Alfalfa Dehydrating and Processing Plant
This postcard contains a picture of a Alfalfa Dehydrating and Processing Plant on the front. The plant was located in Gothenburg, Nebraska. This item was donated at the University of Nebraska-Kearney's spring 2014 History Harvest.
Linda Price, University of Nebraska-Kearney History Harvest, 2014
Dunlap- Henline Publishing, North Platte, NE
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Colored postcard with a picture of the Buffalo County Courthouse. It is addressed to Mr. J. W. Frey of Omaha, Nebraska.
University of Nebraska at Kearney (Images)
Enameled and plated metal typewriter with seven rows of black and white colored composition keys and black roller; enameled metal carrying case with oak base and handle; a: typewriter, b: base, c: cover Information provided by http://www.wolfsonian.org/explore/collections/smith-premier-typewriter-no-2
Dawes County Historical Society Museum, Chadron State College Historical Society Museum
“Alibi-ing Papa” is about a woman who is fed up with her husband’s nights spent away from the family and the lies he tells to cover up his nocturnal adventures. The narrative takes place in Mobile, Alabama where alibing Sam always tells his wife he has a lodge meeting when she wants him to do things like, “come and go with her and the kiddies to a movie show”. This nameless wife threatens to, “get a pistol, I don’t care what it costs” to keep in the house. But she knows he prefers being, “ out with the women trying to be a sheik” in what may be a reference to the French-Italian American actor Rudolph Valetino’s famous movie character the Sheik. In the 1920s the term Sheik became slang for a womanizer, which according to his wife fit Sam’s character. “Alibi-ing Papa” was composed by Effie Tyus and Charles Tyus who also wrote the music and lyrics of “Omaha Blues” 1924 and “I’m Free, Single, Disengaged, Looking For Someone to Love” 1919. Janice Cleary who owns this amazing collection believes Effie and Charles Tyus were entertainers. The song has a 1927 copyright held by W. C. Handy Music Publisher, of 1547 Broadway, New York, New York. The sheet music does not indicate any Omaha address like the other compositions by the Tyus team. Unlike “I’m Free, Single, Disengaged, Looking For Someone to Love” this publication does not have any artwork on its cover or additional promotions of the artists’ other work. For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
Janice Cleary, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
This sheet music is a ragtime instrumental song composed by Dan Desdunes in 1912. Janice Cleary who owns this amazing collection remembers seeing Desdunes leading his band in Omaha parades when she was young. Those memories make this artifact particularly dear to her. Desdunes who listed his address as 2120 N 24th St, made quite a name for himself as a bandleader in Omaha in the early part of the twentieth century. The cover promotes some of his other compositions such as the “Dandy Dancers Rag”, “Honey Bug Rag”, “Dixie Notions Rag”, “That Teasing Omaha Rag”, and “Mexican [sic] Thot Serenade”. A large ad inside the sheet music promotes Desdunes’, “Dividends of Smiles” arranged by Frank Boukal, and “Dedicated to Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home”. This song along with many others aired on local Omaha station WOW as played by, “Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home WOW Radio Band” in their studios at “the Woodmen of the World radio station each Sunday from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.”. Father Flanagan’s Boys’ are pictured meeting with legendary composer and bandleader John Phillip Sousa along with an image of Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home. The caption promoting the home states it was located, “11 miles west of Omaha, Neb. on the Lincoln Highway, where more than 200 homeless boys, of every race, color and religion, are made into Good American Citizens”. Dan Desdunes’ music played a vital role in Flanagan’s integrated boys band. The sheet music includes two additional promotions for sheet music titles published by Mickey Music Company of Omaha printed by Walton Process Chicago. The ads include Geo. E. Rausch’s rag, “Kinky Head” with a photograph of young African American child on the cover and Hans B. Parkinson’s waltz, “Steer My Bark” with an illustration of a woman sailing. Other promoted songs are Gaston Otey Wilkins and J. Meredith Woodward’s, “You”, Chas F. Stephenss’ polka, “Viola Two Step”, “Two Crushed Roses”, and “There’s Just One Love For Someone”. For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
'I Want to See My Girl in London' sheet music
This World War I song is about a soldier’s faithfulness to his country and his girl. The lyrics use the name Tommy Atkins, a term used to denote a generic British soldier, rather than a specific individual. Tommy, “while down in a trench one day”, receives a letter from his girl Anna Shannon. While she begs to see him back in London, he pledges to remain loyal to his duty in the field. The cover of this sheet music shows a drawing of a young woman in a hat and fur collar. A small photograph of the Glendale Quartette is also featured. This is another song composed by Maceo Pinkard, best know for his hit, “Sweet Georgia Brown”. Pinkard collaborated with lyricist Con T’lam and Edwin Dicey who arranged this 1916 tune for orchestra. Janice Cleary who owns this amazing collection, informs us from her research that Pinkard was a booking agent and music publisher in Omaha before he moved on to New York. The sheet music was published by Independent Music Publishing Company 850 50 23rd Street Omaha Nebraska. On the first page inside the sheet music is an advertisement for “It’s Back to Tennessee for Mine” with lyrics also by Con T’lam and composed by L. A. Clark. This ad urges music lovers to, “Buy it in Omaha” with “Popular Music” at “Popular Prices.” For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
