October 3, 2018 This thermostat and motor belonged to a device called a thermo-electric damper-regulator and alarm, otherwise known as a "damper flapper." It was the predecessor of the modern thermostat and established the technology that laid the foundation for the [...]
September 24, 2018 This backhoe was manufactured by a company established in Hennepin County whose name is derived from the Dakota word for "big" and inspired by a nearby lake. That company is Tonka, and its birthplace was in Mound. Tonka [...]
September 17, 2018 This bottle of liquid bluing was once ubiquitous in homes across America. The first sale of Mrs. Stewart's Bluing (MSB) was recorded on July 30, 1883. It is still sold and distributed today and has been manufactured in [...]
September 10, 2018 Burnt toast doesn't seem like a big deal, but if you had to eat it on a consistent basis you may feel otherwise. Humans have been eating bread for over 6,000 years and toasting it over a fire [...]
August 27, 2018 Nordic Ware boasts a long history of innovative engineering and manufacturing of cookware. Their most famous product is undoubtably the Bundt pan. Today more than 70 million American households have one of these iconic pans in their kitchens. [...]
August 22, 2018 This intricate model stage coach made of metal and fabric was entered into the State Fair Craft Show in 1971. According to the ribbon still attached to one side, it won 4th place. An adhesive label on the same side indicates this is a model of [...]
August 6, 2018 In 1934, the streets of Minneapolis were a battleground. Teamsters had declared a city-wide strike to end discrimination against union workers, and their cars of strikers chased heavily-guarded trucks to keep them from crossing picket lines. Roving battles [...]
July 23, 2018 At 7:30 in the morning, more than 1700 milling employees and their family, friends, and supporters, gathered in Minneapolis, picnics in hand, to board special trains that would carry them to Lake Minnetonka for the fourth annual Head [...]
April 2, 2018 This banana split dish is from the 4th generation family owned business established by Lebanese immigrant Albert Abdallah. Albert opened Calhoun Candy Depot in 1909 on the corner of Lake Street and Hennepin Avenue in the Uptown area [...]
March 19, 2018 This dental chair was used by Dr. Fanny ‘Nusia’ Freund Borgen, the first female orthodontist in Minneapolis. Dr. Borgen graduated from the University of Minnesota Dental School where she earned her DDS in 1956 and her Orthodontics degree [...]
