The North Texas State Normal College Album 36, The Loose Ones

This is it.  The end, finito, it's all up.  The last of The North Texas State Normal College collection.  Thirty-six separate posts that can be accessed by clicking NTSNC in the labels section at the bottom of this post.

It's not just the old photos that I'm drawn to in my collecting.  It's trying to figure out the stories behind the images.  Sometimes it's easy.  Names, places, and descriptions are added to photos, and from that info it's easy to infer some sort of life story.  And, thanks to the internet, it's sometimes possible to actually look up an on-line biography.

 No such luck with this lot.  A normal college, in the first several decades of the twentieth century, was where teachers went for training.  There are some photos in the actual album that could be college pictures, but mostly, it's family photos.  Rural family photos.  There are a couple of names written in the back of the album, Miss Cypert and Mrs. Rollins.  Without first names or an exact location, it wasn't possible to find anything on-line.  The loose pictures have plenty of school photos, pretty much cementing the school teacher assumption, but beyond that....nothing much.  Since only a handful of the school photos have names, and student photos at that, it's not even possible to tell which person is Miss Cypert or Mrs. Rollins, or what their relationship, if any, might have been.  Frustrating, but it's still been a good run.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 35, The Loose Ones

Ah, the penultimate North Texas State Normal College Post.

Stamped on the back of the top two photos in the column, "Koen's Studio Plainview, Texas"  The second also has a date stamp, "FEB 27, 1943"  What's kind of interesting, and may have no real meaning at all, the first stamp has that Germanic/Gothic script that was once very popular.  The second, from the World War 2 era, has gone to a more modern type face.  The final photo of the lot, written on the back, "Rodney W. 10"

As usual, click on NTSNC in the labels section at the bottom of the post.  I'll finish up the collection in the next outing.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 34, The Loose Ones

Do public schools still do the whole class photo thing?  When I was in school, once a year, we'd all troop into the cafeteria to have our pictures taken by the local photo studio.  Stamped on the back of the third photo in the column, "SMALL PHOTOS 15 CENTS EACH.  8 FOR 75 CENTS.  ENLARGEMENTS 75 CENTS, OR ALL FOR $1.00.  PLEASE REMIT PROMPTLY TO TEACHER."  Actually, it doesn't say cents, but has that "c" with the line through symbol which my keyboard doesn't have.  I wonder why such a common symbol is missing.

Click on NTSNC in labels to bring up the whole collection.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 33, The Loose Ones

I've decided to wrap up The North Texas State Normal College collection, so over the next four or five days, I'll be putting up the last of the loose photos.

The only one of the images with any writing is the color shot of the kid on the tricycle.  On the back, "Tim Garner 2 years Oct. 11, 1966"  My best guess is that the oldest pictures in this collection date from the mid to late twenties, so a photo from 1966 shows quite a time range.

I'm also breaking a bit of a precedent.  Generally, unless it's distinctive, when I scan photos, I crop out the decorative borders.  I kept them on image number four to illustrate just how those borders are made.  Many people think they're on the paper itself.  Not so.  They're projected.  An enlarger mask is used.  Usually made from a sheet of acetate, what prints black is clear on the mask, what prints white is black.  And the center, where the photo is, is clear.  The grayish area above the kids isn't sky, it's where the negative wasn't put in the mask correctly.  That gray area is actually an area exposed, on the neg,  to white light, that when developed, ends up as a black on the negative.  Too, take a look at the upper left corner of the decorative border.   See how it's softer than the rest.  It's either drop off, where the mask wasn't quite square in the enlarger, or the exposure was long, and the extra light bled through.

As usual, click on NTSNC in the labels section at the bottom of the post to bring up the whole lot.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 32, The Loose Ones

Why would anyone save an old Christmas tag?  The only photo in this lot with any writing on the back is the first in the column.  "A school boy age 13."  He mustn't have made much of an impression.

Click on NTSNC in the labels section to see the whole collection.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 31, The Loose Ones

Stamped on the back of the first print in the column, "Koen Studio, Plainview, Texas"  Two teachers on summer break?  Could be.  I know it's hard to read flopped printing, but take a close look at the bottom boarder on the second photo.  "NITRATE FILM"   Camera film base was once made of nitrates, a highly flammable, unstable concoction that, over time, would liquefy.  Motion picture nitrate film stock was considered so dangerous that it wasn't allowed on buses, planes, or passenger trains.  Film companies would eventually develop safety film, and end the danger of nitrate film caused movie theater fires.  And the bottom picture...Well, it's possible that the boy was named Emma.  I went to school with a guy named Janet.  His mother died in child birth, and he was named for her.  Looking back on it, it was  kind of cruel.  Every time he signed his name, it was a reminder that his mother died when he was born.  In any case, written on the back, "To Aunt Etta.  Rotan, age 14."  Rotan isn't much better than Emma.

Click on NTSNC in the labels section at the bottom of the post to bring up the collection.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 30, The Loose Ones

Is there no end to this collection?  Why yes, there is.  Just not today.  One of the adults in the class picture could be the owner of this album.  Wish I knew.  As usual, click on NTSNC in the labels section at the bottom of the post to bring up the whole lot.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 29, The Loose Ones

I hate scanning textured prints, and there are two in this lot.  The second, labeled "Judy Terry," and the last labeled, "Clara & Jim Roles."

Click on NTSNC in the labels section to bring up the whole collection.  More to come, but not for awhile.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 28, The Loose Ones

It's time to return to the North Texas State Normal College Album collection.  The actual album pages have all been published, so once again, it's the loose photos that were stuffed between the album pages as they came out, not placed in any order.

The top photo has a studio stamp on the back, "Koen's Studio, MAR 13, 1943 Plainview, Texas"  I'm not very good at judging a child's age, but I'm betting the little girl in the photo was probably born in '40 or '41.  The other two labeled photos are the "School Days" picture and the young soldier.  The girl is labeled "Etta" and the soldier, "PVT. Denny R. Garner June 13, 1966 Ft. Polk, La.  To Aunt Etta."  I suppose it's possible that she's that Aunt Etta, but I'm thinking she might be a cousin Etta to young Denny.  Another relative with the same name.  But it's Pvt. Garner that's a bit more interesting.  Click on NTSNC in the label's section to bring up the collection.  Take a close look at post number 27.  The last photo in that post is "Denny, age 11" Take a look at the chins.  Same person.  I went on line and looked for Dennis R Garner, and I think I found a hit.  Dennis R. Garner, born January 10, 1949, Vietnam veteran, died age 47, November 17, 1996, buried Barrancas National Cemetery, Pensacola, Florida.  I couldn't find an actual obituary, just the bare facts in the cemetery data base.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 27, The Loose Ones

There are still plenty of these to go, but after this lot I'm going to take a break on this particular collection for at least a couple of weeks.  The top photo is another real photo postcard, and despite the inscription, it's labeled, on the back, as "Ethel."  The only other photo with any info on the back is the bottom image, "Denny age 11."  Love that tie.

As usual, click on NTSNC in the labels section at the bottom of the post to bring up the whole lot.