This is a blog about music, photography, history, and culture. These are photographs from my collection that tell a story about lost time and forgotten music. Mike Brubaker
My collection has dozens and dozens of photos of military bands on parade, or in concert, or at camp, or on board ship. But this is the first one that shows the most common duty of a military band—playing for a flag ceremony. It's also the first one to show the flag of the United States of America in motion.
It's a 48-star flag with stars in a neat order of six rows of eight. This was the flag adopted by congress in 1912 after statehood was granted to New Mexico, (#47 - January 6, 1912) and Arizona, (#48 - February 14, 1912). It's fastened to a halyard on a stout pole that is near some barrack-like buildings. Three soldiers stand at the flagpole and near them is the front line of an army band with its drum major at attention.
The rest of the band are behind on a white sand/gravel track. There are about 28 musicians and they seem to be playing as the camera takes their picture. It's an uncommon photo to find as most of the American military bands in my collection are usually posed at ease with their instruments down.
The full photo shows the band and flag. There's even a dog, too. Maybe the band's mascot? What's missing are the rest of the troops saluting the flag. I suspect they are assembled at a parade ground to the left beyond the camera frame.
Despite its uncommon qualities, the photo records a very ordinary event in the daily life of soldiers in camp—a flag ceremony. Here is a description that I found on TodaysMilitary.com.
Reveilleis sounded at bases around the world at sunrise, Reveille signals the beginning of the duty day and is a cue for service members to assemble for a morning roll call. Reveille is accompanied by the raising of the base’s colors and the U.S. flag, during which service members are required to stand at attention and face the colors and flag, if visible. If the flag is not within sight, they are to face the direction of the music. If reveille is followed by playing of the national anthem or “To the Color,” service members should salute for the duration of the song.
Retreatis sounded at sunset, Retreat marks the end of the workday. Retreat is accompanied by a ceremonious lowering of the base’s colors and the U.S. flag, during which service members are required to stand at attention and face the colors and flag, if visible. If the flag is not within sight, they are to face the direction of the music. If retreat is followed by playing of the national anthem or “To the Color,” service members should salute for the duration of the song.
Tapsis sounded at 2100 hours (9 p.m.), Taps is the final call of the day, and indicates lights out and marks “quiet time” on the base. Service members do not have to stand at attention or salute at this time. To honor fallen military members, Taps is also sounded at military funerals, during which members are expected to stand at attention and salute for the entirety of the song.
Each day begins and ends with a bugle call and as the flag is raised or lowered buglers play "To the Color" or a band will play the National Anthem. It's a time-honored tradition that is still part of daily military life for American servicepeople. Though since the introduction of recordings, sometimes it's not a live rendition of the bugler's call.
But what made this ordinary photo exceptional was a message on the back. The postcard was printed in France—Carte Postale, Correspondance, Adresse, and has a stamped imprint for PHOTO BERARD, 43, Intendance, Bordeaux. Written in English by a clear hand is a short account of the photo.
looks west and this one east. Seems as tho' we are right out in the woods doesn't it – but that is just a little grove of pines. The different bands that come through camp play for "Retreat" and sometimes they give us a little concert before Retreat. Gave us a dandy one last night.
The writer is an unknown American soldier, maybe an officer, who has sent this postcard home along with other photos and a letter. Perhaps he even took the photo himself. However this is the only photo I acquired so the rest of his message, as well as his identity, place and date is unknown. But for me what makes it special, of course, is his mention of the band.
Bordeaux was one of four French ports, La Pallice, Saint Nazaire, and Brest being the other three, where troops of the American Expeditionary Forces first assembled to join America's allies fighting in World War One. After President Woodrow Wilson declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917, it took several months to mobilize a full military force. The first American soldiers did not reach France until June 1917 and then were only a small force of 14,000. Consequently the AEF did not participate in any significant combat action until late October 1917. Yet problems with transporting troops, weapons, equipment, and supplies across the Atlantic were eventually resolved so that by May 1918 over one million American troops had arrived in France. Before the war ended in November 1918, the United States military numbered 2,057,675 men.
