A Look Back: Images from 1938

ART: PMP ARCHIVE

The insect parade

In the magazine’s early days as Exterminator’s Log, Howard Deay, an entomology professor at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., wrote a multi-part series on insect identification. The April 1938 issue featured “Part XI” of “The Insect Parade,” focusing on “Order Diptera — The Flies.” The original caption under this illustration reads A flesh-fly, family Sarcophagidae: a, puparium; b, larva (maggot); c, an antenna enlarged.

This is typical of the kind of antennae found in the Diptera which have short antennae (Suborder Brachycera). (N. J. A. E. S.) Based on the acronym, it is assumed the illustration originated from the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, which traces its roots to 1864.

Texas hospitality

In the news section of the April issue is a photo of gathered members of the Dallas Pest Control Operators organization, ready to begin a meal. According to the caption, the meeting took place at the Rice Hotel in Houston, Texas, in honor of a visit from the national association’s secretary, Bill Buettner. Buettner, who in 1933 founded the National Association of Exterminators and Fumigators (NAEF) — today known as the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) — is a Pest Management Professional Hall of Famer (Class of 1998). It’s a little hard to tell, but the editorial team’s best guess is that Buettner is standing, far left, at the head of the table. The organization itself was the forerunner to the Greater Dallas Pest Control Association (GDPCA).

ART: PMP ARCHIVE