The North Texas State Normal College Album 16

I keep trying to figure out just who was the owner of this album.  She (or he) has to be in at least some of the photographs.  I've had a few guesses over the course of these posts, but not today's.  Click on NTSNC in the labels section to bring up the lot.

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.

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 12

More group shots.  One from the farm and  two from the school house.  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 11

No, I hadn't forgot about this album.  It's just such a pain to take the album apart and put it back together every time, I have a tendency to put the updates off.  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 10

Well, they are double sided pages, which makes it easier to do two posts at once.  I had to blow up the second image before I realized that the smaller child was on a tricycle.  Click on NTSNC in the labels section to bring up the whole lot.

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 8

It lacks a bit in execution, but I love the picture of the girls.  And it looks like moving day.  Click on NTSNC in the labels section to bring up the whole collection.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 7

More from the North Texas State Normal College photo album.  The airplane, a true symbol of 20th century modernity makes it's return, along side a one room school house, a true symbol of  19th century rural America.  Click on NTSNC in the labels section to see the whole collection.

More Destroyed Photo Albums

I'm not 100% certain, but my guess is that this album fragment was cut from the same source as the last post.   I wish that the parade picture hadn't been destroyed.

Destroying Photo Albums

Every so often, I feel the need to complain about the wanton destruction of photo albums and the breaking up of collections by antique dealers.   I understand that they're trying to increase their profits by selling individual images, but come on, there's history to think about.  It's true that the average person thinks of war, elections, and famous people when they hear the word history,  but there is a whole other historical past out there; the past of the ordinary, they way people lived, the day by day that's every bit as important as who won the election of  1884.

The dealer who sold me these images, as well as some others that may or may not have come from the same source, saw the two studio portraits as his profit.  When those photos wouldn't pull off the page, out came the razor blade and goodbye photo album.  Now, I admit that they are lovely images, but when I turned them over...all I could think of  was how much more interesting they would have been if I could have put her life into some sort of context.  And if the dealer hadn't cut things up, I might have been able to do that.  The funny thing is, I bought these two photos plus five other images in an envelope, for five dollars.  I would have paid more for a single page of the album, with both sides intact, and even more for the whole album.

Embossed on the second photo, "BAUGH WINFIELD, KANS"  I couldn't find anything about the photographer.  Winfield, Kansas is a town in southern Kansas, current population, 12,000+.