Postcard wishing a happy New Year from the Joliet, Illinois Whist Club, showing photographs of Fred C. Wilcox, J. A. Doolittle, Sanger Steel, Lou H. Hyde, Ed. S. Munroe, and J. H. Breckenridge. Dated 1886.

New Year’s card consists of faux woodgrain card stock. Front of card reads “Happy New Year” in red calligraphy. Cut out rectangular window contains a satin textile of pale green groundcloth and shows a woman with crossed legs sitting on a dock over a body of water, wearing a hat and a red top. Above her, branches with green foliage extend out over the water. Above one of the branches is an image of a red hut. Inside of card contains a thin sheet of folded paper with printed lettering that reads “Best Wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” with eight Vietnamese characters surround the printed greeting. Dated December, 1967.

“Celebrate NEW YEAR’S EVE with the Credjafawn Social Club at the Minneapolis Coliseum.” Credjafawn was a black recreational club founded in 1928. This printed handbill is circa 1930-1940.

Letter size white paper handbill typeset with cartoon illustration of exploding “Champagne ‘82″ bottle & glass, martini glass, balloons, choreography chart with footprints. “NEW YEARS EVE AT Goofys upper deck…dance until you can’t dance no more! ” E Productions, hand-lettered, Minneapolis, MN,  31 December 1981.

Do seasonal social gatherings and holiday dinner parties leave you feeling bloated and weighed down? Is your figure closer in resemblance to Santa’s than to Sarah Palin’s? Never fear, the solution is here! Heave those heaping hips, bust those bulging thighs and twist your way to a tighter tush with the 1968 Trim Twist Executive Exerciser! Constructed of sturdy, heavy pressed board and mounted on a metal turning mechanism, the Trim Twist will have you digging out those old Chubby Checker 45’s and Twisting the Day Away! Designed to fit snugly underneath the desk in your cubicle!

Minneapolis “Christmas City” button. Round pinback button is white with green border. Illustration of Christmas tree at center. Green text reads “MINNEAPOLIS BRIGHTEST / Christmas City.”  Circa 1930-50.

Toy horse-drawn cart carrying a set of twelve blocks, each piece made of flat wood stock to which is glued printed paper. The blocks form a picture of ‘Santa Claus’ on one side, while the other may be arranged to show the letters A to X in sequence (block “YZ” excluded), each block showing a pair of letters below a picture of a child or an animal engaged in child’s activity. Manufacturer unknown, circa 1895.

By Lee Mendelson, published in 2000 by Morrow; donated by Alan Woolworth.

Poppin’ Fresh Party Lights, Pillsbury Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Made in China, circa 1999.

Advertising blotter, International Flours, International Milling Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1949.