This morning as I began my shift in the museum, I was feeling a little nostalgic thinking about my 6 months abroad in Spain this past year so I began to look around the International Section. The key I found reminded me of the miles and miles of olive trees growing in perfect lines, waiting to be turned into delicious Spanish olive oil. Its story also shares a striking similarity to Seven Keys to Baldpate by Earl Derr Biggers.
The key was donated by Xavier Vive in 1956. According to the the tag, this key belonged to a wealthy Spanish olive grower in the 18th century. It was the key to his olive store room. Over time, the grower began to notice his fruit was disappearing. This made no sense seeing as the grower was the owner of the only key. He later discovered that each of his family of six had made duplicate keys. Just like the main character in Seven Keys to Baldpate, the olive grower thought there was only one key when in reality there were seven keys in total.
The original key belonging to the grower is right here in the key room in the International Section. Maybe someday we'll have the other six in the collection.
Until next time,
Natalie
