During his lifetime, many considered George Armstrong Custer an inept braggart. This was proven by his complete failure at Little Big Horn, yet heroic images of him soon appeared in every American bar and saloon. Join us for a discussion of a classic image of Custer's last stand.
Five hundred years ago a rich Spaniard led an army onto the North American plains, searching for a mythical city of gold. According to legend, someone on Francisco Vazquez de Coronado's expedition dropped this sword in present-day Kansas.
Instantaneous and digital is the preferred method of communication for modern legislative bodies. In the mid-20th century, though, the Kansas Legislature used a more utilitarian method: two wooden mail carts.
The difference between a beautician and a mortician is less than you might think. This episode considers white gloves worn by an African American funeral home director whose mother's beautician beginnings grew into a family-run mortuary.
During World War I, soldiers stood knee-deep in mud on French battlefields while one Kansas serviceman patrolled the coast of California. Hear about the Navy uniform worn by Effingham native Joe Price.
Barbering was big business a century ago. It required the right equipment. This segment considers a 1920s salesman sample of a barber chair that was a cut above the rest.
Modern hunting apparel is emblazoned with bright orange, but this mid-20th century vest isn't brightly colored. We wonder if it was open season on hunters 50 years ago.
Drive-ins were a cultural milestone in the 1950s. Once food was delivered directly to an automobile, American eating habits were never the same. This episode considers a pair of giant menu boards from Bobo's Drive-In, a Topeka favorite.
For many, The Wizard of Oz is a timeless story about a girl from Kansas. For others, it's an old-fashioned tale that needs to be more inclusive. This episode considers album covers from The Wiz, a disco-era adaptation of L. Frank Baum's classic.
Nothing says summer like ice cream. In the 1870s, the Scott Brothers of Topeka built an ice cream empire that lasted a century.
The commander of Fort Hays wore this army dress jacket during the 1870s. His years of Kansas service were the culmination of a long and distinguished career.
Bikinis were the bombshell of 1960s fashion--iconic swimwear named for an atomic explosion in the Pacific Ocean. A Kansas woman wore this version while relaxing poolside.
Tornadoes have threatened residents of the Great Plains for centuries, but until the late 1800s most Americans had never seen one. That changed when a Kansas farmer captured the first known photograph of a tornado in 1884.
The second floor of Kansas' capitol features a pantheon of our state's heroes in stone. In this segment we consider four small busts related to this massive installation.
Some folks take up gardening in retirement. Not so Elizabeth Layton, who spent her golden years painting as a way of dealing with depression. Hear how this little old lady from Wellsville, Kansas, rocked the art world.
Some clothes are well-suited for traveling. A young man smuggled his daughter from Virginia to Kansas using this shawl.
Every family is a little dysfunctional. Some families are downright criminal. Join curators as they discuss fragments torn from members of the infamous Dalton gang after a foiled heist then go behind the scenes to examine Prohibition-era beer steins.
Belgium was in a bad place during World War I. German invaders ate its food, and an Allied blockade prevented more from arriving. Kansas farmers came to the rescue with homegrown flour shipped in these sacks.
Every group has its origin story. In Kansas, the legend is that Russian immigrants brought seeds from the home country (in bottles like this) and created the Wheat State.
African American soldiers were rare during the Civil War, and black officers almost non-existent. Thirty years later, Major John Brown from Topeka led soldiers to Cuba during the Spanish-American War using this saber.
Some farmers hoped Kansas could bloom with cotton, bringing the South to its knees during the Civil War. Cotton in Kansas? That's why we have a cotton gin in our collections.
Apples are the fruit of legend, from the Garden of Eden to the Trojan War. They've got a place in Kansas history, too. We consider bottles of apple cider pressed at the Louisburg Cider Mill in eastern Kansas.
Construction of the Kansas statehouse can be considered a miracle of manpower. In the 1880s a young Swedish immigrant was at the center of this massive building project. Learn how he used these tools to construct the people's house before building his own.
Kansas history holds many harrowing storm stories, none more tragic than that of 10-year-old Dean Thomas. His untimely death eventually led to a donation of his childhood belongings, including these overalls.
The Abernathy brothers started small, at times relying on coffin sales, but quickly built a furniture empire on the Plains. This segment considers several pieces of furniture made by Abernathy Brothers of Leavenworth.
The Wicked Witch of the West has been freaking out kids for over a century, since the appearance of L. Frank Baum's book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Join us for a discussion of this fictional villain, while we also consider a wicked modern drawing.
An African American man in rural Kansas amazed family and friends with his ability to make these sculptures inside bottles, employing an art form known as bottle whimsy.
Developed in Europe during the 1920s, television quickly spread around the world. Its first appearance in Delia, Kansas, was in 1949 when the Rosser family purchased this Admiral home entertainment system.
Dressing like Santa Claus has been a tradition for fathers and department store workers for many years, but babies didn't take up the practice until the mid-20th century.
A decade before the end of segregation, a kind woman and a little girl broke through racial barriers in Topeka. This handmade African American doll symbolizes a bond between whites and blacks in the Mudtown neighborhood during the 1940s.
