Postcard that reads “It may seem funny but — Minneapolis is a very fascinating town!!” and which has a blue felt “Minneapolis” banner attached. Circa 1920.

For details, view this postcard in our collections database.

And for more from the 1920s don’t miss:

• Dry Times: Temperance, Prohibition, and Gangster in Minnesota, 1900 – 1933 Library Lobby Exhibit
• American Spirits: the Rise and Fall of Prohibition exhibit opening November 9
• Road to Prohibition podcast

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Daguerreotype of St. Anthony Falls and stores along Main Street, St. Anthony, made in the 1850s.

For details, view this photograph in our collections database.

Oil on panel painting titled “Parking Lot Near Train Tracks – Minneapolis” made in 2006 by Michael Banning.

For details, view this painting in our collections database.

Photograph of Minneapolis mayor Hubert Humphrey reading congratulatory telegrams with his family in their home the morning after his election to the United States Senate. Taken by a Minneapolis newspaper photographer on November 3, 1948.

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

Learn More:

• Hubert H. Humphrey Digitization Project
• Hubert H. Humphrey Papers

Pedestrians in downtown Minneapolis gather at a newsstand to read about the Allies’ invasion of Normandy in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune.  Captured by a Minneapolis newspaper photographer on June 6, 1944.

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

A line of tanks rolls down Nicollet Avenue in downtown Minneapolis as part of a parade. Captured on October 13, 1943 by a Minneapolis newspaper photographer.

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

Adirondack chair kit produced by Joel Sisson’s Green Chair Project, a community construction initiative with an emphasis on outreach to inner city youth founded in Minneapolis circa 1993.  The plywood crate contains the wood parts needed to build an Adirondack chair and the jigs/templates used to assemble the chair and to cut additional parts.   The kit’s parts comprise a crate bottom with several attached jigs and templates; a crate lid with attached jig and template; side rails/rear feet; armrests; seat slats; backrest slats; a backrest support; seat supports; front legs; and armrest support brackets.

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

Fire extinguisher grenade made by the  Nutting Fire Grenade company of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  The spherical yellow glass flask has a neck sealed with either lead or wax and cork.  A paper label affixed to one side reads, “How to Use / In case of Fire throw or / break the  / GRENADE / So the contents will be / scattered in the / Flame.” The paper label affixed to the neck reads “DIAMOND”. The bottle contains a fluid with some particle sediment; it is probably carbon tetrachloride.  The fire grenade was hung from a nail at the top of a door frame in the upstairs apartment at the Dahlgren Brothers General Store in Onamia, Minnesota, by the wire loop around the neck of the bottle.  Manufactured circa 1908.

To view more historical firefighting objects, and to learn about the dedication of the Minnesota Fallen Firefighter Memorial on September 30, 2012, watch our podcast Firefighting in Minnesota: A Salute to the Fallen.

Two sailors and two soldiers walk down Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis with a female companion.  Captured by an unknown Minneapolis Star Tribune photographer on July 8, 1942.

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

With summer just around the corner and prime picnicking season already upon us, we present a century’s worth of images of that perennial warm-weather sightseeing destination: Minnehaha Falls. Tourists and naturalists alike have long appreciated the falls and surrounding parkland for their dramatic views, shady woods and abundant wildlife. Luckily for future generations, they documented their trips in photographs, many of which are preserved in the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society.

 

 Podcast Video [2:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Music credit: Cian Nugent, “Grass Above My Head,” recorded live at WFMU on The Long Rally with Scott McDowell, December 16, 2011 (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)