I have not seen one of those.

I don't ever want to experience.

I don't know if — We're at the History Colorado Center, where I'm going deep into our archival vault, selecting ten artifacts from History Colorado's collection of more than 15 million items.

Back when it was $0.05.

Nothing like today.

Today, we're challenging two contestants to see if they can draw the connections between these pieces of Colorado history.

Welcome to The Vault.

Today we are playing with Monique Seals and Arias Carroll.

Welcome.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

I understand you are both lifelong Coloradans.

You both enjoy getting out and doing some of those things in the great outdoors that make it so special to get to call this place home.

Do you think that's going to help you here today?

I hope so.

Yes.

Look, I'm betting on it.

We shall see.

Alright, well, let's check out what we have in the vault today.

In front of you are ten artifacts, and I want you to find the connections between them.

The artifacts on the table can be arranged into three sets, with the three items in each set, all connected by a common theme.

One of the items in front of you is a decoy that doesn't belong with any set.

So choose carefully.

Because we are nice here at The Vault, I will give you one hint as you work your way through these artifacts, so you let me know which one you would like a hint on.

Once you've had a chance to look them over, you will have 90 seconds at our game board to arrange your three sets and tell us the themes.

- Sound good?

- Yes.

Sounds great.

- Sounds good.

- Alright, well, then, let's get started.

Let's get started.

Okay.

- So ... - Is it, like ... It looks like a baby rattle?

Like old ... - Or it goes on a doorknob?

- Antique ... Yeah, but the etching in it is very — Detailed.

Especially around the top of it.

Should we go here?

- Sure.

- Okay.

Maybe handcuffs?

Yes, definitely.

- From many years ago.

- Yes.

They sure would have to have a smaller wrist.

- It looks like in order to fit.

- Absolutely.

And then, I mean, even with this, this isn't long enough to — You think that would be to put behind your back up — I, look — [Inaudible] - small wrists.

- I don't even want to experience.

So I don't know if is wide enough or not.

But yeah.

Let's see.

Okay, so we have some key people.

Fred Jones ... he was convicted of the murder of William Kabler.

And this was July 29th, 1916.

So maybe this is like a prison book.

This is where they kept all their image.

It might.

So we have a badge that says watchman number one.

I would say probably a police officer.

And that number may identify the police — Their badge number, maybe.

- So good old Babe Ruth.

- Right.

- Back when it was $0.05.

- Right?

Nothing like today.

It was before my time.

So we have a white dress, very detailed.

Sewn, handmade for a little girl.

Yes.

Hey, next, we have golden malted milk from Golden, Denver.

Adolph Coors Company.

The malted milk with a distinctive flavor.

All right, let's move on to the bowl.

Alright, as you're looking at the bowl, just note that we've got it raised up with a mirror underneath.

You might just want to take a look at all sides.

And it looks like there's some wear on the bottom.

And three points.

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

So now we're here at the bottle.

Either a baby bottle.

A glass baby bottle.

Yeah.

It has a nipple on it.

I have not seen one of those.

Look, I would prefer my baby to drink out of glass.

And then we'll take a look at — What do you think that is?

It's interesting.

A big wooden stick with ... What would you call that on the end?

Maybe they used it to wake people up in the morning.

Right.

We're like, hit the bell with it.

Yeah.

That's it.

Okay.

Great job going through these.

Are there any that you would like a hint on.

The wood thing?

- Yeah.

- The wood thing.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

Okay, well you're right.

You could hit things with it, including something on this table.

I mean, you could probably smash just about everything on this table with it, but it is it is designed to smash something specifically.

I'll tell you that.

Maybe the bowl.

I was thinking the milk.

All right, with that hint, why don't you join me over at the game board and we can see what connections you can make.

- Sounds good.

- Perfect.

Alright, you ready to play?

- Yes.

Okay.

Let's play.

We're going to give you 90 seconds on the clock to make your connections on the game board, starting now.

- Okay.

- Okay, so let's put the book.

The book, okay.

- And let's do handcuffs.

- Handcuffs.

The watchman badge.

We'll put that under jail.

- Okay?

- Yeah.

And now let's go.

The milk.

The milk.

Okay.

- Maybe the baby bottle.

- Baby bottle.

and the ... - The baby dress.

- Baby dress.

- Okay.

For ... - Oh look.

[inaudible] Baby Ruth ... - But yes, the dress.

- Okay.

- Okay.

- Baby ... And then ... Now, this is the tricky one because there is one decoy item.

- So ... - I would say — And then remember, this is made to hit things or smash things.

Yes.

So maybe that's for the mixing bowl.

Let's go with the mixing bowl.

- That's a mixer.

- Match — Smash or mixer and the Babe Ruth candy.

