New Additions to Our Collections

January - June 1998

Here are some highlights of the many artifacts that entered the collections of the Kansas Museum of History during this six-month time period. Confiscated slot machine

Illegal gambling equipment confiscated by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, including slot machines (two are pictured), tokens, and rigged carnival games.

Compugraphics mainframe computer and work station used by Sun Publications of Overland Park. The company was one of the first to compose newspapers on computer.

Baton used by Charles S. Pence, who founded and conducted the Pence Band of Shawnee County.

World War II Navy pea jacket worn by Willard Foster of Longton (Elk County).

Band uniform and snare drum played by Genevieve Wunsch while a member of the Shawnee County 4-H Club Band in 1940. The uniform was made by Fruhauf Uniforms of Wichita. See They're Playing Our Song for more information on Kansas bands.

Confiscated slot machine Child's band uniform jacket worn by Walter Daish while impersonating John Philip Sousa at a church function.

Many items associated with the political career of Alf Landon, Kansas Governor from 1933 to 1937 and Republican candidate in the 1936 presidential election campaign. Among the items in this donation are the bulletproof podium Landon used while campaigning. Also included are nearly 50 original political cartoons from the era, many of them with personal inscriptions by the cartoonist.

Desert Storm camouflage jacket and hat worn by Kansan John Winkler during his service in the 1990 war. Winkler served with the First Infantry Division ("The Big Red One") based in Fort Riley, Kansas, at the time. The jacket was worn during the ground invasion of Iraq.

Handbill from the centennial celebration of Buster Keaton's birth, held in Iola, Kansas, in 1995. Keaton's birthplace was nearby Piqua.

Hollenberg Station pitcher Beadwork necklace and earrings from the estate of Virginia Walton, who attended Haskell Indian University in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The jewelry was made by an Arapaho-Shoshone of Wind River, Wyoming.

Broadaxe used by Benjamin Sanneman during the 1920s restoration of Kansas' First Territorial Capitol, now a State Historic Site.

Porcelain pitcher (pictured) used by Sophia Brockmeyer Hollenberg at the Pony Express Station now known as Hollenberg Station State Historic Site.

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