Chapter 5by Ron Da Silva

A drum and bugle corps’ appeal is 50percent musical and 50 percent visual. Themusical half can be divided between the hornand drum lines, while the visual half, or howa corps looks, can be divided between whatthe corps wears (uniform and corps colors)and how they march (drill and movement).

While most people don’t remember drills,everyone remembers a corps’ uniform,whether in a positive or negative way.

Modern drum corps uniforms had theirstart in the early 1920s, just after World WarI, with the drum and bugle corps of theAmerican Legion. World War I, with itstrench warfare and stalemate, produced someof the worst conditions soldiers ever had tofight in and live under.

Uniforms were mud-colored grays, drabsor khaki and usually were wet and dirty. Soit’s not surprising to find the veterans of thathorrible war wearing some of the brightestand cleanest looking uniforms ever seen on aparade ground.

The most popular look of the 1920s wasthe Army officer style. This modern uniformwas basically a U.S. Army version of a Britishofficer’s service dress uniform.

It consisted of a blouse (tunic) with thenew open collar and turned downlapels, worn with a dress shirt andtie. Over this was worn a leather“Sam Brown” sword belt.Trousers were jodhpur-styleriding breeches, cut full from thehips and close fitting from theknee. These were tucked intoofficer’s pattern riding boots andleather leggings.

While the official AmericanLegion headgear was the overseascap, most Legion parade uniformsfeatured a chromed or nickel-plated version of the M1917trench helmet. Both of these

forms of headgear were copies of Britishitems issued to American troops onceoverseas.

This pattern all-white uniform was wornby the Boys of 76, Post No. 76 of Racine, WI.They were American Legion NationalChampions in 1922, 1923, 1924 and 1925.

The same uniform, but with a whitehelmet, was worn by the Harvey W. SeedsPost No. 29 of Miami, FL; they were theLegion’s National Champion in 1927, 1928,1930 and 1931.

These two corps not only made their styleof uniform the most popular (if you wantedyour drum corps or color guard to look like anational champion), but also helped make it asymbol of the American Legion as well as itsdrum corps.

The Commonwealth Edison Post No. 118of Chicago, IL, also wore the same whiteuniform, but with white “mountie” hats.They won the Legion national title in 1936,1940 and 1941. By that time, however, mostcorps, junior and senior, favored an authenticWest Point Cadet style.

The Gray Iron Casting Co. of Mount Joy,PA, produced two versions of a toy soldier“Legion” drum major, drummer and bugler.The first version had slight bodies and isbelieved to have been produced in 1933. Asecond version, with robust bodies and bentknees, came out in the late 1930s.

Both these cast iron drum corps, as wellas all of the Gray Iron Company’s men, werepainted khaki, except for their WWI helmets,which were painted bright silver.

The Barclay Manufacturing Co. of WestNew York, NJ, manufactured hollow-cast toysoldiers in lead, similar to Gray Iron. Theirfigures had separately cast tin helmets and,while they also painted their soldiers inkhaki, they left their tiny helmets brightmetal, very similar to the American Legion’sreal helmets.

For the 1937 American Legion NationalConvention in New York City, the Barclay Co.produced a larger scale marching Legionnaireand a Legionnaire color bearer with a silkU.S. flag. These figures had overseas caps andstraight trousers and are known to have beenproduced in 13 different color combinations,from the regulation Legion blue to scarletand cream or maroon and light gray.

It is believed these various coloreduniforms represented different AmericanLegion Posts or their color guards and drumcorps. Both these companies also producedWest Point Cadets painted all white with redor blue trim and cross-belts, in addition to

UUnn

ii ffoo

rr mmss

aann

dd cc

ooll oo

rr ss

(Top to bottom) Boys of 76, 1922(photo from the collection of RobertZinko/American Legion archives);An American Legion bugler from“Ludwig Bugle Manual, circa 1930s(from the collection of Ron DaSilva); Connecticut Yankees,Stratford, CT, 1952 (Robert Zinko);Holy Name Cadets, 1958 (WalterErmel from the collection of RonDa Silva); (right) an original set ofGray Iron and Barclay toy soldiersfrom the 1930s, restored andrepainted by the author (photo fromthe collection of Ron Da Silva).

