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Music for a War
  The world was at war.The bellicose armies of Europe mobilized to the clarion calls of trumpets.Troops marched into battlefollowing the steady cadence of drums.      Yet there were occasions when...
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Like Father, Like Son
 It's a photo game we all play.Look at their faces and spot the difference.Do they share eyes and nose? Yes.Chin and ears? Maybe.Hair? Definitely.  Even with people we've never met,we still guess at...
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Three Talented Young Violinists
  My favorite photographs of young musicianscontain a subtle quality that reveals a musical talent that we may not hear, but through the camera lens, we can see it. We first notice a relaxed youthful...
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High Class Jokers
Do you know what's funny?A black silk top hat.   With a white tie and tail coatit gives a fella a very high-class style.It might look serious,but trust me,it's funny.      So if one top hat is...
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The Eye Behind the Camera
   This is my dad,Lt. Russell Brubaker,with his new camera, an Alpa Reflex #4, purchased for $166at the Tokyo post exchange in May 1952.He also paid a little extra for a roll of 35mm Kodachrome...
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Der Komet Kommt!
 Look up!Where?The sky! Look up at the sky!Do you see it? It's so bright! It's so big!What is it? It's the COMET of course! IT'S FINALLY HERE!People who read newspapershad been anticipating its arrival...
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Street Music in White City, Kansas
Seventeen musicians have formed into a semicircle on a hard dirt road. The band are on a street in front of a row of small shops, but they are not marching in a parade. It's a standup concert. Nearby,...
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The Pittsburgh Ladies Orchestra
  To take a good photograph of a group requires focus, timing, and above all, good light.But a photographer's skill is only the half of it.For a photo to be truly greatthe participationof the...
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The Mountain Beauties of Hendricks, West Virginia
 Meet Grayce and Ninaon cornet and alto horn.      And Fannie and Olive.Alto horn and snare drum.      Along with Pearl, Adda, and Gertrude,the low brass trioon tenor horn, baritone, and bass tuba....
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Winter Sports in old Austria
 It's a universal trait that humans like to go fast.And sliding down an ice covered trackin a bobsled is certainly one way to achieve it.  This colorful postcard of a four man & one woman bobsleigh...
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The Cadet Band of Augusta, Maine
 It's always the drum head. Whenever I first look at a vintage photo of a bandI always check the bass drumfor a place and name of the musical group.It was such a common advertisement for a bandthat...
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The Well-dressed Violinist
  The violin is a versatile instrument.In the right hands it's capable of playing sprightly folk dances or impassioned classical concertos.Yet for each kind of musicthe violinist must dress the...
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Our Music Room
Even without the Bösendorfer piano,the premier piano manufacturer of Wien, Austria,we know that this is a musician's studio room.Flanking a painting of a mountain landscape are two oval portraits of...
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The Boys Band of Cromwell, Indiana
 Ever since the camera was inventedthe most common decision photographers makeis where to pose their subjects.For a sizeable group like this boys' brass banda typical outdoor site might be on a...
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Bicycles and Saxophones, The Elliott~Savonas Troupe
 What would Mozart think of the saxophone?Before he had even heard one,I expect Wolfgang would admire its sinuous shape with its gleaming brass and silver keys.    Within a few seconds of hearing its...
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A Trumpeter for the Queen
  There are uniforms, and then there are Royal uniforms.Few musicians are favored to wear a livery like this trumpeter's attire.Even in this black and white photohis trumpet and uniform gleamwith...
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Das Auto, part 1
 It was the new age of machines.Modern electric motors and petrol engines promised more energy and greater powerto propel people faster and farther than ever before.It was 1908 and people needed a new...
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The Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie
Boys to the right,      girls to the left,      the band in the center of course,       and up front on the slate boardthe name and date,Hecker SchoolMay 7, 1907      It's a picture of a...
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The Girls' Band of Williamston, Michigan
 The big hats and giant bowsdefinitely attracted my attentionbut it was the smilesof these young womenthat sold me on the postcard of their band.  Unfortunately I didn't know who they were.Or even...
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The Wedding Band
The happy couple stand arm in armas a prudent motherand hopeful sister look on.     To the right the bridegroom's familyand some of the band.Count the brothers.     On the leftthe bride's familyand the...
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