A Dakota beaded jacket purchased by personnel of Camp Kamaji on Cass Lake, Minnesota in the 1910s.

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

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Minnesota Home Guard Motor Corps olive drab wool flannel uniform sack coat cap worn by Carl M. Stendal, ca.1919.

The cotton twill lined coat (A) has four flap-type patch pockets, plain cuffs, a high standing band collar with “MINNESOTA HOME GUARD / MOTOR CORPS” and “MRG” collar discs, dull bronze Great Seal buttons, and a silver “SHARPSHOOTER” badge at the left breast dated “1919-21-22″. The cotton lined service cap (B) has a leather visor and chin strap with a dull bronze “MINNESOTA HOME GUARD / MOTOR CORPS” disc on the crown.

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

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A cardboard card strung with one hundred nine short rows of different color and size glass beads. “AMERICAN BEAD COMPANY INC./ BEADS/ IMPORTERS AND MANUFACTURERS OF NOVELTIES/ 485 Fifth Avenue [dot] NEW YORK” is printed at the top of one side of the card. To the left of each row of beads is printed a number(s) representing color or size. Three rows have “bright” penciled next to them, several have penciled checkmarks. The card is a sales sample that was in stock at the Mille Lacs Indian Trading Post, Onamia, MN. Circa 1919.

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

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St. Paul Baseball Opening Day Tag, circa 1916.

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

Learn More:

• St. Paul Baseball photos, 1916

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Copper bookends made by the Handicraft Guild of Minneapolis, MN. Circa 1905-1918.

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

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A 1910 postcard stating the obvious, “It’s no crime to spoon in Minneapolis”. Happy Valentine’s Day!

For details, view this card in our collections database.

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Today I present one of my favorite photographs in the collection, showing a racecar in action during the 1916 Minnesota State Fair. The distortion you see was caused by the focal-plane shutter not being fast enough to capture the fast-moving car. This type of distortion is most famously seen in Jacque Henri Lartigue’s photograph of a racecar in 1912. A detailed explanation about what caused the distortion can be found here.

For details, view this photograph in our collections database.

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A mother poses with her eight daughters in this photograph taken by John Runk circa 1911.

For details, view the photograph in our online collections database.

Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 12, 2013.

United States Army soldier’s homemade sewing kit or “housewife” carried during World War I by James Martineau of the U.S. Army Medical Corps. The corduroy kit is lined in a polished cloth and fastens closed with a dark brown ribbon with a snap sewn to each end. It is folded three times and opens to reveal three inside pockets and a handmade image of the Sacred Heart. Some of the contents may have been added after the kit’s original period of use.

For details, view the housewife in our online collections database.

U.S. Army issue, World War I-era gas mask and carrying bag.  Also included are a metal canister of anti-dimming compound with application instructions printed on the canister, a waxed paper envelope containing an instruction card, and a split ring and pin. Worn by Corporal Frederick A. Berlin of the 3rd Pioneers, Company F.