Bullies

 

I know what it's like to be bullied so I can recognize what's going on in this photo.  The white line on the right of the print and all those little white spots are from dirt on the negative.  

Teaching About Zoo Animals

I hope she wasn't smoking in front of her students.  When I was in grade school, many of my teachers reeked of tobacco.

Skinned Alive

This is one of the strangest photos I have in my collection.  That's either a very realistic model on that stretcher or a dead person who has had his skin removed.  And for those who are unfamiliar with the device, that's a giant slide rule hanging in the background.  Think of it as a mechanical computer.

The Pforzheim Album 6

Another page with a single postcard.  Another person posed with a book.  And more writing that I can't figure out.  Translations welcome.

The Graduate (Not the Movie)

I missed graduation season by about a week, but hey, better late than never.  I have no idea when these were shot, but they're real photo postcards, so let's guess no latter than the 1950s.  But, as I've cautioned before, if photographic materials are stored correctly, they can be used decades after manufacture.  Just last month, I successfully shot and processed a twenty year old roll of Kodak Plus-X.

Farm Kids

And the one room schoolhouse to the right.  From the 1920s, going by the haircuts on the little girls.  Stamped on the back, "SUPERIOR Photo Service, Waterloo, Iowa."

The Co-Ed

In an age where the majority of college students are women, is the term co-ed even used?  Anyway, I have no idea if this young lady is a college student.  There's  nothing written on the back of the print, but she looks the right age and that's some sort of institutional type architecture in the background.  I'm having a hard time guessing when this photo might have been taken.  The hair and the clothes, I think, could have been found as early as the late twenties to the very early fifties, though my feeling is the thirties.

School Days

Yes, it's one of those school photos.  Do kids still troop off to the cafeteria once a year for these?  I keep thinking that school photos must be a disappearing ritual.

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 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 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.

Walking To School In California

I doubt there were any school buses when this photo was taken.  Just think, if your parents lived too far from the local school house, no education for you!  This one probably goes with the last post.  Navigate back one for details.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 20

As I've noted in some the earlier NTSNC posts, a normal college was for the training of teachers.  It looks like we've got some of the school children on this page.  Click on NTSNC in labels to bring up everything to date.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 18

One duplicate photo from the previous post and some very unhappy looking kids.  Click on NTSNC in the labels to bring up the whole lot.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 17

I love the contrast of the young women in their city clothes with the farm women in the bonnets.  Click on NTSNC in the labels section to bring up the album to date.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 15

No, I hadn't abandoned the North Texas State Normal College Album.  It's just such a pain in the behind taking apart the album every time I post another page or two.  Click on NTSNC in the labels section to bring up the whole lot.