The North Texas State Normal College Album 14

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

The North Texas State Normal College Album 13

Without any captions it's impossible to tell who is who in this album.  If the owner was a student at North Texas State, and he or she is pictured, then going be age, I would think that the best bets are the young women in the center group of the second photo.  Just for the hell of it, I'm voting for the standing woman in white.  As usual, click NTSNC in the labels section at the bottom of the post to bring up the whole collection.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 9

Time for a few more pages from The North Texas State Normal College Album.  The studio portrait of the two kids was taped in while the other photos are glued on the page, so I'm guessing that it was added after the other ones.  But how long after?  They look unhappy to be at the photographers.  As always, click on NTSNC in the labels section to bring up the whole album.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 4

Which photograph doesn't fit?  Most of these images have a nineteenth century feel.  One can imagine the subjects going to the tin typist and being told to stand absolutely still.  But the last photo is of people used to photography.  People who know what a camera can and can't do and how to play for the photographer.

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

The North Texas State Normal College Album 1

It's time to put up another album and it's a mess.  There are 25 pages with images, a number where the photos have been removed, and damaged pages as well.  In addition there are a lot of  loose photos, some of the period, others newer, that have been stored between the pages.  Because there is so much to see, I'll be putting additional posts up in a when ever I get to it fashion.  I'll be putting NTSNC in the labels section so that those who are interested can click and bring  everything up together.

NTSNC stands for North Texas State Normal College.  It was founded as a private teachers college in 1890 in Denton, Texas.  It held classes above a hardware store and was called The Texas Normal College and Teachers Training Institute.  It changed hands in 1893 and became The North Texas Normal College.  In 1899 it was taken over by the state of Texas and finally became The North Texas State Normal College.  There were more name changes in the future.  In 1923, North Texas Normal College. In 1949, North Texas State College. In 1961, North Texas University.  And in 1988, it's present name, The University of North Texas.

I suspect part 2 is at least a week away, so be patient.

The German American Collection, It All Ends in Smithtown

Written on the back, "1956 Mr & Mrs B.C. Oakside Rd. Smithtown." Is this a bit of a let down for the last image of the collection? Yes and no. To recap, a dealer had purchased a large collection of photos at an estate sale, sold some of the best images separately, and then bundled the reminder into groups, put them up on EBay, and this was the only lot that I won. The huge gaps make it impossible to build a true narrative. Still, we can know that this collection had plenty of images from both the United States and Germany. What we can't know is how the two came together. Did a German branch of a family send photos to their American cousins? Was there a move from Germany between the wars or after World War 2, followed by marriage into an American family? In any case, somehow or another, some branch of this family ended up in a post war suburb on Long Island. The good life dreamed of by so many, recorded with this one, very faded color photograph. Click on German American in the labels section to bring the whole lot up. Good, bad, and indifferent images, but worth it.

The German American Collection, The Album 16

This is it for the album, and only one more image from the entire collection to go. As already noted, the front cover of the album is missing and it's impossible to tell, with it's pages bound together with a ribbon, if any pages have been removed. Still, this page does seem like a good ending to me. Germany had just gone through a devastating war, for which it was partly responsible, as well as a period of hyperinflation. Between war deaths, a world wide Spanish flu pandemic which killed even more people, and a collapsed economy, there wasn't much to inspire happiness, but somehow or another, there was fun to be had. Germany, in the twenties, had one of the richest cultural movements in history. The Bauhaus, German expressionism, theater, song, and an incredibly rich cinema. And just a decade or so after these photos were taken, it would all be gone as the madness of Nazism took over. And after that another world war. It's very probable that at lest some of the people in these photos died in the slaughter.

The German American Collection, The Album 15

Business partners who enjoy a good walk in the woods? As good an explanation as any.

The German American Collection, The Album 14

Time to start the final push on the German American collection. No more interruptions! Why is this woman wearing stockings with her swimsuit?

The German American Collection, The Album 13

The last of the formal portraits, this time a group effort. Remember to click on German-American in the labels section to bring up the lot.

The German American Collection, The Album 12

We've all shared the experience. Someone pulls out the guitar, and starts playing. More often than not, they're not very good, but no one is impolite enough to tell him to stop. I'm always amazed that men once wore suits, and women wore dresses to go hiking.

The German American Collection, The Album11

Posing with books was once quite common. When and why did that change?