This “Terrific Hit” song written by Maceo Pinkard of ‘Sweet Georgia Brown” fame is about a man returning to his home in “Dixie land”. He tells his girl, “Now you can stay up here and have all I’ve seen” but what he wants is to return to, “the best old land the kind I understand”. As he rides home on the train, in the reverse direction of the Great Migration, he looks forward to his arrival where “the band will play some rags”. Janice Cleary, who owns this amazing collection, informs us Pinkard was a booking agent and music publisher in Omaha before he moved on to New York. His southern roots must have inspired this tune. On the cover of this sheet music is a drawing of a man standing on the back of a train illustrated by Maurice M. Leaf. There is also a photograph of Steve Clifford superimposed on the train’s railing. The sheet music bears a 1916 copyright and was published by the Dick B. Bruun Company, 11 Wright Block, Omaha Nebraska. An image of Bruun appears on the bottom of the cover along with the logo of his company, which includes a cartoon drawing of a mouse that predates the famous Mickey. He is wearing a suit looking at some sheet music, which proclaims, “Croon a Bruun Time”. There is a full page ad for Dick Bruun’s song, “Thelma Waits for Me in Norway by the Sea”, dedicated to Miss Doris Wilson, “featured in Through the Looking Glass” as well as an image of her and the Wilson Triplets. There is also a small promotion for Pinkard’s “When He Sang that Baritone”. For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
A man’s longing for his hometown, the city of Omaha Nebraska, inspires this post World War I blues song, printed as sheet music. The song is about his dreams of returning to Omaha after a life of roaming and his desire to settle down near his parents back at home. He praises, “The folks in Omaha” who, “are nice and kind”. He goes on about his love back in Omaha describing her as, “just as sweet as any peach from a tree”. This man’s desire for home and all the people there drives him to return there even if as he says, “I have to walk”. Effie Tyus and Charles Tyus wrote the music and lyrics of “Omaha Blues”. Janice Cleary who owns this amazing collection believes Effie and Charles Tyus were entertainers. The song has a 1924 copyright held by the Clarence Williams Music Publishing Company, of 1547 Broadway, New York, New York. For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
Clarence Williams Music Publishing Company
This is an original version of the legendary song with music written by Maceo Pinkard, lyrics by Kenneth Casey and popularized by Ben Bernie. Janice Cleary who owns this amazing collection, assures us from her research that Pinkard was a booking agent and music publisher in Omaha before he moved on to New York. Over the years the lyrics have been sanitized for modern tastes but this 1925 sheet music contains the original story about a black prostitute named Sweet Georgia Brown. The second verse begins with, “Brown skin Gals you’ll get the blues, Brown skin Pals you’ll surely loose” instead of the non-racialized ‘gals’ and ‘pals’ of more recent versions. The song was billed as a “Charleston Swing Song” complete with a ukulele arrangement for the era’s popular instrument. The cover of this sheet music features an art deco styled illustration of a young woman in a red dress and a photograph of Miss Nora Kelly who introduced the song. On the second page of the sheet music is an ad for “Oh Mah! Oh Pah! Ain’t She the Sweetest Thing” with lyrics by Gus Kahn and music by Walter Donaldson. Jerome H. Remick and Company of New York and Detroit published the sheet music. For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard, Kenneth Casey
This “1917 Jazz Band Sensation” is an instrumental song composed by Maceo Pinkard of “Sweet Georgia Brown” fame. Janice Cleary, who owns this amazing collection, informed us that Pinkard was a booking agent in Omaha before he moved on to New York. It was dedicated to Sophie Tucker’s (5) Kings of Syncopation who popularized the tune. The song was available for player pianos and for what the publisher refers to as talking machines, better known as record players, which were just becoming popular at the time. The cover of this sheet music features a photograph of Sophie Tucker’s Kings of Syncopation framed by an illustration of a man playing piano and a young couple dancing. There is an ad for another Pinkard tune, “I’m a Real Kind Mama, Looking for a Loving Man” in the sheet music and credit for his song, “Just Give Me That Ragtime Please”. The composer's own Maceo Pinkard Music Publishing in Omaha, Nebraska published the song. For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.