The soldiers in my photo are wearing the same uniforms, caps, and leggings worn by AEF troops in 1917-18 so I am confident that this is the time frame for this photo and not 1944-45. But there is another little clue in the photo that can help identify which unit the band is attached to. On the bass drumhead is a stenciled shape of a castle that matches the insignia of the Engineer Corps.
1917 U. S. Army Insignia
In the brief time that U. S. troops were Over There, around 200 bands were deployed to France. There were headquarters bands for infantry, cavalry, engineers, field artillery, and coast artillery, not to mention navy bands too. This decision to promote military bands came straight from the top, Major General John J. Pershing, the commander of the American Expeditionary Force. On his arrival in France in June 1917 General Pershing was impressed by the high quality of French and British army bands and dismayed by the dismal contrast that American bands made. He resolved to make sure that training army bandsmen was included in the vast AEF preparations for war.
This photo is a small example of how music and army traditions are tied together. Pershing had to organize and prepare millions of men to engage in a foreign war. After three years of bloodshed there was no mystery about the dangers American troops would face. President Wilson urged that Americans should undertake this action to "Make the world safe for democracy." But with millions of men being drafted into military service slogans were not enough. Americans needed to be inspired to accept this perilous mission. Music played a part.
In 1917 "The Star Spangled Banner" was a song usually played only by military bands. Though Francis Scott Key's patriotic poem from 1814 had been first adopted as a ceremonial standard by the United States Navy in 1889, and latter played by army and guard bands, the U. S. Congress waited until March 1931 to make it the official national anthem of the United States. Yet because of the message I think it very likely that the band in this photo is playing "The Banner" as the flag is being lowered for Retreat.
Today is Saturday 24 May, 2025. This Monday will be Memorial Day, a National Holiday when Americans honor the U.S. military personnel who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. This sacrifice has a special meaning for servicemen and servicewomen who remember their comrades on this day.
In World War One, as American soldiers fought alongside soldiers from France, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia against the Imperial German Army, the cost of war acquired a greater significance. Between April 1917 and 11 November 1918, the American Expeditionary Force sustained about 320,000 casualties: 53,402 battle deaths, 63,114 noncombat deaths and 204,000 wounded. It is for them that we pause when we see the flag, put a hand to our heart or give a salute, and listen to our national anthem.
"The Bugle Sounds" is a 1942 American movie directed by S. Sylvan Simon and starring Wallace Beery as a cavalry sergeant in World War Two. The sergeant is opposed to replacing horses with modern tanks and his resistance gets him kicked out the army. But it's a fake setup to turn him into a double agent against German spies. This excerpt may be only memorable part of the film.
In any photo of a line of people most photographers like to put them in order, typically arranging everyone short to tall. The same thing applies to musical instruments which come in different sizes.
For example, in a photo of saxophones one would start the line with the cute little soprano sax followed by its larger sister/brother the
alto.
Then comes the tenor saxophones a biggerif overbearing sibling,
that likes to hang out with its own kind.
And then finally at the other end there is the sturdy baritone sax and its uncommon
partner the massive bass saxophone.
This lineup of ten saxophonists appear on a large format black & white
photo, 9" x 8", neatly mounted on grey cardstock. The nine men and one woman
are dressed in a kind of nautical uniform of white shoes and trousers (skirt),
darkish suit jacket, maybe blue, and white peaked hats. Even though they are
standing literally shoulder to shoulder their line is longer that the backdrop in the photographer's studio.
There are no annotations on the photo but in the lower corner there is a printed caption:
MᶜMurray's Saxophone Band MᶜPherson – Kan(sas)
It did not take long to find them in the 21 August 1914 edition of the
McPherson Weekly Republican. The report had the same photograph and included all the names of the
musicians.
McPherson KS Weekly Republican 21 August 1914
McMurray's Saxophone Band
(left to right) F. R. Hapgood, bb-flat bass; R. C. Wright, e-flat bass (baritone); L. C.
Hubbell, b-flat tenor; Mrs. L. D. McMurray, b-flat tenor; J. L. Galle,
b-flat tenor; A. Robertson, b-flat tenor; C. R. Hapgood, e-flat alto; L. D.
