Madison County

Dinner Bucket

Image of enameled ware dinner bucket.

Dinner Bucket
Fancy fare for the working man
1915
Illinois State Museum, Illinois Legacy Collection
Gift of Lee I. Niedringhaus, 2006.149a-d

This dinner bucket was used by a working man to carry lunch to his job site. It is a rare surviving example of the oblong bucket produced by the National Enamel and Stamping Company (NESCO) of Granite City.

The Rise of Corn

Image of ancient corn cob and modern-day corn.

Compare the size of ancient corn cob with modern-day corn.

Pictured here is a vial containing a corncob that was found in a fire pit at Cahokia Mounds. The pit and its contents are about 800 years old.  Note the size difference between the ancient specimen and the modern sweet corn purchased from a local grocer. 

Cahokia Mounds Bird Man Tablet

Image of sandstone tablet
This small sandstone tablet, only about four inches tall, shows a man in a bird costume (possibly representing an eagle or peregrine falcon). The reverse side features a crosshatch design that may depict a snakeskin. 
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