The Huffington Post has once again posted our submission on one of the Collections Department’s favorite topics – breakfast!

Take a look and enjoy!

A block print on paper showing a firehouse on the East side of St. Paul. Made by Gary Egger in 1980.

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

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A blue and gold K-shaped felt and chenille Bloomington Kennedy High School letter, embellished with the word “Bloomington” embroidered diagonally across the K. 1960s.

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

(Note: The comments section has been temporarily disabled while we upgrade the website. You can always leave comments on our Flickr Photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/minnesotahistoricalsociety/)

A rectangular paperboard ink blotter with depiction of Indian woman advertising for Wabasha Roller Mills, Minnesota, circa 1920.

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

(Note: The comments section has been temporarily disabled while we upgrade the website. You can always leave comments on our Flickr Photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/minnesotahistoricalsociety/)

A woodcut print on paper titled “Mendota South” made by Alexander Masley in 1935.

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

(Note: The comments section has been temporarily disabled while we upgrade the website. You can always leave comments on our Flickr Photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/minnesotahistoricalsociety/)

We’ve been asked by The Huffington Post to start blogging on their site. This provides an exciting national platform for Minnesota history!

To see more images like the one below check out our newest post, Winter One Hundred Years Ago 2014-15!

An oil on masonite painting of a St. Paul street scene made by Minnesota artist Arthur Allie in the 1930s.

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

(Note: The comments section has been temporarily disabled while we upgrade the website. You can always leave comments on our Flickr Photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/minnesotahistoricalsociety/)

An untitled oil on canvas painting made by Minnesota artist Alice Hugy.

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

(Note: The comments section has been temporarily disabled while we upgrade the website. You can always leave comments on our Flickr Photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/minnesotahistoricalsociety/)

This is the official iron stamp of the Minnesota territorial seal showing a farmer plowing, a tree stump and ax, and an American Indian on horseback with lance in hand riding toward a setting sun. The motto above the design reads “Quo sursum velo videre”; this is a misprint of the intended Latin phrase “Quae sursum volo videre” (“I wish to see what is beyond”). Encircling the seal is “THE GREAT SEAL OF MINNESOTA. 1849.” The manufacturer’s trademark “D. O. HARE.W.C.” is stamped on the face of the seal and also on the rim.

The seal design (adopted in 1849) was from a sketch by Col. J. J. Albert and redesigned by Capt. Seth Eastman, as seen in this watercolor by Eastman.

Two other designs were considered by a special legislative committee for a new Great Seal of Minnesota upon achieving statehood in 1858.  However, it fell to Governor Sibley to have the state seal engraved, and he decided to stick with the original territorial seal (for which he was largely responsible) with minor modifications. Sibley got rid of the misspelled Latin and added “L’etoile du Nord” (“The North Star”); the direction of the American Indian and Farmer are reversed on the state seal; and it reads “The Great Seal of the State of Minnesota, 1858.”

In 1981, the original engraved state seal from 1858 was part of a Minnesota Statehood display in the Minnesota State Capitol. When the exhibit was deinstalled in 1984, the original 1858 seal was misplaced. The Society continues its efforts to find the seal, in hopes of restoring it to its place alongside the engraved territorial seal in the MNHS Collection.

Come see the Minnesota Territorial Seal and much more in our new Library Lobby display Icons of Minnesota, on view during Library open hours now through August 30, 2014!

We are fortunate to have so many great objects telling the early history of Minnesota in the Collections. To learn more, visit:

• Minnesota State Capitol
• Exhibits at the Minnesota History Center
• Collections Online
• Minnesota Historical Society Library

Fleck’s Beer salt and pepper shaker set. Two deep brown glass miniature beer bottles with crown-type metal caps. Each has a neck band that read reads “Felsenkeller / FLECK’S Brau” with a tiny insignia for “FLECKS BEER.” The larger label shows wooden kegs, a circular insignia for “FLECKS / BEER” and the text “STRONG BEER / BREWED & BOTTLED BY / Ernst Fleckenstein Brewing Co. / FARIBAULT, MINN.” circa 1930-50.

For details, view this set in our collections database.

(Note: The comments section has been temporarily disabled while we upgrade the website. You can always leave comments on our Flickr Photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/minnesotahistoricalsociety/)