McMurray, Jr., e-flat alto; C. R. Bomberger, b-flat soprano; L. D. McMurray,
b-flat soprano.
This organization is undertaking to do big things musically. They are
preparing themselves for Chautauqua, Lyceum and Vaudeville
work. They have played once each week at the Airdome or Cozy
theater since March 1st, this year, giving a new and varied program each
time. Their reportoire (sic) is quite extensive. This organization is very
unique and pleasing to listen to. They specialize on straight military
band arrangements adapting the Saxophones to the various parts. Mr. L. D.
McMurray, the manager and conductor, has just closed a contract for two
days playing in Salina in September and the organization is being much
sought after at other places.
McPherson is a small city in central Kansas with a current population just shy of 14,000. It's located about 55 miles northwest of Wichita and 200 miles west of Kansas City, Kansas/Missouri. In 1914 when this photograph of McMurray's Saxophone Band was taken McPherson was a thriving community of around 4,000 residents due partly to its railway connections to all points east/west and north/south. It was also the county seat and could boast of several hotels, banks, a private college, and a new public high school.
Like many small western towns in this era McPherson also had a "opera house", an impressive three-story civic theater with ornate brickwork that hosted traveling theatrical shows as well as local concerts of McPherson's town band and civic orchestra. There were also two smaller theatres—the Cozy and the Airdrome—which featured motion pictures and live performances of local talent like McMurray's Saxophone Band.
McPherson KS Daily Republican 23 March 1914
On 23 March 1914 the Cozy Theater advertised a program headlined by the McMurray Saxophone Band followed by a two reel drama "Justice of the Wild" and a comedy "His Pal's Bequest". Tickets cost 5¢ and 10¢. The band's program began with a march "Boston Commandery" by Carter, featuring a Clarionet solo in the trio to an air "Onward Christian Soldier" by A. E. Hapgood. This was followed by a serenade "mingling Harmonies" by Wheeler and another march, by request, "War Easgle" by Berry. The band finished with the "Star Spangled Banner" which in 1914 was not yet officially recognized as our national anthem and usually played only by military bands on ceremonial occasions.
The band's director and lead soprano saxophonist was Leon Dallas McMurray. Born in Washington, Iowa in 1873, Leon moved to McPherson, Kansas in 1885, just a few years after the city was first platted. His father worked there as county clerk and later city postmaster. As a young man Leon was employed as private secretary for the congressman of the Kansas seventh district. When the congressman left office Leon moved back to McPherson where he began working as an assistant to his father at the post office. In 1892 he married Mary Gertrude Bonney and together the couple had two children, a son, Loren Dallas McMurray, born in 1897, and a daughter, Bonnie Dee McMurray, born in 1907. Upon the death of his father in 1910, L. D. McMurray succeeded him as postmaster.
But Leon's true passion was for music and especially the saxophone. McPherson was a very musical town and Leon played in both McPherson's town band and civic orchestra, often substituting for a cello on tenor sax. Evidently his wife also learned to play saxophone and their son Leon took to it as well. In 1911 the McMurrays began performing around McPherson as a saxophone trio, sometimes including even little Bonnie to make it a quartet.
But Leon had a bigger dream.
McPherson KS Daily Republican 10 October 1913
In October 1913 local newspapers in McPherson, there were two—one Democrat and the other Republican, ran reports on McMurray's grand scheme to create a band made entirely of saxophone players. He wanted at least fifteen instruments for his "well proportioned band of this family of instruments...four sopranos, four altos, four tenors, two baritones, one bass and one contra-bass."
He had already secured six Buffet-Crampton saxophones delivered all the way from Paris, France. The latest one was a "very fine low pitch tenor saxophone, triple silverplated with gold burnished bell." It would be played by Louie Hubbell. The qualifier "low pitch" refers to the way many band instruments in this era were designed for military bands that still tuned to a high pitch of A=452Hz or A=457Hz instead of the now standard low pitch of A=440Hz. A high pitch wind instrument is constructed shorter than one in a low pitch, and therefore will never be able to play in tune with lower pitched instruments.
