A Young Lady of Lakefield, MN

A young lady poses in profile wearing a splendid band uniform and holding a cornet. This fine photo postcard from around 1912-15 was never posted and has no identification but the photographer, J.A. Bellinger has added his embossed logo on the front, so we know it came from Lakefield, Minnesota.

Born in New York 1859, Mr. Bellinger was active as a photographer in Lakefield from before 1900 to after 1920. His town in 1910 had a population around 924 and was typical of many places in the midwest, but I suspect that in 1910 Lakefield would not be a "small town" but a real center of community activity.

Judging by the uniform, the band must have had some class. It is unusual to see a woman dressed in a man's style jacket, but women  did turn up occasionally in more progressive bands of this period. Certainly she is wearing a skirt and not trousers.

The farming community around Lakefield, which is near the border of Iowa and just east of Sioux Falls. SD, was made up of immigrants and first generation people from places like Bohemia, Germany, Sweden, all with a rich tradition of music making. Lakefield had the usual occupations of this time - blacksmith, milliner, druggist, etc. but one entry caught my attention. In 1910 a Charley Rorebeck, age 28, was listed as Laborer, Frogcatcher. No doubt this was a specialist job for the Land of 10,000 Lakes.