Vintage wooden NIOSA (Night in Old San Antonio, Texas) tamale vendor cart, with hand-painted floral and bird motifs, supported on pair of spoke wheels, with green paint remnants throughout 

height 40 in. x width 31 in. x depth 53 in. 

Provenance: Previously owned by Ethel Harris (1893-1984, Sabinal, Texas)

Ethel Harris was a wife, mother, pioneer, entrepreneur, preservationist, artist, and advocate. Known locally as "The Queen of the Missions", Harris was strongly connected to the Mission San Jose in San Antonio, Texas, where she spent much of her life. She would bring the cultural and artistic influences of Mexico to the mission grounds with active demonstrations, musical events, troubadours, and even peacocks, and donkeys. Harris served as Texas's first woman park ranger between 1938 - 1963. Her entrepreneurial spirit came in the form of three successful decorative arts businesses - Mexican Arts and Crafts, San Jose Potteries, and Mission Crafts - which all centered on elevating local artisanship and heritage. From 1939 - 1941, Harris served as the technical supervivor for the federal Works Projects Administration's Arts and Crafts Division in San Antonio, Texas. She was also a founding member of the San Antonio Conservation Society (SACS), and served as the organizations president from 1951 - 1953, and in collaboration with fellow SACS leader Elizabeth Graham, co-founded a Night in Old San Antonio (NIOSA).