McMurray chose to order saxophones from Paris because this was where the saxophone was first invented by Adolph Sax, who was actually from Belgium. There were American-made saxophones but Leon seems to have been a real connoisseur of the saxophone and wanted only the very best.
_ _ _
The instruments were relatively expensive though it's difficult to measure cost after a century of inflation. In 1904 a set of five saxophones—soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and contrabass—made by the American band instrument company C. G. Conn in Elkhart, Indiana would have cost about $670 total in a deluxe premium finish. A soprano was priced $30<$85; alto - $55<$115; tenor - $65<$120; baritone - $80<$150; and contrabass - $105<$200 in four different levels of finish. Gold plate cost extra. (Check out this company's history in my story How to Make a Saxophone). So the same instruments made in France, what with tariffs and shipping, must have cost significantly more. An inflation calculator for total value of five saxophones estimates that $670 in 1913 is worth $21,710 in 2025. And McMurray wanted fifteen!
For another comparison, in 2025 a set of high quality French saxophones in five sizes might cost somewhere around $58,000. The price for the largest sax, the bass can range from $12,000 to $30,000+.
McPherson KS Daily Republican 30 January 1914
Most of the players in his band were already accomplished musicians on woodwind instruments, mainly clarinet or clarionet as it was sometimes called. It's unclear if each musician purchased their new saxophone from McMurray or instead rented them from him. But it was a surprisingly large investment in any case. In January 1914 the McPherson Daily Republican reported that McMurray had received another "novel instrument" for his band, an alto clarinet to be played by Art Robertson, a young clarinet player who lived in the little village of Galva 8 miles east of McPherson. This instrument is longer than a regular B-flat clarinet and has an upturned silver bell similar to a saxophone's bell but smaller. It's usually used as an intermediate voice between the B-flat and the bass clarinet in a band and is never played in orchestras.
The report noted a worrying delayed delivery of the bass saxophone which was ordered by Frank Hopgood. When it arrived the band would start full rehearsals. The paper also helpfully noted the names of all the musicians with most of their forenames too. Only one name, A. E. Hapgood, clarionet, was not present in the photo of the band, possibly because his instrument would have stood out in the lineup and contradicted the notion of a all-saxophone band.
Another member of the Hapgood family, Clarence Hapgood, was listed with an alto sax and an oboe, a double reed instrument that was most uncommon to find in bands of this era. One musician, Clifford Bomberger, who in the lineup holds a soprano sax, second from right, is listed here as playing a Melody saxophone, an intermediate saxophone pitched in C, one whole-tone above the B-flat tenor. Clearly McMurray's Saxophone Band had musicians who were proficient at doubling on other instruments.
McMurray made his own arrangements for the group. The range of a full saxophone section covers all the notes of a full orchestra or band. He likely borrowed music scores for military bands, church hymns, popular songs, and even some ragtime hits.
_ _ _
It's rare for me to get a definitive contemporary confirmation of the names of people in a photograph. So I feel obliged to offer their names again in the order (left to right) of this photo.
F. R. Hapgood, bb-flat bass was Frank R. Hapgood. Born in Kansas in 1876, he was a laundryman (also fireman. i.e. boiler stoker) at the steam laundry owned by his brother.
R. C. Wright, e-flat bass (baritone) was Ralph C. Wright. Born in Illinois in 1876, he was a merchant for a harness store.
L. C. Hubbell, b-flat tenor was Louie C. Hubbell. Born in Kansas in 1892, he was a salesman at a drugstore.
Mrs. L. D. McMurray, b-flat tenor was Mary Gertrude McMurray. Born in Kansas in 1873, Mary could provide no information on her parent's birthplace.
J. L. Galle, b-flat tenor was James L. Galle. Born in Kansas in 1894, he was the son of lawyer and later by 1930 became a lawyer himself.
A. Robertson, b-flat tenor was Arthur Chester Robertson. Born in Kansas in 1884, he was a farm laborer who lived in Galva, a village east of McPherson. Arthur died in December 1916 after being accidently struck by a tree he was cutting down.