42

their “Cadet Gray” versions. Today, collectors call these soldiers “Dime

Stores” because they were sold nationwide atall the major five- and ten-cent stores.

I have found old figures of drummers,buglers and flag bearers repainted in a varietyof colors. These were probably on display attheir posts or with their trophies. These

three-inch tall toy soldiers show howpopular American Legion and VFWconvention parades and contests werebetween the two world wars. Today, thesefigures are being recast or reproduced fromoriginal molds for collectors.

When film director and choreographerBusby Berkeley had an all-chorus-girl drumcorps and color guard in his “Gold Diggers of1937” musical, they were wearing abbreviatedall-white Legion uniforms complete with tinhelmets. Their drum major, actress JoanBlondell, wore a tall shako typical of the era.Even their drill movements were taken fromLegion drum corps drills of the time.

While the Army officer or Legion style was

popular, certain corps had a look all theirown. Capital Post No. 9 of Salem, OR, musthave been fans of actor/director Eric VonStroheim; photos at the time show the corpsin two very Germanic-looking uniforms. Onephoto in which they are displaying their 1932American Legion National Champion flagshows the corps dressed in a Prussian-style

uniforms with apeaked caps andlancer jackets overwhite trousers.

Another groupphoto showed thecorps dressed in avery elaborate hussaruniform, completewith a secondfur-trimmed jacket,called a pelisse,slung from their leftshoulder. Thesewere worn overriding breeches andboots.

The corps’headgear was a shortshako that had abrushplume on

the right side and a busby bag onthe left. In this uniform, theylooked more like hussars of theAustro-Hungarian Empire thanAmerican Legionnaires.

The Green Trojan Post No. 318of Greenburg, PA, state championsin 1933 and 1934, wore theofficer-style uniform topped offwith authentic Italian Bersaglieri(sharpshooters) hats in black witha hanging plume of roostertail-feathers.

While some Legion drum corpsadopted foreign-looking uniformsor headgear, all were modern, withmany patterned after the dressuniforms of World War I. The oncecolorful and fancy uniforms worn by brassbands, Zouave drill teams, National Guardand State Militia units were now consideredold-fashioned.

A new corps or a corps on a budget couldwear a simple dress shirt and tie overtrousers with a side stripe and top it off withan overseas cap or tin helmet and look veryneat and military.

By the mid-1930s, the West Point Cadet-style uniform (right) was just as popular asthe Army officer style. The Cadets’ tarbucketshako and double cross-belts were adopted atWest Point, NY, at the turn of the century tohelp commemorate the U.S. MilitaryAcademy’s centennial in 1902.

While the uniform was very traditional, itwas simpler in many details than the paradedress uniforms worn by some elite units ofthe State Militia and National Guard, whoseuniforms were heavy, with dress cords, tasselsand large fringed epaulets.

At the 1936 American Legion Nationals in

Cleveland, OH, eight of the top 12 finalistswore West Point-style uniforms, completewith tailed coats and double cross-belts.

The Stratford, CT, Post No. 42 (see photoon previous page) wore one of the moreclassic versions of the West Point uniform. Itconsisted of a white shako trimmed in blackpatent leather, white over black plumes and ablack, full-dress, tailed coat with seven rowsof white braid ending in trefoils and ballbuttons.

Over this they wore double-cross belts anda waist belt. White trousers and shoescompleted the uniform. Later known as theConnecticut Yankees, the corps would wearthis uniform unchanged for more than 30years before modifying it in the 1960s. Theythen did away with the double-cross belts,replacing them with a single cross belt and ared satin waist sash.

A few junior corps, like the Bronx, NY,Kingsmen and the Emerald Cadets of NewHaven, CT, were still wearing cadet uniformswith double-cross belts into the mid-1960s.

The Silver Sabres of Salina, KS, wore anauthentic-style West Point uniform, similarto the original Connecticut Yankee version,into the 1970s.

A cartoon making fun of Boys of 76’s chrome helmets, used intothe 1950s by the corps (from the collection of Ron Da Silva).

