THE CORNHUSKER JOCK STURGES or BRUCE BELLAS if HE NEVER LEFT NEBRASKA - 1951 FISHING TRIP PHOTO ALBUM

A challenging album of often arresting and exceptionally well crafted, frequently bizarre photographs captured by a Harold Finke (1908-1999) of Bennet, Nebraska during a fishing expedition centered around a small cabin on a nearby stretch of the Missouri River. The album is full and includes 77 black and white 8x10 photos and 6 Kodachrome snapshots. There are a couple of 1951 news clippings from the daily Lincoln Star reproducing album prints, providing a firm date and location. Finke would have been 43 and the two young men accompanying him about 17-18 based on ancestral records (we've excluded their names from this description, though they appear in the clippings).

Finke's 1999 obituary noted:

"Mr. Finke was born Sept. 5, 1908 in Bennet, Neb., to Frederick and Louise (Althouse) Finke. He was never married.

Living in Bennet all his life, Mr. Finke worked for the USDA as a Soil Conservationist and enjoyed photography. He was a friend, supporter and official photographer for a number of years for the Koshare Indian Museum and Koshare Indian Boy Scout Troop. He also took pictures at sporting events for the Bennet, Syracuse and surrounding high school areas for many years."

(The Plattsmouth Journal ; Plattsmouth, Nebraska ; November 11, 1999)

Finke's documented penchant for both photography and teenage boys is on full display in this engaging, though quite possibly predatory, production of original photography, one interestingly produced about contemporary to the emergence of pioneering physique photographer, and fellow Nebraska-native, Bruce Bellas (Bruce of Los Angeles).

The 9.75" x 11" album is missing both covers and one page is detached.