C. R. Hapgood, e-flat alto was Clarence E. Hapgood. Born in 1895 he was the son of an owner of a laundry. By 1920 he was working as a mail carrier. There were a number of accomplished musicians in the Hapgood family as its patriarch was leader of McPherson's town band.
L. D. McMurray, Jr., e-flat alto was Loren Dallas McMurray. Born in Kansas in 1897, in the 1910 census he listed his occupation as "agent, music" though he was only twelve years old.
C. R. Bomberger, b-flat soprano was Clifford R. Bomberger. Born in Kansas in 1888, he was a mail carrier.
L. D. McMurray, b-flat soprano was Leon Dallas McMurray. Born in Iowa in 1873, the the 1900 U.S. census he listed his occupation as "clerk, Post Office" and in 1910 as "Assistant Postmaster".
Leon McMurray's position as postmaster in McPherson, an appointment then made by the President of the United States, expired in 1914. After 17 years in federal service he needed to find a new occupation. He took over the operation of a Marble and Granite company producing memorial gravestones and markers for buildings.
McPherson KS Weekly Republican 29 January 1915
I don't know whether Leon chiseled out the stonework himself, but evidently it still provided him time to devote to his saxophone band. Newspaper reports of the band were ambitious with planned bookings at a Chautauqua event, a May Day fair, as well as their regular performances at McPherson's movie theaters.
But that spring, Leon became seriously ill and was reported as suffering from some undisclosed ailment and being bedridden. On Thursday morning, 20 May 1915, Leon Dallas McMurray died at his home. According to his obituary, which was published that same day, he had been laid up for almost two months. He was "41 years, 7 months, and 25 days old".
McPherson KS Daily Republican 20 May 1914
I include Leon McMurray's obituary here partly because it outlines his life much better than I can do. But it also shows how in earlier times a newspaper functioned as the main social media for a community. When I checked out the McMurray family in the 1900 census records I noticed that their next door neighbor then was William Krehbiel, the editor of the McPherson Daily Republican. This surely accounts for the generous reporting on McMurray and the fulsome praise in this final notice. And undoubtedly Leon had many close friends from his work as postmaster, his associations with his church and masonic lodge, and, of course, with the many musical ensembles he played in.
The saxophone band tried to continue in the months after Leon's death but the effort proved too much without the inspiration of its founder and director. It broke up around 1918, probably as a result of the United States joining the war in Europe.
Leon's wife, Mary Gertrude McMurray, took over management of Leon's monument company and in July 1915 ran newspaper advertisements with her name as proprietor. However she continued to play saxophone was mentioned as leading a smaller saxophone ensemble in June 1922.
McPherson KS Weekly Republican 30 July 1915
The history of McMurray's Saxophone Band was, like his own life, lamentably too brief. However it represents an experiment in band instrumentation that would soon revolutionize music. The sound of a full saxophone section covers an enormous range and produces many musical colors from sweet and soulful to loud and brash. In the 1900s composers of serious music for both bands and orchestras had mostly ignored the saxophone and were only beginning to understand its great potential. One reason for its new popularity was because more musicians like Leon McMurray were demonstrating a passion for the saxophone sound.
Beginning in about this same time before World War One, many saxophone ensembles were performing on the vaudeville circuit. I've featured several of them in my stories on this blog. Check out these:
I've also written many stories about photos of family bands in my collection. This kind of semi-professional ensemble has always been a popular idea for a musically skilled father or, less often, a mother, to form a "band" or "orchestra" from their children at hand. It was a kind of entrepreneurial notion that involved both a love of music and of family. But time forces a special limitation on these ensembles as children don't stay young forever and inevitably grow-up and chose their own direction in life. Whether Leon McMurray ever wanted to produce a professional family band is unknown but he surely had the opportunity with both his wife and son taking up the saxophone. What he would tragically never learn is that his son did choose to make his career in music. And he did it in a new form of music that was very suited for the saxophone. Jazz!
