Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Sioux City Breweries

Sioux City, Iowa has a long and proud history of brewing beer. Starting around the the mid 1800's to as recent as 2002 brewing companies brewed beer off and on over the years. Even during the prohibition of the 1880's brewing companies made the beverage America has come to love.












Sunday, August 12, 2012

Iron Lung

In the 1940's and 1950's Sioux City was especially hard hit with the polio epidemic. One of the therapies St. Vincent Hospital tried to help patients who suffered from the virus was with the use of an Emerson Respirator or iron lung. It was an early, crude and painful form of respiratory therapy to try and help those whose chest muscles were affected by the outbreak.

On display at the Sioux City Public Museum is this reminder of the devastating polio and what was done to try and help its victims:



Siouxland Attic

The Sioux City Public Museum has a permanent exhibit of items once stored in people's attics. the exhibit portrays a good example of the things people once collected. Some were perhaps family heirlooms while others had a more utilitarian function eventually replaced with something more modern.


Saturday, August 11, 2012

Fire Hydrant at Military Rd and Riverside Blvd

Here is a city fire hydrant at/near the corner of Military Rd and Riverside Blvd in Sioux City, Iowa. Someone painted it and the protective poles surrounding it a different color than the standard red or yellow most commonly seen.

It is unknown who painted it and if it is legal or not to have a fire hydrant painted with this color scheme. A lot of cities and towns have passed ordinances making it illegal it for regular citizens or residents to decorate a fire hydrant. The reason has to do with response time. When the fire department shows up they have to be able to quickly find the fire hydrant so they can connect to it to put out the fire.

Illegal or not this one is interesting with its unique paint scheme:


Monday, August 6, 2012

Bluejay Ojibwe

A more recent piece on display at the Sioux City Art Center in the Legacy Collection is Bluejay Ojibwe by artist Billy Hassell:



Tree of Knowledge

A rather interesting interpretation of the Tree of Knowledge is shown at the Sioux City Art Center. The piece was created in 1979 by artist John Bowitz and is part of the permanent collection:






Dango

On display as part of the permanent collection is a ceramic piece from artist Jun Kaneko called Dango:




Sagger Shields

Some of the art that is part of the permanent collection at the Sioux City Public Museum is a gift of the artist. This piece, Sagger Shields is one of those:





1957 Diamond T Model 630 "Off Highway" Dump Truck and 1959 Koehring Heavy Duty Road Paver

The two single largest pieces on permenant display at the Sioux City Public Museum are the 1957 Diamond T Model 630 "Off Highway" Dump Truck and the 1959 Koehring Heavy Duty Road Paver. These machines helped build the Eisenhower Interstate System, Iowa state highways and local Sioux City roadways.


Saturday, August 4, 2012

Buckboard

Sioux City was one of many cities across the country that had a company who manufactured buckboards. Sioux City Iron was that company. Buckboards were still being made and used at the turn of the century and into the early 1900's.

At the Sioux City Public Museum, as part of the permanent exhibits is one such buckboard ca 1903:



1901 Oldsmobile

On permanent display at the Sioux City Public Museum as part of the transportation pieces is a 1901 Oldsmobile:










Coaches, Carriages, Carts and Wagons

On permanent display at the Sioux City Public Museum is a Brougham Carriage ca. 1890:







Sculpt Siouxland: 2012

On display in downtown Sioux City, Iowa, along 3rd, 4th, Pierce and Nebraska Streets are the sculptures for the 2012 Sculpt Siouxland Exhibit.


























Article from the Weekender about the sculptures:
Sculpting Downtown Sioux City