Cool Historic Photo (The President's Own)

Derek Reaban

There is a lady in my office that purchases several dozen calendars every year and hangs them in the main hallway close to my office. I recently posted the Norman Rockwell painting of the young boy practicing his trumpet from the 1950s cover of Life Magazine. I just noticed another picture that I thought everyone would enjoy. This one is of The President’s Own Marine Band taken between 1910 and 1926. Notice all of the different types of cornets, the two rotary trumpet players and the double bell euphonium. I’m sure others will be able to speculate on model types, but I really just liked the historic nature of this picture. Enjoy!

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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe Symphonic Wind Ensemble / Symphony of the Southwest

Derek Reaban · Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:12 pm Post subject:

And another one from the same time period (about 1910):

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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe Symphonic Wind Ensemble / Symphony of the Southwest

asha'man · Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:27 pm Post subject:

That is a pretty cool historic picture. From the looks of it there was no standard military issue instrument.
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AC

ADziuk · Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 9:11 am Post subject:

I own the cornet the guy is holding. Heh. Mine is not in functional shape.
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"Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him, and then choose that way with all his strength."

Drewsefer · New Member Joined: 28 Aug 2006 Posts: 9

interesting to see how small the ensembles were...

michaelmergen · Regular Member Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 12 Location: VA

Hi Everyone. I checked with our historian, MasterGunnery Sergeant Mike Ressler to find out some information about these photos. They were both taken for the 1920 national concert tour. The tour began on September 29 and ended on November 30, 63 days and the band played two concerts per day. The band performed in 91 different cities in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and New York. They traveled by train.

The conductor in the top photo is William H. Santelmann, father of future Marine Band director William F. Santelmann. More on his bio here:
http://www.marineband.usmc.mil/learning_tools/our_history/directors/santelmann_h.htm

The bottom photo is labled "Soloists of the 1920 Tour" and the members are principal players and soloists from the tour. There were four soloists on the 1920 tour including cornet, trombone, and two cellists (who performed a concerto for two cellos). The cornet soloist is the legendary Arthur S. Witcomb who performed "Arbucklenian Polka" by John Hartmann.

More information about the history of the Marine Band tours can be found here:
http://www.marineband.usmc.mil/learning_tools/our_history/history_of_concert_tour.htm

Thanks to Mike Ressler for all of the wonderful information.

Mike Mergen

copper · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 11:39 am Post subject:

Is that an 80A he is holding?

tommy t. · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 2:09 pm Post subject:

Derek Reaban · Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 1:17 pm Post subject:

Thanks very much Mike! That 1892 tour photo with Sousa was very impressive at the site that you linked to.
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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe Symphonic Wind Ensemble / Symphony of the Southwest