All 1930s Blog Posts
Somewhere over the rainbow way up high
There’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true
Over the Rainbow, 1939 | E Harburg and Harold Arlen
The Tallest Drum Majorette (1938)
Strathroy Boys and Girls Trumpet Band The Strathroy Boys and Girls Trumpet Band was formed in 1938 in Stathroy, Ontario, Canada. Ieleen Smith, who was nearly 7 feet tall, was the drum majorette. With her plume hat she was nearly 8 feet tall! SOURCE: Strathroy and...
Betty Atkinson Tap Danced, Ice Skated While Twirling A Baton
The above photo features world champion drum majorette Betty Louise Atkinson surrounded by a group of police officers during a parade in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Police Department sponsored the event, which took place on July 9, 1937, and drew 40,000 spectators....
Nogales High School, 1939
The above photo was taken in 1939, and features a male baton twirler / drum major holding a female twirler above his head. They are surrounded by a half circle of majorettes. The students were members of the Nogales High School marching band, Nogales, Arizona. Nogales...
Majorettes in 1930s Dresses
In the late 1930s, nine ladies and one young man posed for this picture at a twirling camp in Taylor County Texas. The Richard and Smith Libraries at Hardin-Simmons University, a private Baptist university in Abilene, donated the photo to a Texas archive. Bob Sanders...
Normal Community High School, 1939
A drum majorette from Normal Community High School, Normal, Illinois, twirls a baton above her head at the homecoming football game against Pontiac Township High School, 1939. CITATION Piercy, Olin;, "Normal (IL) Community High School homecoming football game vs....
Jean Ladd, Best Drum Majorette (1939)
Jean Ladd, Best Drum Majorette, 1939 September 28, 1939, Jean Ladd, 15, Swampscott, Massachusetts, was adjudged the Best Drum Majorette of the 1939 American Legion Convention, Chicago. She is pictured here strutting down an avenue in Chicago, giant trophy in town....
Petersburg High School Drum Corps, 1934 (Indiana)
The Petersburg High School Drum Corps, Petersburg, Pike County, Indiana, 1934. From left to right: Pearl Owings, Majorette; Name Unknown; Claribell Klipsch; Name Unknown; Name Unknown; Lucille Hendrix; Name Unknown; Virginia Hendrix; Name Unknown; Name Unknown; Name...
Vincent Meade, 1938
The above picture is a press photo by ACME News Pictures. It is watermarked by the eBay seller and no longer available for purchase. Based on our research with the Library of Congress, we do not believe ACME photos during this period of time are copyrighted; however...
Helen Mae Turner (1924-2008)
Helen Mae Turner, MajoretteHelen and her younger brothers David and Donald, 1941.Helen Mae Turner's memories of being a majorette for Wallace High School, Wallace Idaho, and other wonderful stories about her life are documented on a beautiful family website, Turner's...
Baton Twirling Camp, 1930s
Baton Twirling Camp, Late 1930s; Photo by Bob Sanders Citation: Summer Twirling Camp Students, photograph, 1930~; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth52852/m1/1/?q=twirling%20camp: accessed March 23, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal...
1930s Gallery
This page was designed to feature all 1930s blog posts. For quick viewing of all 1930s baton twirling photographs, click the button below.
1930s Collection
Visit the 1930s collection page to view baton twirling photos from the 1930s, year by year. For example, with one click, you can pick a year, such as 1937, and view all the photographs we have published from that year.
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Photo Epigraph
Marjie Joy Miller, Drum Majorette, June 5, 1937
Tacoma, Washington | 1937
On Saturday, June 5, 1937, more than 1,000 Shriners gathered in Tacoma for a Spring reunion sponsored by Tacoma’s Afifi Temple. Afifi temple drum major Tom Richards, third from left, posed for a photograph in front of the Winthrop Hotel with “mascot” Marjorie Joy (also known as Marjie Joy) Miller, a Shirley Temple look-a-like, dressed in a drum majorette costume. Other band members identified, order unknown, were Guy Stone and Alex Rabstoff. Mr. Richards was a longtime drum major for the Tacoma Shrine Band and a mayor of Tenino. As an adult, Marjie moved to Hollywood and achieved fame as an actress and dancer under the name Marjie Millar.
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