By Mel Tharp  The harmonica has frequently been called the “musical instrument of the common man.” I think this was especially true in earlier times. The image of the cowboy, farmer, hobo, or some itinerant musician playing a doleful melody on the mouth harp is part of our folk culture.  Little is known about the early history and development of […]

By Henry J. Pratt  Scores of sewing machines hum, whirl, and whine in a busy workroom, half the size of the Denver Broncos Mile High football stadium. Tables overflow with red, white and blue cloth.  A mountain of red and white stripes form like curtains on the floor, as material streams endlessly from the machines. Nearby, a woman methodically measures […]

 The story of Chief Standing Bear, which has reached new levels of prominence in Nebraska of late, now will be spread further through the U.S. mail. A “Forever” commemorative stamp bearing the likeness of the Ponca leader is to be issued and became available for use nationwide May 12. The U.S. Postal Service says it is printing 18 million of […]

By Robert Reed  I scream. You scream.  We all scream for ice cream.  —popular 20th century phrase.  George Washington may well have been the nation’s first celebrity consumer of ice cream back in the 18th century.  The “Father of Our Country” was known to have purchased a “cream machine for ice” as early as 1784. An inventory of his estate […]