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
bunches or lines. Last week's unknown band was a line.
Today I offer a brass band posed in a bunch.
or to use the technical term,
a clump.
The photographer has taken care to get good light, placing the fifteen bandsmen and one mascot, on a shady slope in a grove of trees.
As noted in a caption on the photo postcard and on the bass drum they are the Elizabeth Band of Elizabeth, Illinois.
The card was sent to Miss Olive Nash of Stockton, Ill.
Sun. Oct. 1, 1911.
Dear Olive Rec'id your last card Thurs A.M.; when I was waiting for the excursion train, You were mistaken about me not having a hat on, in that picture; I am at the other side of the picture with a black hat on. On the other side of this card is a picture of the Elizabeth Band ! ! The little darling in the middle of the picture, who has no hat or uniform on, is myself. ↩
I have, also, four brothers in in the picture, so you see, it is well worth keeping! (?) We intended to come up to that ball game today, but the immortal gods have upset our plans. Maybe there will be another to go to, soon. ↩
We saw Clara, Naomi and a Miss Cook at the Fair. You should have been there and ↩
got a Merry-Go-Round ride.
We may be up to leave some candy at the schoolhouse for you some sunday. What other girls have you at school that Ross or Bert could give candy to? ↩ Sherm W. ↩
This card is in one of my classy envelopes
Elizabeth, Illinois is a village 150 miles west of Chicago on the way to Dubuque, Iowa, about 10 miles east of the Mississippi River. In 1910 it had a population of around 703 citizens, a bit more than its current population of 694. The village was the site of the Apple River Fort, a frontier fortification built by settlers during the 1832 Black Hawk War. During a fierce battle with warriors from the Sauk and Meskwaki tribes, a pioneer woman named Elizabeth Armstrong, rallied the other settlers to fight back. Afterwards the community decided to honor her bravery by naming the village Elizabeth.
As a general rule outdoor photos of town bands come in two types – bunches or lines. The musicians might be arranged in an orderly or haphazard fashion, depending on the fastidiousness of the photographer or the leader of the group, but it's still either rows or clumps of people.
My favorites are vintage photos of small bands which assembled near a residential home. It adds an element of time and place which is absent in photos of a band posed in front of a stone wall or park bandstand.
Most photographs of this kind were taken on special occasions, often on a summer's day when the band's musicians wore their best uniforms. If the light was good and the camera well focused it becomes a portrait of individuals as well as of an ensemble.
This brass band of thirteen players chose to stand in a line for their group photo. They are on the grassy lawn of a large two-story house built in a 19th century style called "Steamboat Gothic" with a grand porch accentuated by fancy turned posts,
spandrels, balustrades, and millwork brackets. The musicians are of various ages with a handful of boys and girls in their teens. Their caps and uniform coatss are decent quality with
braided knots on the cuffs and around the buttons. Standing center on the porch behind them is an older man, age 60+, holding an American flag.
This large albumen photo, mounted on card stock 11 x 10 inches, has no photographer's imprint to identify where it was taken. However neatly written on the back are the names of the band's musicians.
I believe the names top to bottom correspond to the players left to right since the only female names for the two girls are Lynn and Edd.
Harry Reynolds
Neil Reynolds
Lloyd Hill
Lynn Hill
Martin Wilder
Edd Brown
William Schade
August Hinz
Percy Townsend
Semore Reynolds
Ola Higbee
Grover Johnson
John Johnson
Arron Holben Holding flag
Despite my best efforts searching for these names in Ancestry.com and newspaper archives I've been unable to find the solution to the puzzle of where they are standing. The names are just too common.
And so, for now anyway, this small town band must otherwise remain unknown. My best guess as to its date is roughly late 1890s to early 19o0s.
But that flag is a hint that this photo commemorates a holiday concert by the band.
It might be May 30th, Memorial Day, once known as Decoration Day. Of it could be July 4th, Independence Day, commonly called the Fourth of July.
But I think is might be June 14th, Flag Day, the day set aside to honor the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777.
Storm Flag raised at Fort Sumter Source: Wikipedia
Flag Day was first proposed in 1861 not long after the attack by Confederate forces on Fort Sumter, the island fortress which guarded the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
On 13 April 1861, after a relentless bombardment, Fort Sumter's Federal Army commander, Major Robert Anderson, was compelled to lower Fort Sumter's flag and surrender. Thus began four years of America's terrible Civil War.
Anderson brought the flag to New York City for an April 20, 1861, patriotic rally, where it was flown from the equestrian statue of George Washington in Union Square. More than 100,000 people thronged Manhattan's Union Square in what was, by some accounts, the largest public gathering in the country up to that time. The flag was then taken from town to town, city to city throughout the North, where it was frequently "auctioned" to raise funds for the war effort. Any patriotic citizen who won the flag at auction was expected to immediately donate it back to the nation, and it would promptly be taken to the next rally to repeat its fundraising magic. The flag was a widely known patriotic symbol for the North during the war.
On April 14, 1865, four years and one day after the surrender and as part of a celebration of the Union victory, Anderson (by then a retired and sickly major general), raised the flag in triumph over the battered remains of the fort. Author Shelby Foote quotes Anderson as saying, "I thank God that I have lived to see this day," as he took the flagpole's halyards in his hands.
The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was the principal orator at the 1865 celebration, and gave a lengthy speech, as was the custom of the day. He said in conclusion:
"On this solemn and joyful day, we again lift to the breeze our fathers’ flag, now, again, the banner of the United States, with the fervent prayer that God would crown it with honor, protect it from treason, and send it down to our children.... Terrible in battle, may it be beneficent in peace [and] as long as the sun endures, or the stars, may it wave over a nation neither enslaved nor enslaving.... We lift up our banner, and dedicate it to peace, Union, and liberty, now and forevermore." — Rev. Henry Ward Beecher
Later that night President Lincoln would be shot at Ford's Theatre.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Flag Day was never a big celebration in the United States since it was initially scheduled in June boxed in-between larger more memorable patriotic holidays. But some states, mainly in the north, did continue this tradition of honoring our flag's anniversary on 14 June. While I can't confirm that this little brass band's photo is connected to this holiday, there is no evidence that it isn't either. So let's pretend that long ago Major Anderson's flag inspired Uncle Holben to join the fight to protect the Union and our flag.
Oswestry Advertiser (Shropshire, England) 27 June 1866
The anniversary of the Llangollen and Llantysilio Female Friendly Society
Will take place on June the 29th, on the Bowling Green, at the Ponsonby Arms, Llangollen, where Tea will be provided. The Denbighshire Brass Band will be in attendance.
Dancing will commence at half-past Four p.m.
Admission to Tea and the Green 2s.
Llangollen, June 11th, 1866.
North Cheshire Herald (Hyde, Glossop, and Dukinfield, England) 20 September 1873
Abbey Hey Garden Near Fairfield Station, Goton.
Open for the Season
DENTON ORIGINAL BRASS BAND
Every Saturday and Monday,
WILL PLAY FOR DANCING.
Bowling Green now Open for the Season.
Admission, 4D. Each.
H. Ackroyd, Proprietor.
________________________
John Ashworth begs to inform his
friends and the public generally that
he intends carrying on business on his own
account in Hyde. Photography in all
its branches, including Portraiture, Landscape,
Machinery, &c. Copies enlarged and finished
in Water or Oil, to the satisfaction of those who
may favour him with their patronage.
Falkirk Herald (Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland) 25 May 1878
CUMBERNAULD.
Opening of the Bowling Green. — The opening
of Cumbernauld Bowling Green took place yesterday
(Friday) under favourable circumstances, the weather
on the whole being fine and turned out great suc-
cess. J. W. Burns, Esq. of Kilmahew and Cumber-
nauld, was expected to be present at the opening, but
unfortunately he could not come. In his absence
the president of the club, Mr. Meikle, factor, in a very
neat and graceful speech, performed the ceremony of
opening the green for the season. The green being
in fine condition several splendid games were in-
dulged in the members present, and during the
afternoon the Camelon Brass Band discoursed some
lively airs, while dancing was kept up with great
spirit until late in the evening. There was a large
gathering on the green at the opening.
Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald (Ardrossan, Ayrshire, Scotland) 4 September 1880
BOWLING.
Opening of the New Largs Green. — The new
green, belonging to the Largs Bowling Green Com-
pany (Limited) was opened on Saturday afternoon.
About three o’clock a large company of ladies and
gentlemen assembled the green. Mr W. Stirling,
chairman of the directors, declared the green open,
and while it was not in good playing order, still it
was, as an old bowler had once said, “Alike for ane
alike for a’.” Commissioner Peter Watson, president
of the Allanpark Club, thanked the members of the
newly formed club for Inviting them oat to the new
green, which has now been finished, and would by
another year be one the best greens in the country.
Thereafter sides were drawn by the above two gentle-
men—24 men a-side—and the green opened with a
friendly game. When all were in rinks, Mrs Patrick,
wife of Mr James Patrick, writer, threw the first
jack and bowl amidst the cheers of the spectators.
The Largs Brass Band, under the leadership of Mr
Charles Denny, was present, and performed a selection
of music during the game. At the close of the match
it was found that Mr Stirling’s side were victors.
Several complimentary speeches were afterwards
made, and the healths of the ladies proposed. Mr
Brown, of Millport, replied for the strangers.
Fourteen men and boys stand in a line at the edge of a curb which might be mistaken for a street pavement if were not for the balls scattered in front of them. These are balls used in the game of lawn bowling. Called bowls, they were traditionally made of a heavy, dense hardwood that is shaped (biased) and weighted inside so that they follow a curved path when being rolled towards a smaller white ball called a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty". The player's object is to get their bowls closest to the jack or to knock their opponent's bowls away from it. The game is played on a bowling green which is typically a square or rectangular lawn of fine close-mown and level rolled turf.
This brass band's photo is a small carte de visite photograph which has no mark for the photographer and no annotations for location, date, or the name of the band. My estimate is that it was taken sometime around 1865–1880. However since it came from a British dealer I'm confident that it is of a British group, though they might easily be a Welsh, Scottish, Irish, or English brass band.
The subtle clue of the balls was unusual to see in an early group photo like this. I wondered how common it might be for a brass band to appear at a bowling green and it seems that the answer is—very common. In the second half of the 19th century many British inns, pubs, and recreation parks added a bowling green to their amenities as a way to entice more clientele. A performance of a brass band became a popular summertime attraction with the public. The greens were also used for dancing, though I suspect all the divots and hollows created by hobnailed shoes must have greatly annoyed the groundskeepers and the bowls players.
I could not find any modern examples of a brass band performing at a lawn bowling match. But since the band in the photo is silent I found some early silent films that demonstrate this sport of lawn bowling.
This first one dates from 1927 and has a short description:
"Fighting their battles o'er again — but on the bowling green.
Naval pensioners meet and defeat Chelsea pensioners at bowls."
This second short film is also from the British Pathé archive
and was produced during World War One.
It is entitled "Wounded Soldiers Bowling Contest (1914-1918)."
The precise location is unknown but it was certainly filmed somewhere in Britain.
Musical fads come and go, depending on the public's fickle penchant for new things. This postcard of the Damen-Trompeter-Corps „Ariosta“, directed by Herr E. Behncken, was once a type of musical ensemble that everyone recognized because they had heard one at their local music hall, beer garden, or city park bandstand. The six women and four men who played in this brass band were professional musicians who promoted their group with photo postcards of the band. Unlike a traditional band of just men, these Damen ensembles went out of their way to market how women were the principle performers. As proof of their popularity, I must have several hundred postcards just like this group in my collection. Today I'd like to present a small sample of these very brassy women A to Z. Sort of.
In the last decade of the 19th century and first decades of the 20th, women's bands and orchestras were very widespread thorughout central Europe, mainly in the German speaking regions, which in the time before the First World War was a much larger region than Europe in our 21st century. There were Damen Streich Orchester~Women's string orchestras, Damen Blasorchester~Women's wind bands; and Damen Trompeter Corps~Women's trumpet ensembles. The last one is my focus today. The Ariosta Trompeterinnen played several different valved brass instruments like tubas and trumpets, but the Trompeter-Corps in their name refers to the three natural trumpets seen standing on their bells at the front of the band. These instruments were a type of bugle without valves that was little different from the baroque trumpets that were played in miliary bands and royal fanfares.
The Ariosta band's postcard was never posted but we know it is an official postcard based on its printed description from multiple languages. (Extra points if you can name them all!) A rubber stamp imprint for Karl Mohr's Conzerthaus Werth in Duisburg indicates the venue where they performed. Duisburg is on the Rhine River in western Germany, north of Düsseldorf and not far from the border with the Netherlands.
* * *
This next group has a similar makeup of six young women and four men. They are the Österreichisches Damen-Trompeter-Corps „Bohème“ directed by Herr A. Lohmann. Their name indicates that they are from Austria, which at the time was part of an immense Austria-Hungary empire that encompassed dozens of ethnic peoples. Unlike the ladies in the Ariosta band who wore folksy white dresses with dark bodices and no hats, the women of the Bohème ensemble wear matching dresses with contrasting aprons and huge sombrero hats fitted with large pompons. Not surprisingly the men are not on display and are dressed in ordinary business suits. One of them must be the leader Lohmann but I'm not sure which one he is. Maybe the tallest man, second from right.
Notice that the women hold various brass instruments but there are four natural trumpets propped up in front. Typically these trumpets came as a quartet though they were all in the same key, usually E-flat. This postcard was sent on 7 March 1912 from Hamburg, Germany, about 550 miles from Austria's capital, Wien.
* * *
This group is an octet of seven young ladies and one man. They are the Damen-Blas-Orchester „Erato“, Kapellmeister~conductorH. Schröder. The women wear matching dresses in a dark color with folk-type vests. Herr Schröder sits in the center at a table that has two rotary valve trumpets on it. The Blas-Orchester name suggests they played woodwind instruments too, but there are none shown here. Instead their brass instruments are clumped together in front with two pairs of natural trumpets leaning on chairs on either side. Notice the banners attached to the trumpets which were often embroidered with heraldic symbols like the eagle seen here.
This card was sent on 13 November 1911 from Oberehn, a city now known as Obernai, a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. But in 1911 it was in the German territory of Reichsland Elsaß–Lothringen acquired by the German Empire during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
* * *
This brass band proudly promoted its heritage by choosing the name, Damen-Trompeter-Corps „Germania“, directed by A. Hardemann. This nine member ensemble had five women and four men. Herr Hartmann is likely the fellow with the biggest mustache seated in the center. The women are in identical dresses that have a navy collar. Their flat caps are maybe like a sailor but their sashes are not very nautical unless they are emergency flotation devices, too. Their instruments are scattered on the floor with one young lady lying down and holding a natural trumpet. Two more are just left of her.
As is the case with most of these groups, there are no names for any musicians except the leader. The women's string orchestras often had postcards of individual female soloists on flute, violin, or cello and brass groups would do the same for a female trumpeter. In most cases this was because the soloist was the daughter of the leader. It's quite likely that some of Herr Hartmann's children or even his wife are in this group, but those are details that history has forgot.
This postcard has a postmark of 14 November 191o from Waltershausen, a town in the south-western part of the district of Gotha in the state of Thuringia, Germany, about halfway between Frankfurt and Leipzig.
* * *
This is a larger ensemble of 12 musicans, seven women and five men. They are the Damen-Trompeter-Corps „Humoresk“, directed by H. M. Brunk, who surely is the man with the valve trumpet seated right. The women's outfits are another variation on a nautical style with cadet jackets and skirts with contrasting stripes. Everyone holds a brass instrument but standing front and center are three natural trumpets.
This card was sent from Dresden on 4 June 1908.
* * *
My next group is the Damen-Trompeter-Corps „Rhenania“, directed by F. P. Hartwig who sits center, I think. Like the leader of the Germania band, Herr Hartwig holds rolled-up paper, a symbol of a pianist or sometimes conductor. He leads seven young ladies and two other men. The women are dressed alike with a kind of decorative apron and no hats. Except for the leader and the woman playing drums, everyone else has a brass instrument. On the bass drum is a banner embroidered with the group's name and on the right are four natural trumpets, without banners but each wound with fancy tasseled rope.
This card was sent on 9 August 1911 from Sudenburg, a district located in southwest Magdeburg, a city about 90 miles west of Berlin.
* * *
This group is another octet of five women and three men. They called themselves Fr. Weiher's Elite Damen-Blasorchester. The honorific Fr. stands for Frau~Mrs. The man standing center with a trumpet looks like he could be Herr Weiher, but is the tuba player seated next to him Frau Weiher? I can't say. Maybe she's the flugelhorn player to his right. The women are wearing white dresses with broad contrasting trim. Their little caps are fastened to their hair with dangerously long hatpins.
This group adds pairs of mandolins and kettledrums to the ensemble as well as a folk xylophone called a Strohfiedel on the left under the smaller tuba. In the center is another quartet of natural trumpets complete with fringed banners.
This postcard was mailed on 10 February 1913 from Strassburg, a major city in Alsace that, like Oberehn in the Erato band's postcard, was part of the German Empire in 1913. It is now known by its proper French name as Strasbourg.
* * *
My final band is the Damen-Trompeter-Corps „Zufriedenheit“, directed by Karl Hofert. It's another ten-piece ensemble with six women and four men. The word "Zufriedenheit" translates as "satisfaction", as in "I can't get no Zufriedenheit". Despite the Trompeter Corps label there is actually one man with a clarinet standing third from left. I can't be certain he is the leader Herr Hofert, but he does have the best mustache. The women are wearing folksy German outfits but without caps or hats. The instruments shown are heavy on the low brass. but again front and center there are four natural trumpets arranged into a pyramid.
This postcard was posted from Essen, Germany on 2 October 1909.
If anyone has read to this point they should recognize that I've gone A to Z in ladies with brass but have left out a few letters in the alphabet. Eighteen to be precise. I think I could have met that goal but that would be cruel to my readers.
In the examples I've featured today, these musical groups were each ostensibly called a women's ensemble, but, as we can see, were actually a mixture of women and men, all professional musicians. That kind of integration of the sexes in the working world was not common in Germany, or really anywhere in the world in this era, as women had not yet attained equal rights under the laws for property, employment, or suffrage. But it was the way these German ladies were presented as talented entertainers that first caught my attention years ago when I began collecting these postcards. As I found more and more of them there was enough to see that a Damen Trompeter Corps was once a musical fad.
I don't know exactly what music they played, but I believe their repertoire was mainly lighter music, popular songs and dances taken from many folk traditions within the larger Germanic culture. I use the word Germanic because it includes the many complicated regions of central Europe beyond Germany and Austria's borders where German was the principal language.
But wait, there's more! In my collection there are an equally large number of postcards from non-German music groups, too. Hungarians, Czechs, Croatians, and more. And like the ones I've presented today these groups are often mostly women with a few men. That's an A to Z challenge for another time.
For anyone who can't get enough of this unique type of brass ensemble
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.
