirs attendees can be seen wearing on TV. According to this story in the Guardian, there’s definitely no lack of enthusiasm, and variety, for souvenirs this time around. Whether you’re lucky enough to attend the Olympics in person or are on the hunt for a must-have gift for your family back at home, Olympics souvenirs reflect exciting times in sports history.

Here in The Henry Ford’s collections, this lapel ribbon from the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley was a welcomed souvenir for one lucky attendee as the Olympics returned to the United States for the first time since before World War II. Featuring a jumping ice skater and patriotic ribbons, you can almost picture hundreds of these badges proudly pinned to the coats of spectators as they watched their favorite athletes compete.

Which souvenirs do you think will become the most sought after for the 2012 Summer Games? Rebecca Bizonet, an archivist here at the Benson Ford Research Center, keeps this eraser (below) from the 2004 Summer Games in Athens on her desk as a small, but meaningful, reminder of the Olympics. Do you think any souvenirs from the London games will be in a museum some day?

Greetings from a very busy Maker Faire campus this morning! Makers are on their way and will be setting up all day today in preparation for 2012 Maker Faire Detroit. Hopefully you’ll be joining us at some point this weekend, but if you’re not, you can join in on the fun online:

• Check back for periodical updates on our Facebook page throughout the weekend
• Our own Maker Faire Facebook page will also have a lot of live updates
• Tweet with participants using the #MakerFaireDetroit hashtag and follow our feed
• Follow @TheHenryFord on Instagram for a collection of fantastic on-the-scene photos

If you are joining us this weekend, make sure to download the official 2012 Maker Faire Detroit smart phone application, created by Compuware. It features an event map, schedule, and the ability to create your own itinerary as you go from exhibit to exhibit. Simply search for it in your preferred app store.

Whether you’re on The Henry Ford grounds or watching from afar, make sure to join in on all the fun this weekend by connecting with our social channels.

If you’re a custom motorcycle maker, what do you do with all those left over parts? If you’re Dozer from Dozer Studios in Clawson, Mich., you make good use of them in some very cool functional art.

Dozer and Cate with one seriously cool motorcycle.

Cate Strumbos and Dozer own the studio that specializes in works in steel – from custom cycles and repurposed parts to original art. Dozer finds inspiration in nature and what’s hidden underground; he’s created a series of furniture and art pieces with a tree-roots theme.

Dozer Studios is one of the many local makers showing some of their work at the July 28-29 Maker Faire Detroit.

What inspires you to make?

Father and son team Vic and Micky Miller are bringing their project Recyclobot to Maker Faire Detroit from Toledo. The duo has been working on the automaton reverse tricycle for the past few months.

Vic and Micky participated at last year’s Maker Faire Detroit with their art installation – Tech|Disobey|Lab – which they displayed in Henry Ford Museum. A play on Cuban artist Ernesto Orosa’s work, the audio visual piece was made from recycled and reclaimed electronics.

“We noticed people were throwing away their old video and DVD players and getting rid of the their big giant tube TVs and replacing them with LCDs and Plasmas,”  Vic said. “And we decided we had to do something with them.” The pair had been to the 2010 Maker Faire and decided they wanted to participate, too.

This year, Vic says they’ve taken a MacGyver approach – by using only materials they had on hand. Vic and Micky decided to make a project for display in the outside area at the fair. So, with three junk bikes on hand, some inspiration, innovation, ingenuity and motivation – Recylcobot was born (well, made!).

The Great Race – the hugely popular cross-country road rally featuring pre-World War II vehicles – is finishing its 2012 contest right here at The Henry Ford.

The cross-country rally that pits driver and navigator teams against the clock and against each other started June 23. Teams in this year’s event have traveled around the Great Lakes, covering 19 cities, two countries and four states, with the goal of reaching the finish is at America’s Greatest History Attraction.

The finish and all race participants will be celebrated on the front lawn of Henry Ford Museum at 2:30 p.m., Sunday, July 1. This portion of the event is open to the public. Following the ceremony, at 4:30, the vehicles will parade through Greenfield Village. Admission to the village is required.

You can read about the day-to-day adventures of the participants on The Great Race 2012 website.