34-star American flag playing cards
Date: between 1861 and 1863
This deck of thirty-five glossed paper cards depicts two 34 star American flags on the back. The reverse contains the suits with no numbers in the corners. Kansas is the 34th State admitted to the Union (in 1861), which dates these to the early Civil War between 1861 and 1863. Prior to 1880 playing cards typically did not have numbers in the corners.

Allen D. Birch and family gathered to listen to radio
Date: 1920-1929
Allen D. Birch and family are gathered to listen to radio at their home in Topeka, Kansas, in the 1920s.

Architectural building blocks
Creator: American Manufacturing Concern
Date: 1914
The American Manufacturing Concern in Jamestown, New York made these wooden building blocks. Alice Elizabeth Bouse (1912-2002) of Centralia, Kansas received the set as a Christmas gift in 1914.

Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, Chanute, Kansas
Date: 1918
This photograph taken during Armistance Day on November 11, 1918 in Chanute, Kansas, celebrates the end of World War I across the globe. In the photograph, a car is driving pulling a coffin with the word "Kaiser" written on the side to represent the death of the German Kaiser.

Astro Captain mechanical toy
Creator: Mego
Date: between 1950 and 1970
The Astro Captain's plastic arms and tin legs move when wind up key is wound. It is mostly made of tin and was made in Japan by DAIYA and imported and distributed by MEGO. It was made between 1955 and 1970. Japan dominated the production of toy robots after World War II. The U.S. "Space Race" to explore the solar system in the late 1950's to early 1970's generated huge public interest and a large market for space related products.

Baseball card game
Creator: Aydelott's Baseball Cards Company
Date: 1910
This game contains cards with various playing situations, games pieces to act as base runners, a score sheet and instruction sheet. The game was made by Aydelott's Baseball Cards Company. Jake Aydelott played professional baseball as a pitcher with the Indianapolis Hoosiers in 1884 and the Philadelphia Athletics in 1886.

Beads from a Child's Treasure Trove, 14EW310
Date: 1930-1959
Shown are eight of the 83 artifacts stored in a jar that was recovered during the Kansas Archeology Training Program excavation in 1996 at Fort Harker in Kanopolis, Kansas. The artifacts were discovered in a broken mustard jar, shown in the two slides, and may well represent a child's treasure, buried and forgotten sometime between the 1930s and the 1950s. Shown are eight glass and plastic beads: a black oval bead (possibly a button), a red faceted bead, two clear conical shaped beads, three clear round beads and one oblong red grooved or incised bead.

Beth Rogler
Date: Between 1900 and 1919
This black and white photograph shows Beth Rogler on a tricycle in front of the Rogler home. This homestead, known as "Pioneer Bluffs", is located on 160 acres of land along the South Fork of the Cottonwood River basin, in Bazaar Township of Chase County, Kansas. The Rogler family owned and operated the ranch from 1859 to 2006. In October 2006, the historic property, which included the home and 4,081 acres of land, was auctioned off at 6.9 million dollars. Today "Pioneer Bluffs" is a non-profit educational center that is dedicated to teaching the history of ranching and the diversity of the tall grass prairie.

Beulah Griffis Winter, Marshall County, Kansas
Date: Between 1915 and 1920
This is a postcard image of Beulah Griffis Winter with her doll, Bigelow, in Marshall County, Kansas. Beulah was around 5 years old.

Bill & Mabel at Pouiki, Hawaii
Creator: Hughes, James Clark, 1888-1964
Date: Undated
Mabel Renwick, Captain James C. Hughes' first wife, and their young son, Bill, are enjoying time on the sand in Pouiki, Hawaii. Bill would be about three years old at this time. After Captain Hughes' assignment at Motor Transport School, Camp Holabird, Maryland, he had applied for a position in the Regular Army. He was accepted in September 1920, and assigned to a post at Fort Lewis, Washington as a Battery Commander of the 13th Field Artillery. In October, he was transferred to the Battery Commander Headquarters for the 13th Field Artillery at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Hughes and Mabel moved to Hawaii with their children, stayring there until September of 1923. A full biography of James Clark Hughes is available on Kansapedia.

Bisque Doll Leg from the Iowa and Sac and Fox Mission, 14DP384
Date: 1845-1905
Shown is a bisque doll leg from the toes up to the knee. It was found during excavations at the Iowa Sac and Fox Mission in Doniphan County by Kansas Historical Society archeologists and Kansas Anthropological Association volunteers. The Presbyterian Mission was built in 1845 and closed in 1863. After that part of the building was razed, the rest was used as a residence until 1905. The State of Kansas acquired to property in 1941.

