The Smithsonian, I’m told, is home to some pretty amazing things. Some pretty amazing old-time things.
Think the Apollo 11 landing module. Think the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. Think Archie Bunker’s chair from All in the Family.
Think Kermit the Frog, Seinfeld’s puffy shirt and a Statue of Liberty souvenir dating back 132 years.
Someday, I reckon, it will also be home to a few more items.
Someday, I’m guessing, it will display a roll of film positioned next to some negatives — that is, if it hasn’t already. After all, while the younger set has likely never heard of Archie Bunker, let alone his chair, they’ve probably also never seen a roll of film.
My kids wouldn’t have a clue what negatives are. My kids — and heck, they’re not even kids any more — may be able to identify a typewriter, but heaven knows they’ve never touched one. If I told them it came with a ribbon, a roller and a carriage? They’d think I was stark-raving mad.
Chances are, many members of the younger set have seen telephone books around their homes, but I’m sure they’ve never used one — and I’m certain they wouldn’t know how.
Before long, I reckon, the Smithsonian will be planning an exhibit called The Yellow Pages — and Beyond. There, visitors would learn that the telephone book was usually kept near to the telephone, which was, more often than not, mounted on a wall.
Close by was often another item: the “address book.” This was where people kept track of the contact information for their closest friends and family members, as well as people who happened to be on their Christmas card lists.
Speaking of which, I’m betting the Christmas card list will also make it to the Smithsonian before the end of the decade.
My kids have never had a Christmas card list. And they’ve never owned an address book.
Chances are, they’ve used an atlas, an encyclopedia and a bank deposit slip, but not for a very long time.
A whole generation of people younger than them, however, would be as puzzled by an encyclopedia as they would be by Seinfeld’s puffy shirt.
After all, it has no power key, no video capability and no search engine. It just has the oddest things that need to be turned — and manually, at that. (The Smithsonian would explain that you called these things “pages.”)
I have never been to the Smithsonian, but I’d sure like to visit one of these days. After all, I’d be among an ever-dwindling group of folks. I remember Archie Bunker’s chair. And I still happen to own an address book.
