This gorgeous black picture hat was made by the Sand Sisters of Little Falls, Minnesota. The Sand Sisters consisted of Mary, Eugenia and Josephine Sand, daughters of Peter and Margaret (Weber) Sand. Mary, the oldest, attended millinery school in North Dakota before the family moved to Little Falls in 1903. That same year, Mary purchased a millinery shop in Little Falls at 108 First Street Northeast. Mary was only 28 years old when she died from pneumonia on May 9, 1907. Her sisters, Eugenia and Josephine, had joined her in the millinery trade and they continued with the business. In 1915, they purchased the restaurant across the street from Rosa Mueller and opened Sand’s Cafe. The sisters operated both businesses for about three years, closing the millinery in 1918 as business at the restaurant grew. After Eugenia died on August 5, 1936, Josephine became the sole owner and proprietor of the restaurant. Picture hats are large, broad-brimmed women’s hats that are often elaborately trimmed. They were popular from the 1890s through the early 1910s.
