Several children, expressing great excitement at finishing their gift-opening on Christmas morning, 1940s.
Archive for December, 2008
Done Opening Gifts, 1940s.
Thursday, December 25th, 2008Froggy The Gremlin’s Christmas, 1940s.
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008
Two toddlers near the Christmas tree. Those bug-eyes and wide-open mouth on the floor, near the boy in the walker? That is Froggy the Gremlin,a children’s program character during the days of radio on NBC, and briefly moving to television in the 50s. The toy was produced by Rempel starting in 1948, which dates this photo to the late 1940s.
Merry Christmas, early 1960s.
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008
A woman holding a Christmas ornament, sitting next to two photos of children. Appears 1950s, or early 1960s.
Minnesota’s Christmas Tree, 1961.
Monday, December 22nd, 2008
In 1961, new governor Elmer Andersen sent his finest tree-experts to find a grand tree, an amazing tree, a tree that was big and accessible to crane, to place on the State Capital lawn. The tree was found in the pasture of Seldon Banks, who donated it to the state. The image above is of Andersen’s first official Minnesota Christmas Tree, from the year before; the misleading caption referring to the “Second tree” in the article is the 1962 tree that was erected before The Farmer could get a photo for their cover.
Man In Driving Gear, 1900s.
Friday, December 19th, 2008
Man in fur-collared, double-breasted driving coat, driving cap, with a pair of gloves in his hands. Appears 1900s. Photo by C.M. Howe, Erskine, MN.
Plains Farmstead In Winter, 1920s.
Thursday, December 18th, 2008
A plains farmstead in the middle of winter, Model T parked outside. 1920s.
Pipe Gang, 1937.
Friday, December 12th, 2008
The “Pipe Gang” (closeup here), during construction of the West Fargo Armour Meat packing plant sewage treatment system, taken December 4, 1937.
Helene, Ruthie, and Mother Dear, 1916.
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
Helene, Ruthie Barton, and “Mother Dear,” 1916. According to the back of the photo, Ruthie Barton is from Des Moines, Iowa.
Horse in Barnyard, 1930s.
Friday, December 5th, 2008
Horse standing in barnyard, 1930s.
Untitled Halsman, 1947.
Thursday, December 4th, 2008
This photo appeared in The Photographer’s Workshop in 1951, but the caption explains it was taken 4 years earlier when the young lady, a professional ballerina, was just 17 years old. The model is “Ricky” Soma, better known as Enrica Soma. In the gap between when the photo was taken and when it appeared in this magazine, the young ballerina had graced the cover of Life (also by Halsman, and probably taken the same time as the one above), married and separated from filmmaker John Houston, and, around the time this magazine was hitting newsstands, Soma was giving birth to actress Angelica Houston. Photo by Philippe Halsman.
