Clik here to view.
Two Bread Bands
The people of Holland wear clogsto keep their feet dry in the bogs.But Dutch bands shod in cleatsmake a mess of the beats, and dances become quite a slog.It is a curious photo. Ten female musicians...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Music in Motion
Her identity was easy, as the young lady's name was printed on the corner of her postcard. Miss Ruby Corrick. Wearing an elegant gown she holds a piston valve cornet while on a table behind her is a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clubs for Trombones
In previous decades, many men enjoyed the camaraderie of membership in a fraternal or professional society. Musicians had their clubs too, and one of the least known organizations was the Benevolent...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Three Portraits of Cellists
She's listening. You can see it in her face. Her concentration focuses on her right hand poised precisely at the moment her bow first draws a vibration from the cello. The fingers of her left hand...
View ArticleClik here to view.
More Ladies of Brass
Charming isn't the word for them. Not graceful either. Definitely not lovely. Fetching? No, that's not right. Brazen comes to mind. Formidable too. How about imposing? Let's settle for just Damen...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Old Band
The Old Bandby James Whitcomb Riley {1849-1916}It's mighty good to git back to the old town, shore,Considerin' I've be'n away twenty year and more.Sence I moved then to Kansas, of course I see a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Big Hat
This is not just a big hat. This is a Grand Hat! Any man who wears a tall bearskin shakocomplete with white tassel and gilt chin strapis not making a fashion statement so much as a military command for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Educated Sheep and Musical Pigs
Sheep are silly. Sheeps is sillier. Trained Sheeps jumping over a flaming hurdle is just absurd.But I'd probably pay money to see that.I certainly paid 5 Euros to buy the postcard.The image is a small...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hungarian Boys Bands – part 1
This is a drummer with an attitude. He looks confident, even cocky, because he knows his drumsticks keep the band on the proper beat.That kind of bold self assurance is not typicalof a boy who might be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hungarian Boys Bands - part 2
A jelly doughnut. Most people see a group of young boys dressed in fine uniforms with knotted braid, dashing caps, and shiny brass instruments. I see a jelly doughnut. The kind with lots of snowy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hungarian Boys Bands - part 3
Smudge or schmutz? If there was a jelly doughnut involved, it was more the fault of the postman than the boy. Nonetheless Frau Steiner doubtless ran a daily inspection on the uniforms of her...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Role of a Lifetime
There's a story in this photo. A guitar playing groom, a handsome if not winsome bride, and a bewigged English judge. Flowers, top hat, guitar. Is this a civil marriage? On their right, another...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pretty as a Picture
Taking a group photograph requires real artistic skill to get it right. A photographer needs good timing to recognize that one second when all eyes are on the camera lens. Setting a correct focus and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Austrian Plumbing
A man of pride. That's the person I see in this photograph. It's in his self-confident stance with one arm akimbo.It's in his simple but crisp uniform complete with medals.It's definitely in his tall...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The AMAIZO Band
Corn oil. Corn Starch. Corn Syrup.It's in nearly everything we eat today.One might say it made America a great ... big nation of corn-fed people.But where does it comes from?Who makes it? Why is it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Another Tuba Baby
A very small fiction sketched from an old postcard photo Time seemed to slow down on warm days like this. Even with drapes the skylights kept the studio uncomfortably hot. Franklin was half...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Memorial Day for a Distant Time and Place
A token, a souvenir, a memento, a memorial. Some photographs are endowed with extra powers of remembrance. This photo of grave markers for two soldiers killed in the Great War of 1914-1918has a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Four Flutes
It's the directness of his gaze that captures our attention. His eyes look straight into the camera lens which fixes the moment with wonderful clarity.His carefully groomed hair and chin beardgive him...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mud Walking with Music
“Mud, mud, glorious mud Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood So follow me follow, down to the hollow And there let me wallow in glorious mud”chorus to The Hippopotamus Song by Flanders &...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Grandfather's Mustache - part 1
One hundred years ago, a gentleman's hair style was a mark of pride in their class, their nationality, and sometimes their ethnic origin.Time in a barber's chair was considered a worthwhile investment...
View Article