While thousands search for a medallion during the Winter Carnival each year, Howie Register looks for a different kind of treasure.

His hunt is for history.

Register, 71, skips snow-covered parks for antiques shops, collector shows and eBay in his search for rare pieces of St. Paul Winter Carnival memorabilia.

He’s been at it for nearly 40 years, and if you take one look inside his Eagan home, it’s clear this is a serious hobby.

Adorning his walls year-round are dozens of remnants of carnivals past. There’s an original blueprint of the 1992 ice palace, a portrait of Register as Vulcanus Rex in 1996, pictures of ice palaces through the years and commemorative carnival plates, to name just a few.

One of his prized pieces, an 1888 edition of the St. Paul Dispatch’s Carnival Edition, features elaborate drawings of families tobogganing, riding sleighs and attending parades in an age before radio and automobiles.

It’s the only item of its kind that Register knows of, and it’s just the sort of thing that keeps his hunt alive.

“In Minnesota, Wisconsin, wherever I go, if I’ve got time and see an antique shop, I’ll go in and look around,” said Register, who found the 121-year-old newspaper at a local antiques dealer. “You never know what you’re going to find.”

Many of his buttons, pins and coins connect the holder to a piece of the past. His 1899-1900 carnival button, the first button in carnival history, owes its rarity to unseasonable weather. The carnival was canceled because of high temperatures, and nearly all of the buttons were destroyed. Register says the button is worth hundreds of dollars.

He points out his 1946 button. That year, the name of the Winter Carnival was changed to celebrate the end of World War II.

“The modern-day carnival started in ’37, but then it stopped during the war,” Register said. “After the war, they called it The Victory Carnival.”

Collector Denny Harris said many locals buy such memorabilia. Often the collectors have a personal connection to the carnival, maybe serving as royalty or riding with the Vulcan Krewe.

“One collector doesn’t have everything — it’s virtually impossible,” said Harris, who started exhibiting his and others’ memorabilia in 1996. But when they all get together during the carnival, they have almost every piece of memorabilia related to the event. Occasionally, someone will find something — like Register’s Carnival Edition of the St. Paul Dispatch — that they never knew existed.

Harris hopes there will one day be a Winter Carnival building in St. Paul that will include a memorabilia museum open year-round.

“If you have a collection … you like to get it out to the public,” Harris said. “People love to come and look at this stuff.”

Andy Rathbun can be reached at 651-228-2121.

IF YOU GO

Collectors will have Winter Carnival memorabilia on display from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Landmark Center, 75 W. Fifth St., St. Paul.

Copyright 2009 Pioneer Press.