Esther Bubley
Barber Shop, Tomball, Texas

Barber Shop, Tomball, Texas

© Standard Oil (New Jersey) Collection, Photographic Archives, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky

Barber Shop, Tomball, Texas
Barber Shop, Tomball, Texas
ArtistAmerican, 1921–1998
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Barber Shop, Tomball, Texas
Date1945
PlaceTomball, Texas, United States
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 10 1/2 × 10 3/8 in. (26.7 × 26.4 cm)
Sheet: 11 × 13 7/8 in. (28 × 35.3 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Marion and Joe Mundy
Object number94.52
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description


Tomball, Texas, was incorporated in 1933 in the aftermath of the discovery of oil. Soon the town became popularly known as “Oil Town U.S.A.,” with the vast majority of the population made up of employees of Humble Oil Company and their families. The 24-year-old photographer Esther Bubley was sent to Tomball by Coronet, a magazine similar to Life in its emphasis on photo essays. She spent three months photographing the lives of the people who kept the oil pumping and the town bustling.



Provenance[Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 1994.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed in pencil, verso, center: 27365
Inscribed in pencil, verso, lower left corner: PF-8765
Inscribed in pencil, verso, bottom edge center: TEXAS
Signed and dated in pencil, verso, lower edge: 1945 Esther Bubley

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.