Large oil on board painting made by Minnesota artist Jerry Rudquist in 1990.

For details, view this painting in our collections database.

Bob Hope and some fans in town for the 1949 Aquatennial.

Captured by a Minneapolis newspaper photographer on July 22, 1949.

For details, view this photograph in our collections database.

Steel and Stone by Robert Edwards

Gouache on board painting of the Chicago Great Western Railway Bridge and the Robert Street Bridge in downtown St. Paul, 1987.

For details, view this painting in our collections database.

Patch from Gopher Ordnance Works, Rosemount, Minnesota. In use during WWII.

For details, view this patch in our collections database.

Purple bumper sticker with ‘Best Beers Are Minnesota Brewed’ and an image of the state of Minnesota in white with the names of Minnesota breweries in red “COLD SPRING/GRAIN BELT/HAMM’S/SCHELL’S/SCHMIDT’S.” Circa 1975.

For details, view this bumper sticker in our collections database.

In support of all the Minnesotans competing in the Border Battles Facial Hair Competition, sponsored by The Minneapolis Beard and Moustache Club on June 8, 2013, the Minnesota Historical Society presents a selection of some our favorite beards of Minnesota’s past.

This is a portrait of Harry Wild Jones who was an influential Minneapolis architect and lover of goatees. He is credited with introducing the Shingle Style of architecture to Minneapolis and is probably best known as the designer of the Lakewood Cemetery Chapel and the Washburn Park Water Tower.

The man in this ambrotype portrait is John Harrington Stevens, an early settler of what would become Minneapolis and member of the first state legislature. You can admire his beard in person by visiting a statue of him located in Minnehaha Park.

As you can guess from the photograph, this is William B. Mitchell. Minnesota Supreme Court Judge, namesake of the William Mitchell College of Law and moustache aficionado.

William Watts Folwell, in addition to having a rather contemplative beard, was the first president of the University of Minnesota and has a building on the East Bank campus named after him.

This tintype portrait, circa 1880, is of Judson A. Bly a miller who lived and worked in Forestville, Minnesota. Forestville is now a ghost town located in Forestville State Park and is still reportedly haunted by Bly’s Hulihee style beard.

The man with all the medals on his chest and hair on his lip is Lucius F. Hubbard. He was an orphan who moved to Red Wing, Minnesota at the age of 21. He joined the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry at the outbreak of the Civil War and in 1881 he was elected governor. The Minnesota county of Hubbard is named after him.

The man with the sideburns is Dorilus Morrison, the first (and third) mayor of Minneapolis and founder the Northwestern National Bank of Minneapolis which would later become Wells Fargo.

Last but not least, this photograph made by a Minneapolis Star-Tribune photographer in 1937 shows the world famous professional wrestler Farmer Tobin taking in a relaxing game of golf in Minnesota between bouts. He combined a 6 foot 7 inch frame with a tattoo collection and massive beard to make a formidable wrestling persona.

A watercolor painting of the Common Shooting Star prairie wildflower made by John Berglund for the WPA Federal Art project in 1938.

For details, view this watercolor in our collections database.

Immigrants are an important part of the Minnesota story. This episode looks at immigration through what people brought with them to their new home. What was useful, what held memories, what shows why they had to leave?

 

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This episode features Victorian valentines from the Minnesota Historical Society’s collections, dating from 1840 to 1900. While the designs are vintage, the feelings expressed are timeless.

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Produced by Lizzie Ehrenhalt

For more valentines, see Collections Online.

As Minnesotans, we love to talk about the weather. Talk about it, obsess over it, live in it, love it. Or love hating it, at least. Since the Saint Paul Winter Carnival and Crashed Ice start soon, we thought this a good time to look at a variety of winter weather from images and film in our Collection, including an Easter snowball fight, winter swimming, -20 degrees, and blizzards. Enjoy the misery of others and maybe watch it again come July!

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Produced by Sondra Reierson