All 1960s Blog Posts
Where have all the soldiers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the soldiers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards, everyone
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Written by Pete Seeger, 1960; Popularized by Peter, Paul & Mary, 1962
Dottie Dunston School of Dance and Baton
Dottie Dunston: A Jersey Shore Original Dorothy "Dottie" Dunston was one of the most influential baton twirling instructors on the Jersey Shore during the Golden Age of baton twirling. A performer, teacher, judge, pageant director, and school owner, Dunston spent...
Purdue Twirling at the Indianapolis 500
Today is the Indianapolis 500, and Purdue Twirling will be performing on the race track. Here are some wonderful historic images (negatives) of this long-standing tradition, which we discovered on an Indianapolis 500 Archive. Members of the Purdue University Marching...
The Diamondettes of Sequoyah School: Ramona Daniels and a Native School Spirit Tradition
Sequoyah Schools Diamondettes dance-twirl team, circa 1971Sequoyah’s legendary DiamondettesThe Diamondettes were the dance twirl team of Sequoyah Schools during the 1960s and 1970s, when the school operated as a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school serving Native...
Jim “JC” Baskett (1937-2019)
James “J.C.” Baskett became one of the most recognizable figures in Tennessee baton twirling through his work as a collegiate performer, instructor, and co-founder of the Tennessee Twirling Institute, a program that helped shape competitive baton twirling across the...
Twirlers from Murdo, South Dakota (1965-66)
This is the first time we've come across vintage baton twirling photos from South Dakota. The photo is so exceptional we wanted to share it.
Cloin Watts: Arizona’s Baton Twirling Champion of the 1950s
Cloin H. Watts was one of Globe High School’s most accomplished performers of the early 1950s, earning statewide recognition while still a student. Born in 1936, he began competing at a young age and quickly distinguished himself. By 1952, he had won the Arizona state...
The Phillyettes, Fire Batons and Flaming Double Dutch
Over the past four years of publishing The Vintage Twirler, I have come across baton twirlers performing in just about every imaginable setting. I have shared images of twirlers on ice skates, on horseback, and even mid-tap dance routine. But until today, I had never...
Dorothy Jackson, Tuskegee Institute Crimson Piperette 1959, 1960, 1961
When the Piperettes Still Twirled: Remembering Dorothy Jackson of Tuskegee Institute Long before the bright sequins and high kicks of modern halftime shows, the women of the Tuskegee Institute Crimson Piperettes embodied a quieter kind of elegance, one defined by...
Lynda Baskett Barton (1943-2010)
Jimmie Lynda Justice Baskett Barton was a prominent figure in Tennessee baton twirling through her work as a performer, instructor, judge, and co-founder of the Tennessee Twirling Institute. Born in Tennessee in 1943, Barton first gained attention as a baton twirler...
Doris Hix Wheelus (Archive Fragment 1)
For Baby Boomer and Generation X girls and boys living Sand Springs, Oklahoma, Doris Wheelus was far more than a baton twirling instructor. She remains a beloved mentor, teacher, and community figure whose influence stretched across decades of local childhood...
1960s Gallery
This page was designed to feature all 1960s blog posts. For quick viewing of all 1960s baton twirling photographs, click the button below.
1960s Collection
Visit the 1960s collection page to view baton twirling photos from the 1960s, year by year. For example, with one click, you can pick a year, such as 1962, and view all the photographs we have published from that year.
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Photo Epigraph
Diane Shelton performs for the troops in Vietnam, 1966.
CU CHI, VIETNAM | CHRISTMAS DAY 1966
Diane Shelton was an accomplished baton twirler who toured Vietnam with Bob Hope’s USO shows in 1966. William Harrell was stationed in Vietnam and serving in the 7th Surgical Hospital (MA) at Cu Chi, Vietnam in 1966, when he photographed Shelton twirling for US Troops. It was Christmas Day.