Letter from James Madison Bowler, stationed in Little Rock, Arkansas,  to his wife, Elizabeth, telling about recent movement on the river, and a train wreck on the DuValls Bluff Railroad.

A partial transcription of the letter:

Little Rock, Ark.
Nov. 30th, 1864

Dear Lizzie:

Truly your loving hubbie,
Madison

See whole letter here: 1864-11-30_Bowler_combined

Citation: November 30, 1864, Letter from James Madison Bowler to Lizzie, Correspondence, undated, 1829-1865. Bowler, James Madison and Family, Papers. Minnesota Historical Society. [P1330]

Clear nice day. Relieved by Lt Guinn & made my report. Wrote to Mrs. More, Lt. Talbot & Dan Williams[.] Made out my monthly Return up to date. Men all on duty. Reading the News, weather mild. River still rising.

Citation: November 28, 1864. Diary entry by Thomas Montgomery, Diary, 1864. Thomas Montgomery and family papers. Minnesota Historical Society. [P2812 box 1]

A pair of camels getting stopped by the cops during a November 29, 1949 visit to downtown St. Paul.

This image forms part of our Minneapolis and St. Paul Newspaper Negative collection. Additional photographs in this series may be available in the library, please view the finding aid here.

For more information or to purchase a photograph of this item, view this photograph in our collections database.

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On this Thanksgiving Day our thoughts turn to the turkey, and the potatoes, and the cranberries, and the pies, and … well you get the picture. To inspire you on a day devoted to cooking, we present this Gluek’s recipe box from the 1960s containing all sorts of ideas and recipes for how to cook with beer.

One of the more, ahem, ambitious recipes is reproduced below for your baking enjoyment.

Happy Thanksgiving!

For more information or to purchase a photograph of this item, view this recipe box in our collections database.

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A jug of “Swee-Tone” perfume with the original cardboard shipping box, manufactured by The Nipola Company of St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1930 the Nipola Company was indicted with over thirty other businesses nationwide on charges of conspiring to illegally divert legally obtained alcohol to bootleggers because their products could be distilled for use in bootlegged liquor. This box of perfume was found with a cache of 70 similar boxes behind a false wall in a building on the Ancker Hospital complex at Jefferson and Colborne in St. Paul, Minnesota, shortly before the complex was demolished in 1967.

For more information or to purchase a photograph of this item, view this perfume bottle in our collections database.

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A blue cotton/polyester pillow cover with cotton embroidery in chain and long stitch illustrating Hmong men hunting birds and animals in a tree. Made for sale by Hmong refugees in Ban Vinai, Thailand, July 1986.

For more information or to purchase a photograph of this item, view this pillow cover in our collections database.

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United States Army Staff and Field Officer’s non-regulation Model 1850 sword (.A) and scabbard (.B). The etched sword, made by “W. Clauberg / Solingen” has a slightly curved, single-edged blade and a half-basket type brass hilt with silver grips wrapped with brass wire. The etched, browned steel scabbard has gilt brass fittings. The set was presented on November 24, 1864, to Colonel Ozora Pierson Stearns by the enlisted men of the 39th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment.