Wooden duck boat made by John Freet of Parker’s Prairie Boat Works in Parker’s Prairie, Minnesota  in 1933.  The photograph also show’s the boat’s oars, canvas covering, cover stakes, and poles.

Vintage blue Schwinn “Hollywood” bicycle.  The bicycle features white Schwinn handlebar grips, a black and white seat, blue and white front and rear fenders, a kickstand, a front rack, and a blue chain guard.  ”Schwinn” appears in white lettering on the frame.  Used circa 1950.

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

Emergency exit door from a school bus made by the Blue Bird Corporation of Fort Valley, Georgia, circa 2007. The school bus was transporting a group of day camp students when it was involved in the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on August 1, 2007. The door is signed by all of the children and adults who were on the bus at that time.

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

Learn More:

• I-35W Bridge Resources at the Minnesota Historical Society video podcast
• I-35W Bridge Mile Marker Sign
• Additional I-35W Bridge artifacts
• I-35W Bridge Library Resources

Columbia Ordinary penny-farthing bicycle made by the Pope Manufacturing Company of Boston, Massachusetts in the 1880s.  The front tire is 52 1/2 inches in diameter; the rear tire is 18 inches in diameter. The bicycle has a black steel frame, a hand-operated spoon brake, rubber hand grips, a leather seat, and straight-spoke wheels. The pedals are adjustable and attach to the front wheel hub.

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

Toboggan used by Dr. John Rae, an employee of the Hudson Bay Company, at Fort Garry, British Columbia and St. Paul, Minnesota in the 1850s.  The traditional Canadian sled has a rawhide carriage affixed to a wooden plank deck with a turned hood.  The carriage and decking are painted white and green.

Sign advertising Sounds of Blackness, a Twin Cities-based music ensemble led by choir director Gary Hines.  Three of the group’s recordings have won Grammy awards.  The sign was originally displayed on a bus operated by the Jefferson Transportation Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota during the 1970s.

This 1850s trunk was made in Norway and used to transport a family’s possessions on the journey to their new home in Minnesota. The trunk is made of wood with a domed lid and is bound in iron with carrying handles on each side and straps across the top. There is a narrow built-in wooden tray on one side that appears to have originally had a hinged lid, which is now lost.  Sheet-metal straps on the lid are stamped with the letters “A  A  D  L”.

Metal, rectangular license plate for Red Lake Band of Chippewa. Embossed lettering in white denotes this plate was issued in 1978 and reads “RED LAKE BAND / R/ L / 0000 / CHIPPEWA INDIANS MN.” A profile of a man in a headdress facing left is also embossed in white. The Red Lake Band was the first tribe in the United States to issue tribal auto license plates. Plates with numbers “0000″ were never issued for use, but made to be sold to license plate collectors.

Photos of trainmen for the Nicollet Ave. streetcar station, circa 1919.

Chrome metal moneychanger used by motorwoman on the Twin City Lines (Twin Cities Rapid Transit Company) in St. Paul, MN, circa 1942-1945. This “highspeed” moneychanger was manufactured by McGill and distributed solely by J. L. Galef, New York.