We are having balmy January days here in Nebraska, but people in colder parts of the country may be glad to know that January is National Hot Tea Month. While there are only a few days left in the month, a hot cup of tea is always a good way to ward off the winter chill. A look through Nebraska Memories reveals that tea has been a part of people’s lives for many years.

Tea cups are featured on this Fremont family’s table as they gather in their kitchen for a meal. Photographs from the William Wallace residence in Omaha show a tea kettle in the kitchen and silver tea sets in the dining room and parlor.

Although there may not have been actual tea involved, in my opinion, some of the sweetest tea-related pictures in Nebraska Memories are the images of children having tea parties. There are several posed portraits of children with tea sets in the Butler County Gallery collection, including this photograph of Dorothy Rich sitting with a doll and a stuffed bunny. The Nebraska State Historical Society collection includes a less formal image of children playing with a tea set in a barn.

Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.

Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Historical Services Librarian, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

Be it ever so humble … The interiors of early Nebraskans’ homes varied as much as the exteriors. Sod houses may have had only one room, and tenement houses may have had shared public areas, but there were mansions, too, containing extras like formal entry halls, libraries, smoking rooms, conservatories, sun rooms, and billiards rooms.

The image at left shows a sparsely finished room in an early 1900s Omaha settlement house which still provided a corner for relaxing in a rocking chair to read a book from the shelf while listening to music on the gramophone (Gramophone and chair inside settlement house, Omaha Public Library Collection). About four decades later, the descendants of those immigrants would have had a living room more similar to the one at the right (John Birkel family, Butler County Gallery Collection). While basics furnishings are the same and the room is used for reading, relaxing and listening to music, the easy chairs are now upholstered and the floor carpeted while the music comes from the radio at the left. Note that in the settlement house a clock and picture sit on top of the book shelf, while in the later living room a clock sits on the fireplace mantel with a picture hanging above.

In a simple house or farm house, meals were most likely served in the kitchen as is the case in the photograph to the left (Kitchen dining, Keene Memorial Library Collection). In the better part of town, a fancy house would have had a separate dining room such as the one at right, featuring chandelier lighting, coffered ceiling, carved dining table with matching upholstered chairs, oriental carpet and glass-front cabinet showcasing the fine china (Ray Julius Nye residence dining room, Keene Memorial Library Collection). Still the family in the kitchen looks happy enough.

While the woman in the picture above probably cooked her family’s meals on a wood stove and used kerosene in her lamps, the young woman in the picture at right appears to have all the latest appliances available in 1945 (Man and woman in a kitchen, Omaha Public Library Collection). In addition to the gas stove and oven, she has electricity (the fuse box is behind her), indoor plumbing and probably a water heater. All that and a soldier safely returned from the war!

How comfortable do you think the bed at the left would be? It seems to dip a bit in the middle. But then this photograph is of a “third floor bedroom,” so even though the room is nicely furnished with extra pillows on the bed, framed photographs hung from a picture rail and a bedside table, perhaps it was not the “best guest room” (Bed at Wallace residence, Omaha Public Library Collection). In the master bedroom at the right, however, one would think the Mr. and Mrs. slept quite well in their own beds with the carved and turned frames (Ray Julius Nye residence master bedroom, Keene Memorial Public Library Collection).

No matter the furnishings or the number or types of rooms, people could still kick back and relax in their own personal space like the gentleman above (Man in rocking chair at desk, Nebraska State Historical Society Collection). Or perhaps enjoy a Christmas party like the children in the picture below with the interesting tree and decorations (Joseph T. May residence Christmas party, Keene Memorial Public Library Collection). We hope your Christmas is as merry as theirs!

Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Historical Services Librarian, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

Movember is an annual event during which men are encouraged to grow mustaches during the month of November in order to raise awareness of men’s health issues. A glance at the photo gallery on the Movember website reveals some of the striking mustaches grown in support of the cause. The Movember movement started in 2003, but men have been sporting notable mustaches for ages. A number of these mustaches are documented in Nebraska Memories.

Many of these Nebraskan mustaches are showcased in the portraits of the Butler County Gallery Collection. Ralph Stryker and George Hahn were two men who sat for portraits in the early 1900s, both showing off their mustaches. Growing mustaches (and beards) was clearly a family affair for the four Smith brothers of David City.

Another notable mustache portrait is found in the Townsend Studio collection. Henry Herpolsheimer, president of Lincoln’s Herpolsheimer Company, sports a long white mustache in his portrait. Joseph M. Rising, a member of the founding family of Rising City, also has a bushy mustache.

While most of these mustache photographs date from the late 1800s or early 1900s, interesting mustaches can be found in later photos as well. This German prisoner of war, in a photograph taken at Camp Atlanta, near Holdrege, during World War II, has a prominent mustache.

Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.

Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Historical Services Librarian, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

Shelter is one of the most important requirements for people living in a harsh environment. Even though we have been enjoying warm fall weather here in Nebraska recently, temperatures will soon drop and snow will fall and the wind will howl at times during the winter. The first homesteaders settling the prairies didn’t always have much to work with in constructing their homes. A number of them used the sod that lay under their feet, cut and stacked into walls. Sod houses provided protection from the sun, wind, and other natural elements; however, residents sometimes wound up sharing the space with more critters than they would have preferred. Some sod houses were used for many years, into the early 1900s, like this sod house belonging to Ben Miller and his family (Ben Miller family outside of sod house, Nebraska State Historical Society Collection).

As years went by and their farms became prosperous, families could afford the cost of lumber to build new houses. The farm family in the picture to the right lived in a snug wooden house with a gambrel roof. It does appear that the house is somewhat smaller than the barn in the background, but the barn protected their sources of income (Family in front of wooden house, Nebraska State Historical Society).

Those families moving west looking for a new life in a larger town, may have wound up in housing such as that to the right. Tenements were built in Omaha in the early 1900s to house not only poor people moving from the east but also immigrants from overseas just as tenements were being built in larger cities such as New York City and Chicago (Tenement houses and alley, Omaha Public Library Collection).

Nebraska residents who made their money quickly often built homes to reflect their wealth. O.M. Carter’s residence to the left was built with wood in the Queen Anne-style of the time. “Fairview”, residence of William Jennings Bryan at the right, also built in a style popular in the United States at the time, was constructed of brick. (Both images from Omaha Public Library Collection.)

Some homes were even more grandiose. Westfield Acres in Fremont, Nebraska, to the left, was designed by Alfred C. Class of Ferry and Clas, architects of the 1893 World’s Fair (Westfield Acres, east elevation, Dodge County Historical Society Collection). Joslyn Castle, as its name suggests, was designed along the lines of a European estate house (Geo. A. Joslyn Residence, 39th & Davenport, Omaha, Neb., Omaha Public Library Collection).

As time passed and other design styles became popular, examples of those homes were also built across Nebraska. J. A. Bentley’s home in Sidney, to the right, is a nice example of the Prairie-style house (J.A. Bentley home, Sidney, Nebr., Cheyenne County Historical Society and Museum). Floyd Nichols’ home, at the left, is a unique style of architechture for Nebraska and still stands in David City (Floyd Nichols home, Butler County Gallery Collection). Browse other exterior pictures of homes in Nebraska at Nebraska Memories.

Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.

Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Historical Projects Librarian, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

The first bank in Nebraska was established even before Nebraska became a state. The Kountze Brothers Bank was opened in Omaha in 1857, when Nebraska was still a territory. It later became First National Bank of Omaha. As more and more of Nebraska was settled, more banks were established. Nebraska Memories contains many images of banks in Nebraska cities and towns, from many different points in the history of the state.

First National was just one of many banks in Omaha. This print from the 1880s shows five different Omaha banks, only a few of the city’s banking institutions.

Of course, smaller towns in Nebraska had banks, too. The bank in Sidney in 1900 shared a stone building with a dry goods store and a millinery shop. This image of the Bank of Brainard gives us a glimpse into the interior of an early twentieth century bank.

A slightly more recent picture, from the 1920s, shows a bank in Richfield, Nebraska. My co-workers and I were commenting that the four percent interest rate advertised in the window is better than what we are currently receiving on our accounts!

Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.

Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Historical Services Librarian, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

One of the fun things I like to do while browsing through Nebraska Memories is to find pictures that remind me of a phrase or movie title, then add a Nebraska twist.  That led me to today’s post about Nebraska photographer John Nelson, and the movie “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.”

John Nelson was born in Halestad, Sweden in 1864.  He came to Nebraska with his parents at the age of seventeen.  His many photographs tell the story of small town life in Nebraska during the first decades of the 20th century.  His subjects included people, towns, businesses, community activities, early airplanes, trains, and automobiles.

The picture to the left is of the photographer himself, standing in front of the rear end of his motorized portable darkroom, between 1907 and 1917.

The pictures immediately below are the first stop in the planes, trains, and automobiles tour.  They are of a biplane with its’ pilot, two Native Americans and a woman, and then a crowd of onlookers at the site of an airplane crash, respectively, about the same time period.  These are just two of several airplane photographs taken by John Nelson found in Nebraska Memories, and illustrate the variety of pictures he took.

Trains are our next stop in the planes, trains and automobiles tour.  Mr. Nelson took photographs of the trains themselves, but also took photographs of the people and places associated with the railroads.  This can be seen in the pictures below of the “219 on Wednesdays” coming into a small Nebraska town, and in the picture of a couple standing outside the Ericson, Nebraska train depot.

Then last on the tour, but certainly not least, are the pictures of automobiles.  John Nelson took many pictures of cars: everything from cars in downtown Omaha to individuals in or beside their cars, and from the F.J. O’Hara Buick Dealership in Spalding, Nebraska to automobiles decorated for parades, as seen below.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our photographic tour of John Nelson’s planes, trains, and automobiles.  Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.

Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Historical Projects Librarian, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

An assortment of items from Rising City Community Library joins Nebraska Memories as its newest collection. The photographs and postcards in the collection highlight many aspects of Rising City’s history.

Rising City was established when the Omaha & Republican Valley Railroad was extended across Butler County in 1878, and the collection includes photographs that show the town’s railroad roots. In this photograph, the town’s railroad depot appears to be a site of bustling activity.

The establishment of the railroad brought increased population to the area, and businesses grew accordingly. The business community of Rising City is well represented in this collection. Images of local businesses, including a hotel, banks, and a meat market, provide a view into Rising City’s business scene throughout its history. One of the most notable commercial buildings in Rising City was a prominent brick building known as the Opera Block. This structure was built in 1892, and it was destroyed by fire in 1923. This collection includes scenes of the destroyed building after the fire.

A group of portraits of members of the Rising family, after whom the town is named, is another highlight of this collection. Samuel W. Rising (seen here with his wife Polly) and his son Albert W. Rising each gave 40 acres of their land to be used for the Rising City town site. Portraits of Samuel’s other sons, Dennis and Joseph, are in the collection, as well.

Take a moment and explore this collection to get a glimpse into Rising City history, and be sure to visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.

Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Historical Services Librarian, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

In the more than two hundred years since Benjamin Franklin was appointed our first Postmaster General in 1775, the Postal Service™ has grown and changed with America.   Not only have there been changes in moving the mail (ranging from the basic horse and rider Pony Express, to stagecoaches, trains, boats, airplanes, and even dog sled), but there have also been changes in post office buildings. The types of buildings used, and the architecture of Nebraska post offices through the years can easily be seen in the many photographs and postcards found in Nebraska Memories.

This first picture, taken by Nebraska photographer John Nelson, shows an early 1900’s Nebraska town with a dirt street lined with buildings. One of the stores has a sign on it that says, “Brown’s” which was also the post office.

It was not uncommon for a general store to serve as the town post office as well.  The building in this picture, with its’ plain front and wooden sidewalk, was not many years removed from and not much changed from frontier days style buildings.

Many buildings and businesses did double and even triple duty, like this undertaker, furniture and post office storefront in Papillion, Nebraska, circa 1907.

The building was located on the west side of Washington Street between First and Second Streets, but had a little more “modern” store front with big plate glass windows. Charles West (probably the man on the right) served as the Postmaster of Papillion from 1901 to 1914. The man on the left is an unidentified clerk.

This next photograph shows another style of  wooden building with a sign identifying it as the Loomis post office.  A long wooden porch covered by an awning runs the length of the building. The postmaster, Gust F. Carlson, stands on the porch, leaning against one of the awning’s support poles. Three other men stand with him, including Axel Veegert (second from right), a mail carrier. A car is parked on the dirt road in front of the building, with a container labeled “U.S. Mail” attached to its side. 

Wooden buildings gradually gave way to larger and more grand buildings, as evidenced by these photographs from Fremont, David City, and Omaha, respectively.

This Fremont post office building was on the northwest corner of Sixth and Broad Streets, built in 1893 in the more ornate Richardsonian Romanesque style. This style included the hipped roof with parapeted gable dormers, windows with rounded tops, deep-set windows with transoms, arched entries, and the contrasting smooth and rough wall textures.

The David City post office was a one-story red brick building with wide steps leading to white double entry doors with arched contrasting brick-work above, arched windows with matching trim at each side of the door and smaller double-hung windows on the front and sides of the building, bushes around the foundation and lawn on two sides of the corner lot, a street light in front, sidewalks on two sides with brick streets in front.

The postcard below, circa 1914, of the South Omaha branch of the post office, was located at 502 North 24th Street in South Omaha, Nebraska. The building was red brick, two stories tall, with arched windows and doors on the first floor and six columns on the front.

The layout of the interiors of buildings that were used as post offices are of interest as well, as seen in the following pictures.

The post Office in Spalding, Nebraska had a long cabinet with many pigeon-holes stuffed with letters, and the postmaster’s desk in front;

while another Post Office photograph shows a “Reading Room” where people could sit down at a desk to read their letters. 

There is also this photograph of what the post office boxes at the back of the Potter, Nebraska general store looked like:

Thanks for joining me today as we journeyed back to look at Nebraska post office buildings from the past 100+ years.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.

Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Historical Projects Librarian, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.