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L. W. Halbe Collection

Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981

The L. W. (Leslie Winfield) Halbe photo collection consists of 1500 glass plate negatives produced by Halbe during his teenage years. Halbe lived in Dorrance, Russell County, Kansas, and began taking photographs of the region with an inexpensive Sears and Roebuck camera when he was fifteen years old.

School in a chuck wagon, Finney County, Kansas

This photograph shows Maude Elliott's first school building; it was used as a chuck wagon where two or three women cooked for a crew of men. The tent was their "living room" which could be as easily moved from place to place as the chuck wagon. A pair of mules was all that was needed to move Maude Elliott's school building around.

Rural Free Delivery wagon, Maple Hill, Kansas

These two black and white photographs show the first Rural Free Delivery wagon for the U.S. mail in Maple Hill, Kansas. In the first image Mr. Joe Boyd, is seated behind the horse-drawn wagon as a unidentified girl stands in the cab of the vehicle The second image show two women and three children informally posing with Mr. Boyd and his wagon at a unidentified location. The wagon is label R.F.D. No. 1, U.S. Mail, Maple Hill Kan.

J.R. Watkins Medical wagon, Eureka, Kansas

This black and white photograph shows a couple standing beside a J.R. Watkins Medical wagon with sampling cases near Eureka, Kansas. The medical company, founded in 1868 by Joseph Ray Watkins from Plainview, Minnesota, sold medical liniments and salves from the back of a horse drawn wagon. The company may have sold supplies for animals as well as humans because a bucket in the front of the photograph is labeled "stock tonic" and the wagon has "stock and poultry tonic" on it.

Salina Plumbing Company delivery wagon, Salina, Kansas

These three photographs show the delivery wagons of the Salina Plumbing Company in Salina, Kansas. The first image shows Anna Geis, the bookkeeper, standing next to the wagon. The second view shows Ed Sharp leaning on the wagon. The last photograph shows just the horse and wagon.

The Catron Family arriving by covered wagon in Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas, from Greeley, Nebraska

This photograph shows the Catron Family from Greeley, Nebraska, arriving by covered wagon and other wagons, on West 10th Street in Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas. Don Catron is standing in the center of the picture.