The following baton twirling score sheet and illustrations are dated 1952. Examples of baton twirling ephemera, the score sheet covers a number of criteria. Measures include: smoothness; coordination; speed; sureness; variety; originality; control and drops. Also, fumbles; slips; execution; grace;...
In July 1942, majorettes filled a street car painted red, white and blue to promote the sale of war bonds and stamps during World War II. The car was to go into regular service the next day on the Broadway Line. — Chicago Tribune historical photo (LINK) Here is our restoration of this photo....
This photo features two Pennsylvania majorettes on Memorial Day during World War II. They are Jeanne Goeppert (left) and Alma Herring (right). They are standing with a floral wreath inside the Freeland Cemetery, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. This image was a good candidate for restoration....
Photo Restored by the Vintage Twirler The City of Muskegon Michigan will honor Floyd Cook, Jr. with a public art display. Cook became Muskegon Heights High School’s first Black drum major in 1958. According to the City of Muskegon, the project, “Band Together,” includes a 12-foot-tall,...
Sometime between 1960 and 1967, a little-known singer named Don Gann recorded a song called Pretty Little Majorette. Here is a video of the song published on YouTube in 2011. Since that time, it’s only had 2,600 views and 26 likes. We’ve preserved the recording in a separate file just...
The following images of cigarette ads featuring majorettes and drum majorettes and are for educational purposes only. purposes. The Vintage Twirler is an education and advocacy website and seeks to educate the twirling community about the history of baton twirling in America. Click here to see...
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 High School Drum and Bugle...
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 was the twirling camp...
The Marching Grenadiers, Washington D.C., 1972 The Avon Park Majorette Grenadiers in Plaid Check out these beautiful vintage photos of the Avon Park High School Marching Band, Avon Park Florida. They were taken in the early 1970s. The top right colored image below is a picture of Grenadier...
The woman in this photo is identified only as a drum majorette. The only date given is the year, 1945, so we don’t know if this was before or after World War II ended. She looks really happy, so maybe the war was over by the time this picture was taken. Fort Sheridan Women’s Army Auxiliary...
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. Pontiac, 1939”, McLean...
“Twirler” by Jane Martin Jane Martin’s essay Twirler is a short but pointed work that uses the figure of a baton twirler to examine race, visibility, and social boundaries in mid-20th-century America. Rather than focusing solely on performance, the piece situates the twirler within a...
