Working at his father's candy shop in 1908, 15-year-old L. W. Halbe of Dorrance, Kansas, discovered a small box camera among the shelves. Curious, he began to take pictures and thus embarked upon a four-year stint as a commercial photographer. In the process, Halbe produced a visual record of rural and small-town life in the pre-World War I Midwest that has few equals.  From 1908 to 1912, Halbe created more than 1500 images of agriculture, businesses, machinery, homes, recreation, and people in and around Dorrance, resulting in a remarkable portrait of Kansas during the transition from the 19th to the 20th century. KSHS staff have scanned each image directly from the original galss plate negatives making Halbe's entire photograh collection available on Kansas Memory for the first time.     The Halbe collection on Kansas Memory is available at L. W. Halbe collection.