Photographs of the Laboratory Dance Band performing on a curtained stage in front of an audience. The band is arranged across four inclined platforms. Most are sitting behind music desks and are playing a variety of (mostly brass) instruments. A strip of white paper taped to the bottom of the photo has the following typed upon it: "Lab Band in Best Dance Band Contest."

Photograph of the 1952-1953 North Texas State College Laboratory Dance Band performing at Perrin Field Air Base in Texas. The group of young men are situation on a stage behind music desks and a standing microphone. Club signs and a painting of a man in a suit with a woman decorate the wall behind them. To the left of the photo, a young woman, in a dress sits by a potted plant.

Photograph of a North Texas State College jazz ensemble preparing behind a curtain. The photo is taken from above at a roughly 45 degree angle, and most of the men look up toward the camera. Many of these tuxedo-clad men are located within the rows of a raked platform and sitting behind desks with sheet music. A note containing a handwritten list of the performers present and their chosen instruments is taped across the upper left corner. Another such list is written directly upon the back of the photo in pencil.

Photograph of Frank Todd, Gene Hall, Art Davis, Phil Manning, and Bill Harrison performing together on stage. Frank Todd stands behind two microphones to the far left. He's wearing black-rimmed glasses and plucking a double bass. Gene Hall stands next to Todd, wearing spectacles and a lighter colored suit while playing a clarinet. Art Davis plays a trumpet while standing in front of an unattended drum set and a piano player. Phil Manning and Bill Harrison stand close to each other on the right side of the photo, will Manning wearing glasses and playing a saxophone while Harrison plays a trombone.

Photograph of Gene Hall and the Laboratory Dance Band performing on a stage. The band is playing a variety of instruments on an inclined platform. Behind them rises a metallic statue of an eagle and a curtain bearing sparkly letters. The one clearly visible word on the curtain is "frolic."

Photograph of the North Texas State College Laboratory Dance Band performing on stage. They are wearing shirts and ties. From left to right are: a man playing a tuba; a man with his back to the camera playing a piano with its strings exposed; a clarinetist; a banjo player; and trumpeter; a trombonist; and a partially obscured drummer. Handwritten text beneath the photo says "Group simulating old style dixieland - opening number for concert in 1954-"

Photograph of the Laboratory Dance Band posing on a stage with their instruments. Arranged in three rows, the group primarily composed of dark suited young men sit behind music desks. A bassist and a drummer stand with their instruments in the rear row. A young woman in a black dress sits in the front row to the left side. Standing on the right side of the photo is Gene Hall, an older man wearing a dark suit and spectacles. A small sign for the American Red Cross is hanging on the right side of the curtain that hangs behind the band. Rows of auditorium seating can be seen above the curtain.

Photograph of Frank Todd, Phil Manning, Leon Breeden, Curly Broyles, and Bill Harrison playing instruments around a microphone with other performers in the background. A curtain festooned with glittering letters that spell out "Ja[zz] Frolic" stands behind the group of men. Other musicians sit at their music desks behind the foreground performers.

Photographs of Arthur Godfrey and Gene Hall sitting together during NBC's "The Talent Scout Show" that have been attached to a sheet of white paper. The first five photos features the two middle aged men in dark suits, with Godfrey sitting to the left of the bespectacled Hall. Curtains are visible behind the two. A desk microphone sits between them.

Photograph of the Laboratory Dance Band playing their instruments while facing upward toward their left sides. Most of dark suited young men are looking directly at the camera lens. Most are sitting in folding chairs behind desks covered in layers of sheet music. Three pianos can be seen arranged in an "L" shape along the top right corner, curved around the platform that the performers are seated upon. The older Gene Hall Stands off to the upper left of the photo, wearing a greyish suit and glasses.

Photograph of the 1953 North Texas State College Laboratory Dance Band performing on stage. The band of young men are arranged in three raked rows, sitting behind music desks with their instruments. Dan Alexander stands in front of a microphone on the left side of the photo. Behind him sits a man playing a piano. Gene Hall stands to the far right of the photo. A curtain hangs over a wall to the right, while four border curtains loom above the performers.

Photographs of Gene Hall and the Laboratory Dance Band on stage with Jimmy Giuffre. In the top photo, Giuffre plays a clarinet on the far left of the photo. Gene Hall holds sheet music and stands to the right with his back to Giuffre. The band is sitting behind these two men and playing various instruments. Handwritten text beneath the photos says "Jimmy Giuffra [sic] - Guest Soloist - 1956."

Photograph of the Laboratory Dance Band performing on a stage with raised platforms. Behind the stage is a crude drawing of a trombonist, a drummer, and a moose to the left. Five of the dark suited men stand at their music stands, with one man in the middle playing a clarinet while the two on either side of him play saxophones. A guitarist sits at the far left seat. Trombonists can be seen performing in the background to the right.

