Carl Pugh, police chief of the oil boom town of Freer
date: label: Date made
content: 1937-03
label: Date made
content: 1937
name: label: photographer
content: Mydans, Carl
notes: label: Description
content: When Carl Mydans first started working for <i>LIFE</i> magazine, he was asked to go to Texas and document everything from its last great cattle drive to its tough oil towns. Part of Mydans' <i>Texas</i> photo essay was featured in <i>LIFE</i> (Jan 17, 1938). The caption there reads: <i>A big felt hat, a cigar, a gold watch chain and cowboy boots identify Carl Pugh as Freer's chief of police.</i>
label: Description
content: Freer's notoriety came from its being an oil boom town. Early in the 1900s, a small number of families purchased the land and watched it blossom into a community. However, when oil was struck, a flood of settlers overcrowded the area. Although the second oil boom (1932) brought a new age of prosperity to the town, it also attracted a colorful crowd of outcasts. Prior to Mydans' visit, the town constable would chain those who broke the law to telephone poles or to horse hitching posts overnight because Freer did not have a jail. By the time Mydans set foot in it, the town had a small police station along with a chief of police.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Texas, Freer
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Photographic History
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content: Photography
label: See more items in
content: Carl Mydans
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Life Magazine
label: Related Publication
content: Mydans, Carl. Carl Mydans, Photojournalist
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0228.029
label: accession number
content: 2005.0228
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0228.029
objectType: label: Object Name
content: photograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 33.3 cm x 24.2 cm; 13 1/8 in x 9 1/2 in