Bisque Doll from 14GR301
Date: Unknown
This bisque doll head and body was recovered from the Curry site in Greenwood County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1984. The Curry site was a multicomponent (multiple occupations) site occupied periodically during the Archaic, Early Ceramic and Middle Ceramic Periods. However, this doll shows that there was also modern material recovered at the site. The doll had jointed arms and legs and may have once had a painted face and hair, though, if so, no trace remains.

Boy on tricycle
Date: Between 1900 and 1919
This black and white photograph shows a young boy seated on a tricycle.

Boys in a dog-drawn wagon, Dorrance, Kansas
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: March 13, 1910
This is an informal portrait of Joseph Basala's three young sons riding in a small dog-drawn wagon on a farm in Dorrance, Kansas. There is a farm building and stone fence posts in the background.

Boy with a toy wagon, Clark County, Kansas
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1891 and 1912
This is a view of a young boy with a toy wagon standing in front of an unidentified wooden-frame house with a porch and a wooden fence in Clark County, Kansas.

Boy with tricycle, Treece, Kansas
Date: Between 1955 and 1959
This is a photograph of Joey Leatherman with his tricycle, Treece, Kansas. The photograph was copied from an album loaned by the family.

Brist boomerang
Creator: Brist Manufacturing Company
Date: between 1902 and 1920
Wooden Brist boomerang. The boomerang is a component of Brist, a game in which a racket is used to catch boomerangs. It was invented by Sam Bristow and manufactured by the Brist Manufacturing Company in Topeka, Kansas, from 1904 to 1924. In 1915, the company employed between 30 and 35 people. The game sets sold for between $3 and $15.

Brown County exposition
Date: September 4- 7, 1894
This fair poster advertises bicycle racing and other entertainments at the Brown County exposition in Hiawatha, Kansas.

Building blocks
Creator: F. Ad. Richter & Co.
Date: between 1880 and 1900
Richter's Anchor [Anker] Box Containing Building Stones. Box No. 13. Contains 259 cast stone building blocks in three colors. Also includes wooden box with sliding lid and lift-out tray and five instruction books and sheets. The F. Ad. Richter & Co. first produced Anker blocks in the factory in Rudolstadt, Germany in 1880. The blocks were very successful, thanks in part to Richter's aggressive and innovative marketing, and were soon sold across Europe and America.

Cabinet card, Minnie Palenske
Creator: Meier, Gustav H., 1865-1941
Date: Around 1896
This is a studio portrait cabinet card of Minnie Palenske Zwanziger, the daughter of Louis and Emma Palenske of Alma, Kansas with her pioneer dolls. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

California and the expositions. Yellowstone National Park. How to go and what to see
Creator: Union Pacific Railway Company
Date: Between 1914 and 1915
This pamphlet is a Union Pacific Railroad promotional advertisement for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, California, between February 20, 1915-December 04, 1915, including a travel excursion to Yellowstone National Park in the Rocky Mountains and other areas of interest.

California calls you
Creator: Union Pacific Railway Company
Date: 1920s
This Union Pacific Railroad Company promotional advertisement describes the beauty and tourism features of California.

Canton, Kansas
Creator: Lomax, Hugh
Date: 1929
This film presents silent footage of Canton, Kansas. Beginning with a steam engine pulling into a railroad depot, the film features many street scenes, people, schools and other small town scenes. It shows many people entering and leaving the post office or general store. It also shows many school children playing games on the playground and mothers with infants.

Cast Iron Horse from the Shawnee Methodist Mission, 14JO362
Date: 1890-1934
This cast iron horse was recovered from excavations by Kansas Historical Society archeologists and crew at the Shawnee Indian Mission in Johnson County. The Mission was established in 1839 and operated as a school until 1854. It then passed into private ownership and served different functions until it was acquired by the state of Kansas in 1927. Cast iron toys, like this half of a horse, were usually mass produced. This toy was cleaned by electrolysis which passes an electrical current through a liquid solution to separate the rust from the artifact.

Children, Salina, Kansas
Date: Between 1880 and 1889
This photograph shows a group of children called the "First East Side Kids" with their donkey cart in front of a unidentified home in Salina, Kansas. The individuals have been identified as follows: Lee Geis, Charles Schwartz, Ed Geis, Norb Schwartz and Ray Geis. Mother is looking out the window.