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point has a simpler, cadet-style uniform often copied by drum and bugle corps (U.N.photo by John Isaac from the collection of Ron Da Silva).

A scene from Busby Berkeley’s “Gold Diggers of 1937” (photo from the collection of Ron Da Silva).

The Silver Sabres, Salina, KS, at the 1968 VFW Nationals (photo by Moe Knoxfrom the collection of Drum Corps World).

43

From the late 1920sthrough World War II andinto the 1950s, U.S. Armyofficers did not wear thesame olive-drab uniforms asenlisted men. Their servicedress coats were a darkerolive-drab that became adark brown shade.

Officers’ riding breeches and, later,trousers were a much lighter shade,authorized as optional for dress uniforms.These trousers, called “pinks,” were popularwith the officer corps and could range incolor from tan to grayish beige. The term“pinks” came from the fox hunting horsey setand would find its way into drum corps andband uniforms of the 1940s.

Corps inmilitary jacketsof dark brown,maroon orhunter greenworn overtrousers of tan,beige or lightgray becamefashionable.

TheIrvington, NJ,Sons of theAmericanLegionSquadron No.16 woremaroon cadetjackets withdoublecross-belts overlight graytrousers. Asimilaruniform, butwith red cadet

jackets and gray trousers, was worn by theLogan Square SAL Corps of Chicago, IL.

The Bracken Cadets of Robert W. BrackenPost No. 382 of Bristol, PA, wore a cadetuniform with brown jackets trimmed inorange over tan trousers.

The American Legion senior corps ofHershey, PA, called themselves theChocolatiers and describedtheir cadet uniforms ashaving dark chocolatebrown jackets and cocoatan trousers with whiteand silver trim. Besidesbeing a popular colorcombination for militaryuniforms, dark brown, tanand silver were thecorporate colors of theHershey Chocolate Co.

While subdued colorswere popular during andjust after World War II,brighter colored jacketsover white or blacktrousers were just aspopular.

The most famous West Point Cadet-styleuniform worn by a drum and bugle corps wasthe maroon and white uniform with goldsatin sash and tassels worn by the Holy NameCadets of Garfield, NJ. The Cadets were notthe first or only junior corps to wear WestPoint uniforms or to call themselves cadets.

It was very common for CatholicChurch-sponsored junior corps to run theirunits as a paramilitary cadet corps with bothstaff and corps members wearing militaryrank and uniform. In the 1930s and 1940s,this was also the case with many ofthe junior corps sponsored by theAmerican Legion and VFW.

While the Holy Name Cadetsweren’t that unique for a junior corpsof the 1940s since most corps had amilitary image, they were a cut above-- not only for their smart appearanceand military bearing, but also fortheir winning performances. TheCadets won many local contests andstate titles and were the AmericanLegion national champions in 1940,1948, 1949 and 1950.

After losing the sponsorship of theChurch of the Most Holy Name, thecorps reorganized as the GarfieldCadets in 1958 and wore a uniform of blackAussie hats, white golf shirts, white shortsand knee socks. In 1959, the Cadets appearedat contests in their traditional maroon shakosand tall white plumes, white satin shirts andwhite trousers with maroon trim.

Finally, in 1960, the Cadets returned totheir familiar maroon and white West Pointjackets and gold sashes. The corps continuedto win contests, including 10 AmericanLegion National Championships and eightDrum Corps International WorldChampionships, including one tie.

After being called the Cadets of BergenCounty from 1989 to 1998, the corps is

known today simply as The Cadets. They areone of the most progressive and innovativecorps of all time. And, while they haveabandoned many of the traditional aspects ofboth drum corps and color guard, The Cadetsstill have their musicians and drum majorswearing the classic West Point-style uniformsadopted by the Holy Name Cadets in 1939.

Besides the traditional West Point styles,many corps adopted modified cadet stylesfrom the 1940s onward. Some patterns didaway with the rows of braid ending in trefoilsor frogs in favor of a plain, double-breastedjacket with two rows of buttons.

Others had a turned back lapel in acontrasting color or a lancer-style breastfront. Wide cross-belts and waist sashes wereoften integral to the jacket, being attached orpermanently sewn to the garment. Variousdesigns on collars and cuffs, as well as

emblems and shoulder sleeve patches, gave acorps a sense of identity and esprit de corps.

The Raymond A. Garbarina Post No. 1523of New York City wore a classic example of amodified cadet-style uniform. Adopted in1948, the uniform consisted of a white pearlshako with a bright red plume, a double-breasted jacket in scarlet with black cuffs andshoulder straps and black and gold braiddecoration on the front as well as the collarand sleeves.

The black sash was integral to the jacketand had scarlet and black drops and tassels.A white cross-belt and white citation cordshighlighted the jacket. While the cross-belthad no breastplate, the waist sash had a largeround chrome plate. An American Legioninsignia were affixed to the eagle on theirshakos and the waist plate. A large AmericanLegion patch was worn on the left shouldersleeve. Trousers were black with a red stripetrimmed in gold. White shoes and glovescompleted the uniform.

The same uniform, stitch for stitch, wasworn by the New York state juniorchampions of Sheridan American Legion Postin Brooklyn, NY. Where Garbarina hadscarlet and black, Sheridan had orange anddark blue (the New York City colors).

After Sheridan disbanded, their uniformswere sold to St. Joseph’s Cadets, an up andcoming junior corps from Newark, NJ.

The Most Precious Blood Crusaders ofBoston, MA, would also copy the Garbarina

Logan Square Sons of the American Legion, Chicago, IL, 1951 at the state competition(photo from the collection of Bob BellaRosa/Eastern Review).

Harvey Seeds Post, Miami, FL, at the1925 American Legion convention inOmaha, NE (photo from the collectionof Robert Zinko/American Legionarchives).

New York Skyliners, 1994 (photo by David Rice from the collection of DrumCorps World).

(Above) After the loss ofchurch sponsorship, theGarfield Cadets had adifferent look for two seasons,1959 (photo by Smith fromthe collection of BobBellaRosa/ Eastern Review);(right) Garfield Cadets, 1958(photo from the collection ofBob BellaRosa/EasternReview).

44

Skyliners’ uniform, but in crimson and black,with black and white trimmings. MostPrecious Blood would go on to becometoday’s Boston Crusaders, who still wear auniform similar to their original one.

Finally, in 1962, Our Lady of LorettoKnights of Brooklyn, NY, adopted cadetjackets, again identical to the Skyliners’ onlyin bright orange and black. To help pay forthese expensive uniforms, older members ofthe Knights formed a “Vampire Club,” sellingtheir blood to private blood banks -- so greatwas the appeal of this smart-looking uniform.

Coincidentally, all these corps -- the NewYork Skyliners, St. Joseph’s Cadets, LorettoKnights and the Boston Crusaders -- wereknown for their powerhouse horn lines.

The last popular style of drum corpsuniform inspired by a major war and itsveterans was the “Ike” or Eisenhowerjacket. Officially known as the woolField Jacket M1944, it was anAmerican copy of the British Army’swool battle dress.

American officers could wear theregulation style with fly front andbuttoned cuffs, or a cut down versionof their dress coat, with brass buttonsand sleeve braid. This was the patternused in drum corps and color guarduniforms.

Ike jackets were usually worn withan overseas cap or bush hat. A veryneat version of this GI-style uniformwas worn by both the senior and juniorSAL drum corps of the Hamilton PostNo. 20 from Baltimore, MD. Theuniform consisted of an all-white GIoverseas cap, Ike jacket and trouserswith gold trim. The same uniform butwith sky blue jackets was worn by theLittle Flower junior corps, also fromBaltimore. The Little Flowers were theMaryland State Open champion.

Ike jackets with plumed shakos were alsoworn, but were not as popular. The onlymajor corps to wear that combination wasthe Red Jackets Senior Corps of Sharvin PostNo. 397 in North Chicago, IL.

Another Chicago corps would make itsfirst appearances in second-hand blue and redIke jackets and shakos during the 1951contest season. The following year they

would adopt green, black and whiteuniforms and would be known asthe Chicago Cavaliers.

