FEBRUARY 2023 LUNCHEON MEETING
Jeff Spencer
presents
Jack Nolan – Oil Field Photographer
11:30 AM Wednesday, February 15, 2023
at Hollytree Country Club
6700 Hollytree Dr
Tyler, TX 75703
Cost: $25
Abstract
Jack Nolan (1889-1972) was a pioneer Texas photographer, newspaperman, land developer, and artist. Jack opened a photography studio in 1925 in Odessa, Texas, specializing in baby portraits. He soon began photographing West Texas oilfields and boom towns. In 1931 he visited East Texas and documented the early days of the oil boom with stunning photographs, many of which were made into real photo postcards (RPPCs). These highly collectible postcards captured spectacular oil gushers, the bustle of the boomtowns, oilfield workers and camps, and oilfield fires. Many of the first photographs of the East Texas oil boom, that reached people throughout the United States and the world, were Jack Nolan postcards. His postcards are also known for often highly descriptive captions. The handwritten notes on the reverse of the postcards also can add to the historical content of these glimpses into the early days of the oil boom. Often the postcards of individual oil derricks identify the wells by name. Scenes from several East Texas oilfield towns are documented in Nolan’s work, including Kilgore, Overton, Turnertown, Salmon, Tyler, Gladewater, New London, Henderson, and Arp. Nolan also documented the enforcement of martial law by the Texas National Guard in the East Texas oil fields. Jack’s name is often on the postcard, either on the photograph side, or on the reverse, and many of the postcards have a three-digit number on the photograph. A complete listing of his East Texas oilfield photographic postcards has not been located, but a partial list of over 120 different postcards has been compiled, in addition to over 50 West Texas oilfield postcards, with the help of museums, libraries, and collectors.
Biography
Jeff Spencer is a charter member, past president, and current vice-president of the Petroleum History Institute (PHI). Jeff is a geoscientist and principal with Sentinel Petroleum, Houston, Texas. He received a BS in Geology from the University of Cincinnati and a MS in Earth Sciences from the University of New Orleans. He was previously employed by Amromco Energy (2013-2017), Midstates Petroleum Company (2010-2013), Black Pool Energy (2005-2010), Samson (2005), Osprey Petroleum (2000-2005), Unocal (1998-2000), and Amoco Production Company (1981-1998). He has authored or co-authored more than 50 oil field history papers. He is co-author of Ohio Oil and Gas (2008) and authored Texas Oil and Gas (2013). Illinois Oil and Gas will be published in April 2023. Jeff also serves as the Historian for the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies (GCAGS). He received the Distinguished Service Award from both the GCAGS (2018) and PHI (2011). He collects postcards, philatelic material, and other ephemera with oilfield themes.