I was kicking myself, yesterday. My family and I took a day trip to Upper Canada Village, a heritage park and living museum of pioneer times, and I left my audio recorder at home.

It’s not the first time I’ve been to Upper Canada Village (nor the first time I forgot to carry my audio recorder with me). It’s an amazing place where, no matter how many times you go, you’re bound to learn something new each time. The equipment on display, much of which is well over 140 years-old, is still used everyday! They don’t make things like they used to. On this particular trip I was taken by the steel sawmill and — especially — the printing house.

The woman in the printing house described in incredible detail how typesetting was performed, which rules could be broken (and how) when typesetters ran out of specific letters, and how advertisements were put together. She also talked about the consequences of making a mistake. It was fascinating.

I also learned the origin of the words uppercase and lowercase. It’s simple, actually. Each letter was organized in cases so they could be found. The small letters in the lower case and the capital letters in the upper case.

We bought a family membership to Upper Canada Village. We’ll be going back before the end of the summer so I can get that audio.