by Mindy Price and Susan Smith
Let us rewind fifty years and step back into 1976 America. The nation was busy planning patriotic events celebrating the 200th birthday of the United States. With Bicentennial parades, exhibitions, lectures, concerts, picnics, and ceremonies taking place in cities across the country, many people were united by feelings of nostalgia and national pride.
As we look forward to celebrating the Semiquincentennial this year, let’s take a moment to reflect on our Bicentennial year through a few artifacts from the Minnetrista Heritage Collection.
Bicentennial Forecast #1 is a graphite and crayon drawing created for the exhibition “Happy Birthday, U.S.A.: A Celebration by Alice W. Nichols.” Inspired by the American flag and the national bird, the Ball State University Art Gallery director emeritus made forty-four original drawings, paintings, and collages featuring patriotic images. In the exhibition catalog, Nichols explains that she “used the flag as a symbol of change and the eagle as a symbol of strength.” Even though she had recently lost some of her eyesight, Nichols still found a way to commemorate this historic moment and express her perspective through art. Her perseverance and creativity make these pieces even more impressive.
"Happy Birthday, U.S.A.” first opened on the 7th of December 1975 at the Ball State University Art Gallery. The exhibition then moved to the Indiana Statehouse in downtown Indianapolis. For the first two weeks of January 1976, her artwork was displayed in the Rotunda for the capital city’s first official Bicentennial event of the year. The piece in our collection, Bicentennial Forecast #1, was purchased from Alice Nichols by Dr. Phil and Esther Ball of Muncie. In 2022, their son Thomas Ball donated the piece to Minnetrista.
Yankee Doodle Dogs in Historic Indiana is an oversized coloring book illustrated by Doug Smith in 1976 for distribution by the South Muncie Kiwanis Club. Featuring a group of dogs (Chipper, Beaumont, Grover, and Dudley) set in scenes depicting Indiana events, personalities, and locations, each illustration is accompanied by text provided by local author Betty Harris. The dogs enliven each scene, adding a touch of humor to the topic being represented. For example, "Hoosier Hysteria” depicts the dogs playing a game of basketball with Beaumont on stilts, Chipper trying to put the ball into the basket while on the shoulders of Dudley, and Grover trying to block the shot. “Johnny Appleseed” features Grover and Chipper helping John Chapman gather apples and seeds. Other contributors to this delightful coloring book were Althea Stoeckel, Ross Johnson, and Richard Caldemeyer.
Illustrator Doug Smith worked at Ontario Corporation as the company’s graphic artist, but he also did freelance artwork. At Ontario, he created a character reflecting the forging business called “Uncle Alloy,” which appeared in advertising and employee newsletters.
In 1976, Ball Corporation celebrated a big move of their headquarters offices from the plant site on Macedonia Street to downtown Muncie on High Street. As part of the move, Edmund F. Ball, John W. Fisher, Alexander Bracken, and several other company executives made a ceremonial drive from the old factory office to the new building in Edmund’s Interstate car. Originally manufactured in Muncie, this car was later gifted to Minnetrista by the estate of Edmund F. Ball.
One feature of the new headquarters building was the inclusion of a jar museum, highlighting significant products the company had produced over the years. Jars, glass forming machines, Ball Blue Books, archival materials, and even Frank C. Ball’s desk were part of the displays that opened to the public on April 21, 1976. This entire collection came to Minnetrista when Ball moved their headquarters to Colorado in 1998.
Ball Corporation also released a number of commemorative jar designs for the country’s Bicentennial celebration. A set of six jars depicted significant sites in U.S. history, including: Williamsburg, Mount Vernon, Valley Forge, Independence Hall, Fort Ticonderoga, and Old North Bridge. Other jars produced for the Bicentennial featured an embossed eagle and star design, including the limited edition “Edmund Jar” which had Edmund F. Ball’s signature embossed across the Bicentennial medallion. Minnetrista is lucky enough to have each of these jars represented in our collection.
As you celebrate America’s 250th birthday around East Central Indiana, be sure to collect mementos of this important moment in our nation’s history. By preserving these items, we can inform and inspire future generations of Americans.
You can help us save our history and donate to the Minnetrista Heritage Collection! For documents, photographs, and audiovisual media, please contact Susan Smith, Archivist, at ssmith@minnetrista.net or 765.287.3544. For artwork and three-dimensional objects, please contact Mindy Price, Collections Manager, at mprice@minnetrista.net or 765.287.3535.