Antiquing in Missouri

09/06/2026

Don’t miss the sale!

09/06/2026

Missouri History!

Before Mickey Mouse, one of America's biggest cartoon characters came out of the Missouri Ozarks. Rose O'Neill called them Kewpies.

O'Neill was already a successful illustrator when the little round characters began taking shape around the world she created at Bonniebrook, her family's home in Taney County.

The Kewpies first appeared in a women's magazine in December 1909.

They exploded in popularity.

O'Neill described them as mischievous little beings whose purpose was essentially to spread kindness and fun. Readers loved them.

Then the drawings became merchandise.

In 1913, O'Neill patented a doll based on the character and supervised production of early Kewpie dolls in Germany. Kewpies appeared on an astonishing range of objects.

The character became internationally recognizable.

By 1914, O'Neill was the highest-paid female illustrator in America.

That is the part of the story Missouri should claim loudly.

A woman artist working in an era when women still faced major professional barriers created intellectual property valuable enough to make her wealthy and famous.

And the Ozarks were not simply where she retired afterward.

Bonniebrook was part of her creative world.

O'Neill supported her family, other artists and causes including women's suffrage.

Her later fine art could be much stranger and darker than the cheerful Kewpies that made her famous. But those little characters built the fortune.

A quiet Taney County landscape helped inspire one of the most commercially successful women artists of her era.

O'Neill's success also complicates the stereotype that nationally important commercial art had to come from New York or Chicago. Her career moved through major publishing centers, but the Ozark home remained a creative and emotional anchor.

That is why this belongs in Missouri Untold: the anchor is specific, but the story opens into a much larger piece of the state's history. The familiar version becomes more interesting when the overlooked detail is restored.

09/06/2026

Owls nest in Holden Mo 25% off sale

09/06/2026

Lots of sales still going on through Labor Day! If you have an event today and tomorrow that is not listed post in the comments please and I will add it

09/04/2026

So many things at the Brass Armadillo it took an extra post!!! Enjoy!
Check out their big sale 15% off Sept 5-7 Labor Day Weekend!

09/04/2026

What’s at the Brass Armadillo today…let’s go see!

09/04/2026

What’s new at the Cottage in Lowry City Missouri…Let’s take a look!!!!

09/04/2026

Missouri History!

The phrase 'best thing since sliced bread' has a Missouri address.

On **July 7, 1928**, the **Chillicothe Baking Company** began selling loaves cut by inventor Otto Rohwedder's automatic bread-slicing machine.

Chillicothe became the **first documented community to sell commercially sliced bread**.

The invention sounds simple until you consider the problem Rohwedder had to solve.

Cutting bread early made it go stale faster.

Slices could separate and become difficult to package.

His machine had to cut an entire loaf evenly while keeping it together for sale.
The Chillicothe bakery took the chance.

Customers liked the convenience.

Other bakeries adopted the technology.

Within a few years, sliced bread became so ordinary that people forgot there had ever been a time when every household cut its own loaf.

Missouri didn't invent bread.

It helped invent the way America expected bread to arrive.

09/04/2026

09/03/2026

Upcoming Events at Jesse James Antique Mall in St Joseph Missouri!