Ike jackets were usually wornwith a dress shirt and tie or ascot.Some Canadian corps wore themwith turtlenecks or even fullsweaters. These GI jackets andoverseas caps were also worn by thestaffs of many corps in thepost-World War II era. This wasunder the influence of the AmericanLegion and VFW, when most of acorps’ staff and instructors were warveterans themselves.

The last major competing corpsto wear Ike jackets was the MadisonScouts of Wisconsin. In 1983, the

Scouts wore white brush hats and Ike jacketsover dark green trousers. In 1985, theyreversed the colors by wearing dark green Ikejackets over white trousers. With bothuniforms they wore a mint green Army shirtwith a bright red tie.

Satin shirtsWhile the classic West Point and modified

cadet styles were the most popular for bothjunior and senior corps from the late 1930sto the mid-1970s, the expense of a shako andplume, cadet jacket, trousers and accessoriescould be cost prohibitive.

While shakos and trousers could be stockitems or even military surplus, unique cadetjackets were always a custom-designed andmade-to-measure item. The custom tailoringand fancy details not only made themexpensive, but also difficult to replace.

In the post-World War II era, some juniorcorps started wearing plain satin shirts andwaist sashes with tall shakos and plumes. St.Vincent’s Cadets of Bayonne, NJ, seems tohave been the first corps to win a nationalchampionship in such a simple uniform. Agroup photo of them taken after winning the1946 junior VFW national title shows themwearing solid kelly green shirts, gold waistsashes with two drops and tassels, a tall white

shako and a white plume over white trousersand shoes.

Satin pullover shirts or buttoned blouseswere not new. They have been in banduniform catalogs since the late 1900s asnovelty styles. The wide-collared gauchoshirt or band-collared Cossack shirt wereboth made popular by silent film starRudolph Valentino.

While St. Vincent’s Cadets returned towearing a military jacket in the early 1950s,two other New Jersey corps would make thegaucho shirt the thing to wear for winningdrum corps in the 1950s. They were theHawthorne Post No. 199 Caballeros, whichwere the senior American Legion nationalchampions in 1951, 1953, 1954, 1958 and1959, and the Blessed Sacrament GoldenKnights of Newark, NJ, who were the juniorAmerican Legion title holders in 1954, 1955,

1956, 1958 and 1959. By the late 1950s, most junior

corps and some senior corps werewearing satin shirts or blouses withcontrasting colored waist sashes.

All the Philadelphia area’s topcorps, including Archer-Epler, ReillyRaiders, Liberty Bell and Brackenhad given up their elaborate militarytailed coats or tunics for pulloversatin shirts. However, these werenot the simple patterns worn inmost of the country. These corpshad shirts just as fancy as their oldmilitary coats, with contrastingcolors and cuffs, braid trim, widemulti-striped cross-bands andattached waist sashes.

In the Midwest, a few corps hadsplit-colored shirts, divideddiagonally, or had their left sleeve ina contrasting color. This was an erawhen bugle arrangements requiredonly one hand on the horn, while

the left hand was swung high. The Belleville Black Knights of Illinois

always wore black uniforms with a white leftsleeve -- with satin shirts in the 1950s, cadetjackets in the 1960s and with very fancyjackets and horse guard helmets in the 1970s.

With so many corps wearing satin shirts,they became known as “corps-style” blousesand took on many unique patterns andvariations. Some looked like Renaissance

Our Lady of Loretto, 1960, in satin blouses. In 1961, the corps got Skyliner-stylejackets (photo by Ron Da Silva).

(Above) Hamilton Post senior corps, Baltimore, MD, 1952 (photo by Walter Ermel from thecollection of Ron Da Silva); (below) Little Flowers, Baltimore, MD, 1957 (photo by WalterErmel from the collection of Ron Da Silva).

Madison Scouts, 1983 (photo by Ron Walloch from thecollection of Drum Corps World)

45

liveries or racing silks, others like circuscostumes.

In Canada, a military-looking shirt with ahigh band collar was popular. The TorontoOptimists, De La Salle Oaklands and LaSalleCadets of Ottawa all wore this military orCossack style.

While corps-style satin shirts were popularand colorful, they required highmaintenance. To look good and passinspections, they had to be laundered andironed after each performance. Uniformmanufacturers came up with more durablematerials than satin, like double-knitpolyester and poly-satin.

