Tag: postcard

This is a small and simple railroad engine called a Porter locomotive. It was not commonly used for mainline service, the majority of them being built for rail yard and track building/maintenance duties. They were also often narrow gauge.

The description states:
EARLY WOOD BURNING PORTER LOCOMOTIVE
Several of today’s transcontinental railroads started operations with a locomotive like this. It is just one of 30,000 items in 22 buildings on 2 1/2 city blocks showing man’s progress over the past 120 years. Located 130 miles west of Lincoln, Nebr., on U. S. 6 & 34.
–Such locomotives were unlikely to be used by Class 1 railroads on their long distance runs. This card is probably from the 1960s.

This Conestoga wagon is often confused with the more modest Prairie Schooner, which was the common transport for pioneers heading west into and across the Great Plains as far as the Pacific coast of California and Oregon. The Conestoga was larger and heavier, and less well suited for the long journeys of the westward migration.

The description states:
GENUINE ORIGINAL CONESTOGA WAGON
In the line of transportation that starts with the ox-cart and ends with the jet airplane. This is just one of 30,000 items in 22 buildings on 2 1/2 city blocks, showing man’s progress since 1830. Located 130 Miles West of Lincoln, Nebr. on U. S. 6 & 34.
–This wagon was probably only used in the eastern states for freight transport and was moved to Nebraska as a historical artifact. The card likely dates from the 1960s.

The main object in this image is a tank wagon intended to transport oil to service stations and refueling depots. The smaller containers were for other kinds of fuel and lubricants, or for smaller orders. It was owned and operated by the Standard Oil Trust.

The description states:
THE STANDARD OIL WAGON
These were the wagons that made Rockefeller wealthy. This is one of 30,000 items in 22 building on 2 1/2 city blocks, showing man’s progress since 1830. Located 130 miles west of Lincoln, Nebr., on U. S. 6 & 34.
–This card likely dates from the 1960s.

The second kitchen display is 40 years after the previous one shown, and illustrates the widespread availability of gas and electricity in this era.

The description states:
1930 KITCHEN
The housewife of 1930 had things very “modern” when the stove burned a natural gas flame. The iron and toaster were now electric. The 12 gauge shotgun was now automatic and the icebox electric. The phonograph came in a cabinet and the radio brought entertainment. The Singer Sewing Machine had a drop head, the telephone was improved with batteries inside and the sink had hot and cold running water. Electricity had come to America’s kitchens.
–This card likely dates from the 1960s.

This shows the typical accommodations and features of a pioneer kitchen at the turn of the 20th Century. More urban or wealthy families would have more and greater numbers of appliances or devices, often including gas and electrical ones. This image includes the basic wood burning stove and cooker, which was almost always in the same room where the food was eaten.

The description states:
1890 KITCHEN
With a cook stove that has oven doors on each side, a single barrel 8 gauge shotgun, tin icebox with Lazy Susan shelves, portable organ, oak cradle, drop-leaf pad table. Kerosene lamp with chimney, a kerosene stove, dry sink with pail and dipper. All showing the continued progress of man from 1830.
–This card likely dates from the 1960s.

This shows a few of the machines and devices for printing in a time before electricity or other power assistance. There is a hand press in the back, and what appears to be a rotary press in the left foreground. The shop sign shows three ‘printer’s devils’, the title of the printer’s apprentices in such businesses. Many famous American’s worked as printer’s devils, including Samuel Clemens, known as Mark Twain.

The description states:
PRINT SHOP
One of 14 Old Craft Shops Seen Here
20,000 items in 20 buildings on 2 city blocks, showing man’s progress over the past 120 years. 132 Miles West of Lincoln, Nebr, on U. S. 6.
–This card likely dates from the 1960s.

This image shows the enormous range and variety of medicine and nostrums that were available until the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1905. Many of these concoctions contained ingredients we now consider dangerous or deadly, such as mercury and opium.

The description states:
THE APOTHECARY SHOP
1850
This was the corner drugstore prior to 1900, but it didn’t boast ice cream sodas, cigarettes and cameras. Instead, the shelves were filled with patent medicines and the drawers had such items as sassafras, cinnamon sticks, rock candy and herbs from which medicines and pills were concocted.
–This card likely dates from the 1960s.

This is an interior of one of many craft and trade buildings on the site of Pioneer Village. What appear to be shoes hanging from the shelving are in fact shoe lasts, the wooden forms used to make a shoe of a particular style and size. There appear to be a few shoes on the shelves themselves, but all the hanging items are wooden lasts.

The description states:
COBBLER SHOP
One of 14 Old Craft Shops Seen Here
20,000 items in 20 buildings on 2 city blocks, showing man’s progress over the past 120 years. 132 Miles West of Lincoln, Nebr., on U. S. 6.
–This postcard likely dates from the 1960s.

This image highlights the doctor’s office as it would have appeared around the turn of the century. The doctor’s working desk is to the right, and the small cabinet in the center of the picture is in fact the examining table. There are leaves on both ends of the table for allowing the patient to lay flat and have their head and legs supported.

The description states:
OFFICE OF THE PIONEER MINDEN DOCTOR
30,000 items in 22 buildings on 3 city blocks, showing man’s progress over the past 120 years. 132 Miles West of Lincoln, Nebr., on U. S. 6.
This card likely dates from the 1960s.

After a break of several months, we return to the Pioneer Village first displayed here. This card shows a substantial number of the toys representing the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The description states:
TOYS OF GRANDMOTHER’S DAY
Here you see a portion of the Toy Shop in the Pioneer Village. There is a Teddy Bear with was named after Teddy Roosevelt upon his return from an African hunting trip. You can also see a portion of the circus. Not visible is a collection of antique mechanical toy banks, of which 200 different models were made between 1856 and 1910.
–This card and the others from this series date from the 1960s.