Loren McMurray was recognized as a real talent while his father was alive and he was still a student in McPherson schools. In 1917 he left McPherson for Kansas City, Missouri (the larger metropolis of the two Kansas Cities) and joined Eddie Kuhn's band, what might be called a society orchestra. Loren got married in April 1920 and moved to New York City where he found work as a session player in numerous pop bands that were recording music for the new post-war dance craze. He became the lead saxophonist in Paul Whiteman's first "jazz" orchestra and was considered one of the most talented young saxophonists in New York.
But in the fall of 1922, Loren was suddenly stricken with tonsilitis, once a very dangerous condition. Despite medical efforts, Loren Dallas McMurray died on 29 October 1922. He was 25 years old.
McPherson KS Daily Republican 30 October 1922
I've included Loren McMurray's obituary, published in the McPherson Daily Republican the very next day after his death, because, despite the tragic loss of a young promising talent, it demonstrates how music evolves. Loren was part of a new 20th century age of syncopated jazz. His father was part of an older 19th century age of military marches. The notes and rhythms may have been different but the love of making music was the same. I wish we could have heard father and son play together. Leon would have been very proud of his son.
and maybe their age too. Though that's usually a subjective quality that's hard to determine in unidentified subjects. And likewise the color of eyes or hair is a just a guess in antique sepia tone photos.
If the camera is positioned far enough away a person's clothing is included in the frame so that a taste for fashion can be ventured.
Handmade or store bought? Velvet or gingham? Light pink or dark green?
But personality? Not so much. A frown does not indicate a lack of good humor. A dull eye is not a sign of a dull mind. A bland expression does not prove an uncaring heart.
A photograph is just a fleeting moment in a person's life. Only their family and friends knew their genuine nature.
Today I present three anonymous young women who posed for a camera a long time ago. Unbeknownst to them their little tintype photos recorded personal styles that surprisingly resemble future fashion trends from our time.
A tintype or ferrotype is with a unique photographic process that captures an image like a mirror. That is, the light reflected on the emulsion of the metal plate reverses itself creating a positive image like a mirror does. So a tintype photo, despite its clarity and focus, is actually not a true-to-life image like in a modern photograph. However with computer software I can easily flip the image and transform it into a realistic likeness of a person. That's what I've done here with the first young woman's photo. It makes a subtle difference, but I think it allows a viewer to better appreciate a person's face.
One of the most striking things to observe in antique portraits is how people dressed and styled their hair. Most women in the 19th century did not cut their hair and usually arranged it neatly in a coil or bun. From 1845 to 1900, in the early age of photography, women appear in photos with various hair fashions ranging from slick oiled hair pulled tightly at the back to elaborate coiffures with braids, waves, and curls.
But this girl chose an unconventional hair style that is almost breezy and unkempt. It does not fit with the common fashions seen in most portraits of both young and mature women. I can't say for sure, of course, but she is only a teenager I think. Maybe around age thirteen to sixteen. Surely not more than nineteen. To my 21st century eye she looks more like a girl from the 1960s-70s. It's frizzy pop star hair, a bit like Janis Joplin, Carly Simon, or Maria Muldaur.
I bought this tintype mainly because I thought it was good example of this photograph medium and also because she had such an unusual, even chic, quality that was outside the norm for this period. The photo is small, 1.5 inches (4 cm) by 2.0 inches ( 5 cm).
* * *
A year later I found a second tintype portrait of another young lady with a very similar hair style. Like the other girl, this girl has medium long hair in curled locks and then casually gathered up by a ribbon band around her head. Again I have reversed the original tintype to show her true features. The photographers in both portraits dabbed some pink color onto the girls' cheeks. It is stronger on this girl but her downward gaze gives her a sad expression.
The back of the tintype has remnants of a paper matt or envelope. Someone has written a cryptic note: #7EL. This photo is larger than the others, about 1.75 inches (4.5 cm) by 2.75 inches (7 cm).
* * *
My third girl comes displayed in her original paper frame. She is older, maybe 18-19 or even in her twenties. Like the other two she has the same frizzled hair tied with a ribbon but adds a flower and a second ribbon around her neck. She also has pink cheeks and a serious, if not glum, countenance.
