Moose-Drawn Sleighs and the Rabbitholes that Ensue

Alright everyone, buckle in for some fun historical tidbits, because I went off down a random rabbithole yesterday and while you could find out about it in my monthly Instagram round-up, I thought it was fun enough that it warranted it's own dedicated post!

It all started when I came across this image right here online (Facebook maybe??):

For those of you who might never have seen one in real life (because I got this question SO MUCH on Instagram): yes, these are moose!

The conversation surrounding it on Facebook was along the lines of "this is fake, right? This is AI generated, or these are stuffed moose, posed for the photo" but I could have sworn that I had seen a better version of this image before, where they did not look stuffed, plus I was additionally interested by the fact that the image was dated as from 1919, but their fashion seems notably younger than that.

So of course I went off digging. It seems like the photo that sparked all this conversation was from a postcard - the photo being the front side, and the backside looking thusly:

The transcription is "Rising Kris Kringles steeds young Wisconsin moose thoroughly broken to harness who can outrun any horse team in the neighborhood."

Two stamps: LESLIE’S WEEKLY’ and ‘LESLIE”S WEEKLY Copyright Leslie Judge Co. 1919”

✍️Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, later renamed Leslie's Weekly, was an American illustrated literary and news magazine founded in 1855 and published until 1922. It was one of several magazines started by publisher and illustrator Frank Leslie. Throughout its decades of existence, the weekly provided illustrations and reports—first with wood-engravings and Daguerreotypes, later with more advanced forms of photography—of wars from John Brown's raid at Harpers Ferry and the Civil War until the Spanish–American War and the First World War.

So I did a quick online search and found a much better quality version of the image, on the Minnesota Historical Society's webpage (⬆) which cites the image as being from "circa 1917" which, again, the fashion looks like it's closer to the turn of the century.

I know that people would have hung on to their clothing, especially outerwear, for a long time, but it does seem interesting discrepancy to me, and those of you that are historical fashion enthusiasts, please chime in if you have opinions here. I'm certainly no expert on outerwear, and I'm curious to know if I'm way off base here.

The original image in the MNHS collection is equally from a postcard, so I'm wondering if the image wasn't take years prior, and then used as a postcard circa 1917. The reason it's on the MNHS collection is that it's a moose team and sleigh in Ely, Minnesota. But anyways, that was only the beginning of the rabbit hole, because 1887 saw that photo, and said, "hold my beer" 🍺

Caption: A moose-drawn sleigh stops outside an ice palace at the 1887 St. Paul Winter Carnival.

So this is taken in front of THE titular ice palace in the midst of the St. Paul Winter Carnival of 1887. And if you don't know the history of the Winter Carnival, it makes me chuckle every time I think of it (which is surprisingly often, to be honest), so let me regale you.

The Saint Paul Winter Carnival is one of the oldest civic celebrations in the country. Beginning in 1886, the carnival was, in part, a response to those who called Minnesota a uninhabitable wilderness. At that time, the nation's urban places, including Minnesota cities, were competing intensely among themselves for regional and national dominance.

Several Eastern newspaper correspondents (New York specifically is most oft cited) visited Saint Paul in the fall of 1885 and returned home to report that Minnesota, in general, was another Siberia, unfit for human habitation (to which all of Canada guffawed).

So, naturally, as a response, a group of local business owners decided to retaliate by creating a wintertime festival which would showcase all the beauty of Minnesota winters. In my favorite tie-in, they actually worked with the City of Montreal on the details, because we (Montreal, that is) already had a winter carnival in place.

Unfortunately (although probably essential in the creation of the tradition that would become the Saint Paul winter carnival), a smallpox outbreak forced Montreal to cancel its 1886 winter carnival, and St. Paul boosters rushed to hire their ice palace architects, A. C. and J. H. Hutchison.

They organized the most elaborate winter carnival in the country, complete with a marketing mythology that included boreal kings and queens battling fire demons for the soul of winter. The '86 palace was emblazoned with electric lights, featured multiple skating rinks and a warming room with a lunch counter. Take that, Siberia.

Two years later, in 1888, local architect Charles E. Joy led the construction of the ice palace, and it was the largest ever built, with 55,000 blocks of ice. A wedding with 6,000 guests was held within its walls. At 15 stories tall, the palace took four months to melt! Also, if anyone is an F.Scott Fitzgerald fan, "The Ice Palace,” was inspired by the 1887 palace.

The MNHS actually has the original architectural drawing of the 1887 ice palace, and I would LOVE to get my hands on a copy of those 🥹 They also have the drawings from 1941, and 1975, as well as a complete set of blueprints from 1941 (although I'm not sure how exactly that'd differ from the drawings).

 ⬆Possibly one of my favorite photos of the early celebrations, simply entitled "blanket toss" by the MNHS (look carefully if you can't figure out why)!

Some other fun images of the early winter carnivals (there are literally so many, I really had to restrain myself here):

 

 ⬆The 1886 Toboggan Club

 ⬆ Publicity from the '87 Carnival (from the James J. Hill collection, interestingly enough)

 ⬆And bringing it back full circle (almost) with an elk-driven sleigh as part of the 1887 Winter Carnival!

Plus, for those that are curious, here's an image of the Montreal Ice Castle, most likely from 1888:

 

Anyways, that was my fun little rabbithole... there was so much more I learned about it, I'm sorely tempted to make a video on it, but alas, it'd probably have to be a 2nd channel video, because I'm not sure how well it would do on!

Hope you had fun coming along with me on this mini deep dive (this was honestly the cliff notes version)! Have a lovely week, and be sure to check out the festive winter painting job I did on that key rack/mail holder (full video link in the previous post, otherwise coming out publicly on the channel this evening)!