The item that I would like to talk about is the hot air balloon basket that fled the siege of Paris in 1870-71. I was particularly interested in this item due to its ridiculous story and also a few personal interests. In the case of its story, it was the basket of a balloon that attempted to flee the siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian war, and eventually drifted all the way to Norway. To think that our first means of air travel was so dependent on wind as to be another sailboat essentialy is mind-boggling even more so that the balloons would have drifted so far off course. I also have a personal reason to be interested, as a relative of mine may have been present at the siege. The idea that he may have been there sat at his guard post among the amassed German armies watching some poor befuddled Frenchmen float away north at the mercy of the wind is very intriguing. That was my favorite object from out last day at the Teknisk Museum.
Alex: That's so cool! It's so interesting to have a somewhat personal connection to the items on display at an exhibit. I didn't read that story about the seige of Paris but thank you for posting it! Having transportation dependent on air patterns isn't ideal by any means, but at least it's sustainable!
ReplyDeleteWilliam: Imagine the look on the poor "befuddled Frenchman"s face when he sees that "OH NO I'M GONE TOO FAR" would be quite entertaining. The polar navigation balloon with integrated toilet was another great highlight.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting basket with a hilarious history! It has always been a curiosity of mine why people would travel by balloon when it was so much more difficult to choose when to decrease than increase elevation, not to mention that steering was entirely up to the wind!
ReplyDeleteMoreover, I wonder how the conversation must have gone in the context of sending one out for a military operation. 😂