Typewriter – an ASCII art parent

I’ve known about ASCII art forever.  I came across it even before I first connected to the Internet.  And while I new it was an old concept, I never knew how old it was.  Apparently, ASCII art predecessor was typewriter art.  Wikipedia has this to say:

Since 1867 typewriters have been used for creating visual art. The oldest known preserved example of typewriter art is a picture of a butterfly made in 1898 by Flora Stacey.

In the 1954 short film Stamp Day for Superman, typewriter art was a feature of the plot.

Why would I suddenly remember an ancient topic like this, you ask?  Because I came across some of the typewriter art and it’s awesome!