This photo is about the same size as the first one, what is called a Gem size, but the paper envelope has dimensions similar to a carte de visite photo, about 2.5 inches (6.5 cm) by 4.0 inches (10 cm). Since tintype photos are made on an iron sheet coated with japanned black enamel, the material doesn't invite annotations in pencil or ink. The paper envelopes may have space for a date or name but are very fragile and easily lost. Finding one that has been preserved makes it special. Tintypes like these were popular from around 1860 to 1885. They were relatively easy for a photographer to make and develop quickly. Many tintype photographers set up a trade at amusement parks and on seaside resort boardwalks. They usually cost about 25 cents.
The back of this photo shows how the little tintype was held in the frame by a piece of newspaper pasted onto the envelope.
The paper backing is clipped from the top left corner of a newspaper page. Another bit of black paper adheres to the back and probably comes from an album page where the photo was once stored. There is enough of the newsprint to make out a report on "The Latest Postage..." which lists postage fees for letters, pamphlets, and registered mail. Unfortunately there is no name, place, or date. But the report reads like a federal notice so I wondered, could I find a similar one in the newspaper archives?
I could indeed. The same words were in a report from the West Chester, Pennsylvania Local News published on 2 January 1874.
West Chester, PA Local News 2 January 1874
The report is verbatim to the clipped portion on the photo. Though I found the same report published in other newspapers in other years there were slight differences in the regulatory text. It leads me to believe that this particular girl had her photo taken sometime around 1873 to 1874, though not necessarily in Pennsylvania. Whether this is the time frame for the other two girls, I can't say, but it seems safe to place them in the same 1870s decade.
The full report also includes the 1874 U. S. postal rate for letters to foreign addresses. For mail to Germany and Great Britain it was 6 cents per ½ ounce. France and Italy was 10 cents. Russia 11 cents. Letters to China via San Francisco was only 10 cents using American steamers but 28 cents using British mail service. Likewise South Africa was 28 cents too.
I'm not sure what, if anything, connects these three portraits. They have an exotic quality that suggests the girls have a youthful free spirit.
Their unorthodox hair fashion might be influenced by their ethnic or national heritage, or a favorite romance book or operetta, or just normal teenage rebellion. Beyond that we really can't infer much more without resorting to our modern prejudices and preconceptions. Let's just call them pretty.
I'll finish with some appropriate music. Here is Irving Berlin's hit song from the “The Ziegfeld Follies Of 1919”
This was the first recording of this song, as sung by the tenor John Steel who made it famous in the first Broadway production of the "Follies". It was recorded by the Victor Talking Machine Co.
in Camden, New Jersey on June 30, 1919.
Sheet music cover to "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody" by Irving Berlin, 1919 Source: Wikipedia
Most people call them notes or sometimes the dots.
It's a written language for musicians that is universally understood no matter a player's nationality.
The note shapes spell all the musical pitches and rhythms
that anyone needs to make music.
Of course, the dots are just instructions. Musicians still need to know
how to produce a musical sound on their instrument too.
And to correctly prepare for a performance sheet music must be carefully arranged in order and secured to a sturdy music stand.
It's a universal exercise that every musician from anywhere learns to do before a concert starts.
This old double bass player sorts his music on a folding wire stand. Leaning against a tree next to him is his instrument quietly watching the activity, like a loyal companion.
It's a rare photo of a musician doing simple routine preparation before a gig begins. It's a beautiful image that invites us to stick around and listen to the concert.
The place and time of this photo postcard is unknown. But on the back is a printed stamp box symbol for the CYKO paper manufacturer
which likely places this musician somewhere in North America at some time between 1906 to 1920.
I like his hat.
Since we can't hear this bass player let's listen to another one. Here is Alexander Muravyev playing one of his own pieces aptly entitled "Cheshire Cat".
This is a web gallery of antique photographs of musicians. Most are of people whose names are now lost in time but they represent the many kinds of players, instruments, and ensembles that once defined musical culture. But these photographs also capture a moment in the history of people and places, so I write about that too.
All the photos shown here are in my personal collection.
For Best Effect Click on the Images for a Larger View
For information on my music for horn - go to the bottom of this column.
