Boys Will Be Boys

In the 21st century, most parents and grandparents
probably have countless photos and snapshots
of their children and grandkids dressed in athletic team uniforms.
Usually the pictures include all their sports gear, too,
like gloves, balls, sticks and bats.

But once upon a time those kinds of sports photos
were reserved for collegiate yearbook photographs of an entire team.

Instead it was much more common to see individual portraits
of younger kids posed with a musical instrument.
And surprisingly they were often wearing a uniform too
as members of a musical team like a band or orchestra.

Today I present three duos of boys
who had a talent for playing music.
No doubt their grandparents
had copies of these portraits
hanging on the wall above the piano.

 

The first photo is of two boys seated with their clarinets in a photographer's studio. They each wear matching bandsmen caps and trousers with a stripe on the side. The younger one on the left looks around age 12-13 and holds an E-flat clarinet, the typical high soprano or piccolo instrument of a wind band. The older and taller boy on the right may be age 14-15 and he has a standard B-flat clarinet. They might be brothers as they share some similar features but they could just as easily be cousins or just friends, too. I like how they are posed with their sheet music on wire music stands, a design that has remained unchanged for over a century. I still have mine which I've had since I was their age. 

The boys' cabinet card picture was taken by photographer William Beatty of Sigourney, Iowa, a small town in southeastern Iowa and the county seat of Keokuk County. Sigourney's population is presently around 2,004 which is not much more that what it was in 1890, when it had 1,523 citizens.

* * *

The next pair of musical boys are about the same age as the clarinet duo but their uniforms are more like fancy theatrical costumes. On the left stands a lad about age 12-14 with tousled brown or auburn hair who is about to play a tune on his violin. His companion has slick blond hair and holds a page of music. That is often a symbolic prop for a pianist but I think he may be a singer as he has the angelic look of a choirboy. He has a medal pinned to his lapel, presumably in recognition of his musical achievement.  Both boys wear knee pants, velvet jackets with wide lace collars, and fine kid leather shoes. I don't see much resemblance between them to think they are brothers. But these two are not dressed for school or church but instead are ready for a theater stage. 

In fact they were photographed at Stevens Art Studio which was located in the same building as McVicker's Theatre, once one of Chicago's prominent playhouses. This theater was located on the corner of South Dearborn and West Madison Streets and first opened on November 5, 1857. It was established by James Hubert McVicker (1822–1896), an actor who had a successful career in many comedy and drama productions. McVicker's theater was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and again by another fire in 1890, both times being rebuilt. After McVicker's death in 1896 his widow sold the theater in 1898 and continued presenting plays until 1922. In this new era of cinema the old theater was replaced with a theater that featured films. It lasted until 1984 when it was finally shut down and demolished for the last time.

This cabinet card photo of the two boys was likely taken in the early 1890s. I suspect they are a professional duo who performed in some Chicago theater, if not at McVicker's. This was an age when many wunderkind musicians, both boys and girls, toured the country performing in major theaters. A boy violinist was the most common artist but there were boy pianists too. Oddly there are few photographs from this era of any concert pianist, young or old, seated at their instrument. However I found references in Chicago newspapers from the late 1880s-1890s to a boy soprano  who sang in Chicago theaters accompanied by a companion boy violin soloist. But to confirm their identity I will need to do more research and probably find another photo.  

* * *

My third duo of boys are definitely brothers and who were evidently proficient professional mandolinists. They are Adolf, 332 lbs. heavy, 14 years old and Fritz, 298 lbs., 13 years old as printed on their postcard. These stout young fellows wear matching satin/silk costumes and hold mandolins. Presumably they also sang, too. They were clearly from a circus sideshow troupe or maybe a music hall act. It's sad that Adolf and Fritz's large size and not their musical talent was the source of their entertainment value. But that appeal to mankind's baser curiosity has always been what exploitive show business is all about. 

They are from Germany as their postcard was a cancellation of 5 February 1906 from Lüdenscheid, a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

As many of my readers know, I live in Asheville, North Carolina which was devastated by Hurricane Helene on September 27th. It's been nearly 30 days and today my landline phone was 

finally reconnected, the last of several interrupted systems brought down by Helene's powerful wind and rain. In the past week electricity was restored and water, too, though it's still not suitable to drink. And the internet came back on Wednesday this week which has allowed me to restart my blog. 

Fortunately my home is situated near the higher elevation of downtown Asheville and is about 2/3 mile(1 km) above the French Broad River. We lost some large trees that did some damage to the house and left a big mess but the structure is still sound and can be repaired. But we were very lucky as other parts of our city and Western North Carolina suffered terrible destruction from the storm's torrential rain and violent winds. Just a short walk from my home is an outdoor concert park on the river where my orchestra played a pops concert this past season. It was obliterated by the force of the rushing river which rose 24.7 feet above its usual height. Asheville's River Arts district and Biltmore Village area were largely destroyed. The powerful current took away cars, trucks, buildings, homes, and anything not secured. Higher up many mountain slopes gave way and landslides have destroyed numerous roads, bridges, businesses, and homes. Freak tornado winds violently wiped out many acres of woodlands that will dramatically change our mountain forests. And most tragic is that our county reports over 96 people died as a result of Hurricane Helene's fury.

The devastation from natural disasters like this is difficult to describe. The videos on YouTube are heartbreaking to watch. Very few homeowners and businesses in this area have flood insurance and many people have lost everything. Recovery will take a long time. It seems there is too much sorrow and grief in the world now.

All I can think to offer for a consolation is some music.

Here is a performance of Czech composer Bedřich Smetana's

2nd movement Vltava (River Moldau)
from his tone poem Má Vlast—My Fatherland.

It is performed by the Wiener Philharmoniker

under the direction of conductor Daniel Barenboim.

Smetana's music describes the great force of nature 
and the strong resilience of the human spirit. 

 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where every kid has wheels.