Ramble On

A follow up on the blog from May 6th. Today, from an elderly gentleman named Fred, I heard the life story of Thomas Alva Edison. Apparently Fred lives in Ft. Myers, Florida which is where Mr. Edison summered. He knows all about his inventions, his family history, and shockingly, more stories about people related to Thomas Edison. I don't even think this gentleman had a question to ask me. He just wanted to talk about Thomas Edison. It reminds me of those public service annoucements that NBC used to do that ended with the phrase "The More You Know" sung by a pretty voice. Their implication that the more you know, the better off you are. They were usually about drugs or not talking to strangers, but knowing about good ol' Tom is beneficial too, in my opinion.

I think one of my favorite parts of this job is the random stories I get to hear. The perps are generally elderly men, young wives, or women travelling together. This week alone I have: 1) Heard the story of a family originating from Sussex, England, who came over and started Bermuda Hundred (near Chesterfield Co. in Richmond) and their progressive family developments from 1780 on. After the story I was sent on a search for a weaving loom that the family brought over with them and donated to my alma mater. The gentleman I spoke with was quite dismayed that I wasn't familiar with his family's loom and asked if I would be kind enough to locate where it was on display. About 10 calls and 3 hours later, I had spoken with every Colonial Wiliamsburg operator on the switchboard, (confused half of them, and supremely annoyed the other half) 3 museum curators and one collection director and none of them had any idea what I was talking about. I finally got the e-mail of a curator of obje...