TORNADO DRUM CORPS, 1948-1949
1948-1949. A remarkably crafted photographic album documenting the activities of a high school drum corps in Coffeyville, Kansas during the 1948-1949 school year. In addition to nearly 150 original photographs of the Tornado Drum Corps or the Tornado Tillies, it contains an array of newspaper clippings, correspondence, and other material, all arranged chronologically and artfully displayed. Stemming from the American military tradition, as well as the broom brigades popular during the 19th century, drum and bugle corps emerged after the First World War and were increasingly common part of civic life during the postwar era. Drum corps are comprised of only brass and percussion with a color guard, as opposed to marching bands which include woodwinds. They tend to represent a town or city, as was the case of the Tornado Drum Corps, which hailed from Coffeyville, a small community in southeastern Kansas. Their ranks were filled by young women from Field Kindley Memorial High School, which is still active today. The album opens with a photographic roster of the Tornado Drum Corps with 28 young women pictured, including Drum Major Linda Howard, Director Harvey Lewis, and the group’s sponsor, Beverly Bohan. The Corps began the 1948-1949 season in September with performances in Coffeyville’s Labor Day Parade and Rodeo Parade. Many of their activities are captured in glossy 10" x 8" photographs. The group participated in a combined practice with the Independence Drum Corps, another all-female outfit, and performed at half-time during Field Kindley football games. In December, Dorothy Bruce was selected to succeed Linda Howard as Drum Major and the Corps held its annual year-end banquet. An invitation is included, as well as a mimeographed and die-cut program that includes the evening’s menu, a roster, the lyrics of the corps’ song, and a list of its recent activities. The album also contains numerous candid and posed snapshots, including two color photographs and features on the two Corps members selected as the Basketball Queen and Track Queen, respectively. In May, the Tornado Tillies competed at the On Parade festival in Independence, Missouri. Included here is related correspondence, the holographic judging report, and printed scorecard. The albums closes with photographs from the end of year Drum Corps Picnic. All the materials are pasted to black paper leaves, often framed with silver paper matting and accompanied by holographic annotations written below in white ink. Several of the photographs are artfully trimmed. Nothing is missing from the album, save for a "corsage worn for the C’ville – Pitt game" (a pin and adhesive residue are left in its place). 32 photographs are laid in loose, along with the Last Will and Testament of the 1960-61 Tornado Drum and Bugle Corps, which is handwritten on a folded 9 1/2" x 48 3/4" sheet of paper. The materials are clean and bright, and housed in spiral-bound blue buckram album with the group’s name stamped in gilt on the front panel. Thoughtfully assembled, with no shortage of insights into the activities and attitudes of high school girls in rural America during the early postwar years. Item #72098
Price: $500.00