My brother Rex shown above would practice his baritone horn in the upstairs bedroom with his window open. The neighbor lady who was a few miles away claimed she could hear him while she was out hanging out her laundry on the clothes line.
The uniform, which was purple and white, was fancy and each member was required to wear white dress pants. The moms of the members were required to sew a purple cloth band down the side of the pants. With white shoes and a barrel tube hat with a brim, they looked really great. They had ostrich feathers to stick into the top of the hat.
The practice times of the band when they were marching outside was at the same time as we had recess. Students would line up and follow the band as they marched. I am sure it looked like a good "Spanky and our Gang" type of movie with all those little urchins marching behind the high school band members. I think it funny now that no one bothered to makes us stop doing that. I would think the music instructor would have been out there but I guess the majorette was in charge of the band's practice. No teacher on duty either so it would have made for great chaos.
Those who are responding to the call of posting in SEPIA SATURDAY can be found by clicking on the Sepia Saturday name. You will find others who are posting about musical things or maybe something else altogether differently than that.
9 comments:
Bands are just plain fun to follow. When my sister's then boyfriend was playing in the U.C. Berkeley band, she & I, along with a happy crowd of others, used to follow them up through the campus to the football stadium in Strawberry Canyon on fall Saturday afternoons as they played serious and funny things along the way - including the Stanford fight song in three-quarter waltz time while the tuba players danced around. And we sat in the rooting section directly behind the band in the stadium and could hear everything they played there too. Memorable days, those! :)
What a funny memory of the lady who could hear your brother down the block. It's great when a school has a really good band.
That is a very grand hat indeed! The only band I remember when I was growing up was The Salvation Army, but they didn’t so much march as stand on street corners.
I have a similar photo of myself in my first band uniform. It had the same shoulder braids, which baffled me as to their purpose until my father, an army officer, showed me how they were worn. Your brother's uniform fits him well, but mine was a few sizes too large and required suspenders to keep my trousers from falling down as we marched. The tall shakos and plumes added a colorful movement as a band went down the street. It takes a lot of practice to play a brass instrument and march at the same time with the shako chinstrap digging into your jaw.
Living out of town is a great place to be for a brass instrument player who needs to practice. Not having to worry about the neighbours. An interesting post.
School bands are wonderful, and two of my three children played briefly in school, and they had the best of times. Marvelous groups, good way to join in school spirit too.
If I am anywhere where I hear a band playing, I have to make a beeline for it - there is something so stirring about it. I love that hat with the ostrich feather.
Larry, I posted a video yesterday on my blog of 1930's music. I miss the old music and am probably one of the few who loves music "before my time." Great photos.
I Love Old Photos...and Sepia is my all time Fav Non-Color. Along with our Cherished Family Photos from yesteryear I have Adopted Relatives when I find any Old Photograph without a Home and Love to Display them in Vignettes. So fascinating to consider the Stories and Lives of those in the Images. My Grandson is in a Band, prior to that I think it was many Generations ago that anyone was though. Blessings from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian
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