- 30 seconds.

- Do you think they ... hit ... They made it in that bowl with that tool.

Or why do we think this is?

I said that was a baby rattle at the beginning, so ... So then what — That actually go under — Alright, you got 10 seconds left.

Or does it go this ... and that, and Baby Ruth out.

Hurry, we need your answer.

We need ... Dessert.

- Cook ... - Alright, alright.

Just in the nick of time.

- Time's up.

Pencils down.

- Okay.

Alright.

Nice job.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

Yeah.

Monique, why don't you tell me about your first category here?

Yeah, so, as we were going through the first category, we looked at the book, which we believe holds inmate numbers and pictures and kind of details.

And then we also took a look at the handcuffs that kind of goes along with the book.

And then, also, what seems to be a badge, a police badge.

So we came to the conclusion that it is items that are associated with jail.

Alright, Arias, why don't you tell us about your second set here?

Yeah, so our first item is malted milk.

And then we also have the baby glass bottle and our white linen dress.

We associated that with baby because we felt like the milk — they would put in this baby bottle.

And then the dress is fit for a child.

Okay.

And, Monique, how about this third set here?

I know this one was a subject of some debate.

Yes it was.

It kind of had us rethinking at the last minute, but essentially, we have the bowl and what we believe is the item that could possibly mash things within the bowl.

Or with the third item, it could mash up candy.

And so essentially we came up with dessert.

Dessert, dessert.

This could be a great dessert.

- Yes.

- Alright, and that leaves what as the decoy?

I said it was a baby rattle.

I don't know what else could possibly be.

It could be.

You said put it on like a — Door handle.

- Like a little bell noise.

- It just didn't fit.

- It didn't fit.

- Correct.

Okay, okay.

Well, why don't we see how you did?

- You ready for the reveal?

- Yes.

We are.

There we go.

Oh.

- So, look.

Crime, punishment.

- Wait ... We had the right items for the first category.

Okay.

You were correct.

That was the baby rattle.

That's right.

So you two did great with that first category.

You identified that book there.

That is a scrapbook that was kept by one of Denver's first detectives, Sam Howe.

He started clipping out articles from the newspapers on every crime that happened in the city starting in the 1860s.

That is one of his murder books.

So those are all murders.

But he used that to build a database essentially.

Before you could do that with computers.

He had many, many volumes, and police from around the country would eventually come to Denver to consult these books and try and see if they could detect patterns in the crimes that they were seeing in their cities.

You correctly identified the handcuffs from 1860s.

People did have smaller wrists back then, I guess.

But yeah, those look really uncomfortable.

And then that watchman's badge there.

Watchman one, that belonged to a man named E.L.

Gardner.

He was Denver's fourth policeman hired by the city in 1869, and he was the night watchman.

So he spent every night walking through the city.

He had keys to all the banks, all the businesses, all the government offices.

And he never missed a day of work until his retirement.

- He was a really trustworthy guy, apparently.

- Yes.

That second category, you were definitely on the right track.

These are all items that parents used for their babies a century or more ago.

You were right.

It was a baby rattle and a teething ring fits right in with the bottle, which you correctly identified, and the christening gown that a baby would have worn for its baptism.

And then that third set.

Well, I love the idea of candy and dessert.

It was actually about prohibition, that period of time when the United States banned alcohol.

Colorado actually went dry four years before the rest of the country in 1916.

And our biggest brewer today survived prohibition by diversifying what they did.

So Coors beer started to make malted milk.

And that word that you were trying to read on the bottom of that bowl was Coors because they also started to make porcelain.

And I thought that too.

And I was like, I should have went with it.

And then this big club here, this is a bottle smasher that agents would use when they were busting an illegal saloon.

They would come in and just smash all the bottles.

- Wow, how fun.

- Yes.

And that leaves Baby Ruth candy bars as the decoy.

Baby Ruth was introduced to Americans in 1921, allegedly named after President Cleveland's daughter Ruth, but conveniently also sounded a lot like the most famous athlete on the planet at the time, Babe Ruth.

- Yes.

- Yes.

Yeah, so anything that you found especially intriguing, maybe surprising.

Look, the wooden smasher.

The bottle — right.

Don't you want to take a swing?

Yeah, I do.

Colorado's history is full of surprising connections.

And as we turn 150 this year, it's more important than ever that museums like ours are preserving and protecting artifacts like these.

That way, we can continue making connections for the next 150 years.

Thank you for joining us here in The Vault today.

We hope to see you again soon.

- Yeah, congratulations.

- Thank you.

You did well.

This was a tricky one.

It was.

[Inaudible] To learn more about these objects and some other cool artifacts, visit rmpbs.org/thevault or go visit your local history museum.