Rice steamer (in Hmong,  lauj ncuab ncus mov or pot making rice) consisting of two parts:  a spittoon-like aluminum vessel and a woven bamboo basket in an elongated cone shape. Purchased in 1995 and used by members of the Hmong community in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

For details, view the rice steamer in our online collections database.

Firefighter’s helmet used by Oscar J. Pederson, Assistant Chief of the St. Paul Fire Department, circa 1940.

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

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.

Uncirculated, unsigned, one-sided banknote issued by the Dayton Bank of St. Paul, Minnesota in the 1850s.  The denomination is one dollar.  In black ink at top center is a portrait of a man within a vertical oval. The portrait is flanked by a scene of a mother and child at left and a teacher and children at right.  At bottom left is an image of two Native Americans, one kneeling and both holding bows. At bottom right is a street scene with cattle. Printed by Danforth, Wright & Company of New York and Philadelphia.

Pair of late nineteenth men’s leather shoes with side buckle for everyday wear.   The mark of the St. Paul shoemaker Gotzian is stamped on each sole.

Contact print made by amateur photographer Sadie Ray circa 1908.  Ray appears at left in the first image on the second row, along with her husband, Elmer, and daughter, Emma.  The Ray family lived in St. Paul and Excelsior, Minnesota.

Watch the podcast What a Picture is Worth:  The Sadie and Emma Ray Photography Collection for more information about the Rays and the dozens of photographs taken by mother and daughter.  To view additional pictures, visit our online collections database.

Nursery school children attend a Thanksgiving party at St. Paul’s Hallie Q. Brown Center on November 1, 1937.

View the photograph in our Visual Resources Database here.

Handmade walnut bench coated in black lacquer with four turned ash legs and scalloped, beveled edges on the seat.  Crafted by Scott McGlasson of Woodsport, located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The artist harvested the wood from a walnut tree felled in the tornado that touched down in south Minneapolis on August 19, 2009.

Metal identification badge used by Lawrence B. Paist while working as a lighting engineer consultant for 3M Company in St. Paul, Minnesota, between 1945 and 1950.

People sleeping outdoors during a heat wave, St. Paul.
Photographer: St. Paul Daily News
Photograph Collection 7/1936
Location no. QC1.3 r5
Negative no. 62251

American Bowling Congress round pinback metal pin from the 1941 A.B.C Bowling Tournament held in St. Paul, Minnesota featuring 2 miniature wood bowling pins and 1 wood bowling ball suspended from the pin by ribbons.