So I already think my job is pretty cool. This blog is evidence to the fact that I am a complete history nerd, so it’s pretty easy to get me excited about random old papers. But every once in a while, I get to see some TRULY awesome things.
Today, as I do every Friday, I went down to the conservation lab to pick up the past week’s boxes and drop off a new batch. One of the conservators opened the door to let me in, and said those magic words: “wanna see something really cool?”
Um, absolutely I do.
As luck would have it, earlier today CSPAN had paid a visit to the Archives to cover the recently acquired Nuremburg documents. And even more as luck would have it, the conservator hadn’t put them away yet.
Believe it or not, there’s more. The conservation lab also happened to be working on several Ben Franklin letters at the moment I walked in.
Adolf Hitler and Benjamin Franklin, side by side. I hope your mind just exploded, because mine definitely did.
The most important thing I learned is this: by the handwriting alone, it was clear which belonged to the mild-mannered inventor of bifocals, and which belonged to the crazed mass-murderer. If your signature ends with a delightful flourish, and you sign your beautifully legible letters with nice things like "your obedient servant," you're probably doing pretty okay in life. But if your signature looks like it might be a prototype for a swastika, I would probably recommend that you seriously reevaluate your handwriting and lifestyle choices.
(Pictures from Google images)
So be careful, folks. In two hundred years, people might look at letters you wrote or receipts you signed and wonder… that sloppy handwriting just might call your moral character into question.
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