Photographs of the Five Front jazz combo band on the Steve Allen Show. In the top photograph, nine men stand in a line. Gene Hall is the fifth man from the left, and he is wearing a dark suit and glasses. Steve Allen stands next to him on the right, wearing a gingham shirt, ribbon necktie, and slacks that have been tucked into cowboy boots. The bottom photograph shows the band members performing on a mat atop a dirt floor. Most of the suited young men are seated behind music stands. Onlookers can be seen milling about in the background behind a white fence.

Photograph of the Laboratory Dance Band posing on a stage with their instruments. Arranged in three rows, the group primarily composed of dark suited young men sit behind music desks. A bassist and a drummer stand with their instruments in the rear row. A young woman in a black dress stands at a microphone in front of the group. Standing on the right side of the photo is Gene Hall, an older man wearing a dark suit and spectacles. A small sign for the American Red Cross is hanging on the right side of the curtain that hangs behind the band. Rows of auditorium seating can be seen above the curtain.

Photograph of the 1952-1953 North Texas State College Laboratory Dance Band performing at Perrin Field Air Base in Texas. The group of young men are situation on a stage behind music desks and a standing microphone. Club signs and a painting of a man in a suit with a woman decorate the wall behind them. To the left of the photo, a young woman, in a dress sits by a potted plant. Handwritten notes on the back of the photograph identify the band members, their instruments, and the young woman (Shirley Murray).

Photograph of Ray McKinley (left) presenting Jim Maxwell with a piece of paper and offering to shake his hand. Band members in the background hold their instruments while applauding and smiling in their direction. A handwritten note at the bottom of the photo says: "Jim Maxwell, formerly with the N.T. Jazz program, joins the Ray McKinley Band and on their appearance at T.W.U. Ray McKinley surprises Jim by presenting him with his Masters degree."

Photograph of Gene Hall, Claude Lakey, Curly Broyles, Phil Manning, and Bill Harrison playing wind instruments around a microphone with other performers in the background.

Photograph of Beverly Watson and the North Texas State College Laboratory Dance Band performing on stage at Perrin Air Force Base in Texas. She is wearing a white blouse and dark skirt and is singing into a microphone while musicians are playing a guitar and saxophone behind her. Handwritten text beneath the photo says "Beverly Watson - Perrin Field Air Base 1-12-53."

Photograph of Buddy DeFranco performing with the Laboratory Dance Band. He is wearing a dark suit and black rimmed glasses. DeFranco is playing a clarinet from behind a music stand with a microphone to the right. Behind him, seated band members sit behind desks while playing a variety of brass instruments.

Photograph of men in tuxedos playing a variety of instruments on a stage. Three rows of musicians play brass instruments, with saxophones in the first row, trombones in the second row, and trumpets in the third row. A drum set can be seen on stage to the left. The musicians perform in front of a curtained backdrop that has been festooned with large and sparkling letters, with the word "frolic" visible above their heads. "1952" has been printed on the photograph under the men. There are handwritten notes naming the performers written on the reverse side of the photo.

Photographs of George Mosse (clarinet), Gene Murray (trumpet), and Phil Elliot (trombone) performing on the Arthur Godfrey Show while wearing striped shirts. The top left and bottom right photos show the three men playing together in front of a piano. The top right photo features Murray alone playing the clarinet. The photo on the bottom left contains four images. The top two images on this split photo show Arthur Godfrey (left) and Gene Hall (right) speaking together at a desk with a small microphone between them. The two photos underneath show two more images of Mosse, Murray, and Elliot performing together.

Photograph of Jack Petersen playing an electric guitar on a stage with other band members behind him. Petersen is wearing a light hued blazer and dark pants. To the left, a man in a slightly darker blazer plays a double bass while standing in front of a backdrop painted with the image of a haloed woman and an angel. Directly behidn Petersen, a seated man in a dark suit is partially obscured. To the right, a man in a greyish suit sits with his back turned to the camera while playing a piano. The rightmost person is wearing a plaid shirt while playing a xylophone. A man's turned head is at the bottom of the photo is obscured by a white note taped onto the photo. The note says, "Jack Petersen."

Photograph of the Laboratory Dance Band performing on stage with a woman named Pat McCracken playing a harp. McCracken occupies the lower center portion of the photo. She is wearing a light hued dress and is sitting down behind a microphone. Her hands are mid-glide over the harp's strings. To her left, one of the many tuxedo-clad men plays a double bass. To the left of this man, another man sits with his back to the camera and plays a piano. The rest of the band is seated on a series of three increasingly elevated platforms. They are holding a variety of brass instruments and, in the case of one man at the left end of the topmost row, playing at a drum set.