Miss Sarah Thompson, 1910s.

Back of real-photo postcard, with one handwritten line of text: Miss Sarah Thompson. Divided back and style indicates 1910s.

Planets And The Sun, 1906.

"The Sun Seen From Its Nearest Planets", from The Harmsworth Self-Educator, approximately 1906. Text can be read here.

Three Generations of Norway, 1880s.

Care de viste of four Norwegian women. Taken in Arendal, Norway, by the photographer H.P. Nielsen. The original photo has some scratches and was of very low contrast, which accounts for the high grain in the photo above; their faces are nearly indistinguishable to the naked eye in the original. Appears 1880s.

Confirmation Class, 1890s.

Unmarked cabinet photo of unusual proportions. Appears to be a confirmation class from the late 19th century, but I was unable to find any explanation for the white, candle-like ribbons on the men.

Cedric Adams, WCCO, 1960

An advertisement from The Farmer, 2 July 1960, for WCCO Broadcaster Cedric Adams.

Canistota S.D., 1920s

Main Street, Canistota, SD. From a reprint of a real-photo postcard, original appears 1920s. At the far left is the Ortman Hotel. Hotelier Amos Ortman went on to open a chiropractic clinic and develop his "Ortman Technique".

Build Your Own Magic Lantern, 1910s

From the encyclopedic series The Book Of Knowledge comes this bit of practical information: "How To Build A Magic Lantern". These are what we'd call today a "slide projector". At the time, however, slides were images on largish pieces of glass, and the light source was an open flame. The instructions rely on store-bought lenses, but the body is completely manufactured by hand from materials such as brass, japanned tin, and wood. If the steampunks among you are interested in building a paraffin-powered LCD projector, this is a starting point.

Family Photo, 1950s.

Family photo, 1950s. This photo appears to have been taken within minutes of this photo. The bicycle is a early-1940s Western Flyer, so it is possible the photo is older than I had originally thought. The girl in the background is sitting in a Radio Flyer wagon, set inside a wooden wagon, all stacked on a table.

Jesse James was a Piker, 1959

Advertisement for a regular The Farmer feature known as "The Watchdog." Full text available here. The use of the word "piker" doesn't follow most definitions I can find: it usually means 'miserly' or a 'hobo', but the article uses it in a "thieving" context. If you do happen to be in the Northfield area, Jesse James Days are going on this weekend, and you can find out just how big a piker he was, first-hand.

The Old Woman Tossed in a Basket, 1910s

An illustration of the Mother Goose rhyme The Old Woman Tossed in a Basket, from The Book Of Knowledge.