Lessons for Today from Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann

Virginia Lee Burton wrote the story about Mike and his steam shovel Mary Ann in the late 1930s, and the book celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. I was a child of the 70s, so why did it appeal to me? Was it because of Mike and Mary Ann's work ethic? Mike's loyalty to his machine? On a child's level, I remember being more impressed with Mike's friendship and loyalty to Mary Ann, a machine personified in my mind.

I wonder what Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel teaches us today. If I consider it in a contemporary context, it is a book about the role of technology in our lives. When new technological advances/tools are at our disposal, should we disregard the technologies they can easily replace? Should we throw away card catalogs and reference books now that we have Google and Wikipedia? We now live in a disposable society. Until recently, Americans had quite a bit of disposable income that they would spend (even before they earned it) on disposable diapers; disposable razors; disposable plates, cups, and flatware; and even disposable caskets. Hopefully, the pinch Americans feel from their empty wallets will reawaken our desire to conserve, to reuse, to utilize resources more effectively.

Mary Ann proved that she was still useful to a society which had moved on to other technological advances, but in so doing, she forced herself into retirement by being unable to escape the hole she dug. Instead of dismantling and removing her, though, she was transformed into another useful machine which still continued to contribute to her society.