Male Baton Twirlers
“Looking back, male twirlers had dominated early twirling contests largely for several reasons. Competitive twirling was an outgrowth of military drum major contests; batons were heavy, thick and long; and few contests offered a classification for girls…After…1935…more girls pursued twirling…Male dominated contests became a thing of the past.
From History of Twirling: Answering The Call, by Don Sartell, Founder, National Baton Twirling Association
Photo Credit (Above): Drum Major (Name Unknown) McMurry University, Abilene, Texas, circa 1940
Posts Featuring Male Twirlers
Please help us add to the history of male baton twirlers by sending in your stories and pictures.
W.A. Thomason, North Carolina State Drum Major (1940)
Walter Aldine "W.A." Thomason, was a talented drum major, twirler and tumbler for North Carolina State University. His earliest recorded performance at the University was in 1940. According to Ancestry.com, Thomason was born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1920 and...
Vintage Brown University Band, 1942
Brown University students Robert Hackett (1919-2003), Class of 1941, and Kenneth M. Greene (1920-2021), Class of 1942, pose with guest majorette Betty Brown Lee, 1942. Brown was an Ice Capades star. Photo Source: Brown University Alumni Magazine. Photo published with...
Mark Nash, Living Legend
Please check out our newest page, Mark Nash, A Living Legend. Click here to see it now. In case anyone is wondering, pages provide better design features than posts while posts allow for categorizing and tagging. Thus, we published this content as a page but want to...
Twirling Legend Major Eugene “Gene” Shea (1928-2015)
The following article is reprinted with permission from the Chicago Sun Times. It was originally published on April 22, 2015. Before World War II, baton twirling was dominated by men. And Gene Shea was one of the best. He twirled across the nation and in Canada,...
Willard Everett Roth (1892-1972), Drum Major, 1898
Willard Everett Roth was born in 1892 in Warren, Pennsylvania, and died at the age of 80 in Palenville, New York. As a young child, in 1898-99, he was the drum major in his father's marching band. The Roth Band marched in parades including the parade and reception...
Future Drum Major, 1950s
Check out the future drum major. He's ready to lead the band in his rolled up cuffed blue jeans and plaid shirt. This photo was likely taken in the early 1950s. It features a young boy who appears to be around 8-years-old. Sitting in the big floral chair is presumably...
Dale White
Recently, we received an email recently asking if we'd ever come across any photos of Dale White, a much-beloved living legend in the sport of baton twirling and "the most decorated baton twirling coach" in the sports history. We appreciated the email and so we did...
Victor Faber (1924-2008)
The following information was copied from a website that is using deprecated HTML elements. We've preserved it here for its historical significance. We edited the original for clarity. Victor with his daughters Vicki and Lana. Victor Faber started his baton twirling...
1978 Illinois Boys Baton Twirling Champion Performed on Bozo’s Circus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYEfzhp8Fmk&t=29s Happy Fourth of July! Here is a special treat for everyone. On July 4, 1978, the 11-year-old Illinois Boys Baton Twirling Champion performed on Bozo's Circus. The show aired on WGN, a local Chicago station. It was...
Robert Olmstead, Baton Twirling Legend
Robert Olmstead was a band leader and early instructor in baton twirling in the United States. Born in California in 1915, he grew up performing in vaudeville shows. He played multiple instruments and became a highly skilled twirler who twirled batons on slackwire....
Warren Bass | Mizzou Feature Twirler, National Champion (1943-1990)
In 1960, Warren Bass wowed the fans on Mizzou's Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium as the drum major for Sumner High School, St. Louis, Missouri. The occasion was Mizzou’s High School Band Day. At the time, Bass had never had professional baton twirling lessons and...
15 Facts About Norman Crider, (1938-2009)
Rural New Mexican Norm Crider was born in 1938 and influenced a generation of French and Italian baton twirlers. Here are 15 facts about the late international champion and college feature twirler. 1 Born in 1938 in Lordsburg, New Mexico, he spent most his childhood...
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...
Famed Screenwriter James Bridges was a College Twirler in 1950s
James Bridges was a feature twirler for Arkansas State Teachers College from 1955-1957. Today, the college is known as the University of Central Arkansas. Hollywood Writer Bridges was born in Little Rock in 1936; however, his birthplace is sometimes listed as Paris,...
Edgar Russell Parsons, Drum Major 1940
The above photo was taken in August 1940, Wheeling, West Virginia. It features Edgar Russell Parsons, 20, a drum major who led the Sons of the American Legion Squadron 32, Beckley, West Virginia. Standing next to 6-foot, three-inch Parsons is mini drum major John...
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...
Don Mayes, 1950
Don Mayes (1933-2020) Don Mayes, Junior Drum Major and Baton Twirler, Will Rogers High School, Tulsa, 1950. Don Mayes 1933-2020. The following article is reprinted with permission from The Norman Transcript (August 9, 2010) Many who know Don Mayes think of him as...
Sam Houston State University Bearkat Marching Band Drum Majors, Majorettes Twirling
Drum majors and majorettes twirling batons is featured in this archival footage of the Sam Houston State University Bearkat Marching Band. The year was 1940. The footage is nearly 20 minutes long. At the 12-minute mark, the male drum major twirl with the majorettes....
Thank you!
Slider Photo Citation: Drum Major, photograph, Date Unknown; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth52825/: accessed March 23, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hardin-Simmons University Library.
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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Rare Merchandise
Once or twice a year we will offer a commemorative item or rare keepsake for sale such as a sticker, patch, pin or T-shirt, etc. All proceeds will help offset the cost of this project, which includes the cost to acquire rare and/or copyrighted materials.
We will offer our first piece of merchandise on World Baton Twirling Day, April 10, which is also the the official launch day for The Vintage Twirler. Please sign up for updates below so you don’t miss our annoucement. Thank you so much for your interest in this project.