1970s Blog Posts
Baby cried the day the circus came to town’cause she didn’t want parades just passin’ by her…
From Melissa Manchester, 1978
Snuffy’s Fire Brigade: School Film Features Twirlers (1977)
This school film from 1977 features baton twirlers marching in a staged parade. They appear at the very end near 13:07. https://youtu.be/9YOf8FHOIXU?feature=shared
Bicentennial-Era Majorette
These 1977 photos of a Bicentennial-Era majorette are reminiscent of 200th Birthday of the United States. As anyone who lived during that time knows, everything was red, white and blue. Even the fire hydrants across America were painted to look like Minutemen. If you...
Eastern Kentucky University Majorette Marches in Christmas Parade, 1970s
An unidentified Eastern Kentucky University majorette marches in a Christmas parade, 1970s. We love the old fur-trimmed majorette costumes, which have remained popular over the years. Click here to see a few more via past posts.
Black and White Series of Sharon Wall, Edgefield Majorette, 1970
This black and white series of photos features Sharon Wall, majorette, Strom Thurmond High School Band, Johnston, South Carolina, 1970.
Westbury Steerettes (1970s)
Carol Ireland twirled with the Westbury Steerettes, a drill team in Houston, Texas, in the 1970s. Carol was the team's mascot in 1973; a twirler in 1976 and head twirler in 1978. Check out the giant pom poms on the ends of her baton in the picture below. Reminds me of...
Majorettes Dressed As Jesters in the Beefeater Band
This post features images of the Beefeater Band of British Columbia, which thrived during the Golden Age of community bands, the 1930s through the 1960s. The Beefeather Band featured jovial majorettes dressed up like jesters. They affixed the ends of their baton with...
Michelle Williams in Tall Boots and Tall Tiara, 1975
Michelle Williams was the 1975 Oklahoma State 2-Baton and Strut Champion. Her white boots, long gauntlets, tall tiara and baton twirling medals pinned to her costume were popular baton twirling styles in the 1970s. Also, the marks on the photo were made by a...
Langston University Majorettes
February is Black History Month! Follow along as we share a whole new collection of historic images of Black twirlers and majorettes. Here are some pictures we've discovered of Langston University majorettes and twirlers. Langston is Oklahoma's only historically black...
Rare Portrait: Baton Twirler with Twirling Knives (1971)
Donna Payne poses with twirling knives, 1971 | Source: Northeastern State College
In the 1970s Baton Twirlers Wore Ballerina Tiaras
A baton twirler named Barbara poses in a pink costume with the classic 1970s ballerina tiara. Also, she's donning the much missed and beloved white Keds and short socks. This photo was taken in 1979. Four more more posts featuring twirlers in tiaras include: Pastel...
Oral Histories
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information using sound recordings of interviews with people having personal knowledge of past events. If you would like to share your personal oral history of baton twirling, please let us know. We are available to conduct interviews every Friday. Interviews will be available on this website. Once a substantial number of interviews have been conducted, they will be presented in podcast format. Nothing will be published without the interviewee’s written consent. Thank you for helping preserve the history of baton twirling.
Vintage Ephemera
Baton twirling ephemera refers to things like programs, posters, patches, stickers, magazines, newsletters, and other things typically written or printed that were used for a specific period of time.
Majorette Memories
We welcome high-quality scans of your vintage baton twirling ephemera. You can also receive items through the mail. We’ll digitally preserve your memories in high-quality scans. Thank you so much for supporting this project.
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