They also introduced the shirt-jacket ormilitary blouse, which was a corps-style shirtwith the reinforced standing collar andepaulets of a cadet jacket.

By the mid-1960s, most top level juniorcorps were again wearing West Point ormodified cadet jackets. A double cover of theOctober 1966 issue of the Chicago-basedDrum Corps Digest showed 14 buglers fromthe top junior corps of the era. Only two ofthe 14 were still wearing satin shirts withshakos -- the Chicago Cavaliers and theBlessed Sacrament Golden Knights.

The Boston Crusaders, St. Kevin’sEmerald Knights, St. Lucy’s Cadets, St.Joseph’s of Batavia, Blue Rock, Chicago RoyalAirs, Des Plaines Vanguard and Norwood ParkImperials were all wearing standard cadetstyles.

Even the Madison Scouts and Racine

Scouts gave up theirExplorer greens andScout khaki formodified cadet styles.Madison wore a verymilitary “BritishRiflemen” greenuniform, while Racineopted for a bright royalblue jacket and whitetrousers with red trim.

Both uniformsfeatured a large “Explorer” badge. Madisonwore them on their shakoswhile Racine had them onthe left breast of their bluejackets.

The Casper Troopersstill wore U.S. Cavalryuniforms of the 1860s, butnow with short, goldbraided jackets and goldsatin sashes similar to theGarfield Cadets.So, military orcadet styles wereback in fashion.

In the 1950sand 1960s, drumcorps were proudof theircadet-styleuniforms andmany hadoff-seasonmilitary balls. Atthese events, male corps members wore theiruniforms, complete with gloves. Femalecorps members or dates wore evening gownsor cocktail dresses.

Features in drum corps publications of thetime show male corps members gettingmarried or even buried in their uniforms.Uniformed honor guards of corps memberswere often used at weddings, funerals andchurch services.

In Wisconsin, unique and/or historicalmilitary-styled uniforms were in vogue. Itseemed as if no corps in that statewanted to wear the style of another. Corpslooked to history books or films for aunique look.

The Spectacle City Mariners of Milwaukeebecame famous for their seafaring theme,which featured the corps dressed as sailorsfrom the War of 1812. The corps was ledby a drum major, nicknamed “CaptainKrunch,” in a complete naval captain’suniform of that era.

The Marquis ofFond du Lac had theircorps in the full dressuniforms of the FrenchForeign Legion, circa1900. That uniformfeatured red kepis witha white haverlock, bluetunic and red trousers-- very “Beau Geste.”

The Blue Stars of LaCrosse wore a uniform

inspired by BritishColonial styles. Itfeatured a whitepith helmet with ared plume wornon the side anddark blue militaryshirts andtrousers withwhite cross beltsand gauntlets.Their girl colorguard was knownby its blueshort-shorts, a laScout House, andwhite boots.

In the mid-1960s, the RacineKilties combinedtheir old scarlet,black and goldHighlanderuniforms with a

newer sky blue, navy and maroonHighland uniform to outfit a muchlarger corps. This mix of uniformshad the horn line in sky blue tunicsand blue and maroon kilts, thedrum line in scarlet tunics withblue and maroon kilts and thecolor guard in scarlet tunics withblack and gold kilts. With eachsection in various colors, theKilties were nicknamed the “madplaid.”

The Racine Scouts continued to wear theirchrome, Roman-type helmets with a crest ofred plumes and were nicknamed the “chromedomes.” The Madison Scouts replaced theirrifle green cadet uniforms for actual cadetgray uniforms once worn at the U.S. Military

St. Vincent’s Cadets, 1957 (photo by Walter Ermel from the collection of Ron Da Silva).

(Top) Marquis, Fond du Lac, WI, approximately 1974 (photofrom the collection of Drum Corps World); (bottom) SpectacleCity Mariners, Greendale, WI, approximately 1967 (photo byMoe Knox from the collection of Drum Corps World).

(Top) Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights; (bottom) Chicago Cavaliers, both taken in 1959 (photosby Smith from the collection of Bob BellaRosa/Eastern Review).

(Above) Madison Scouts,1966 (photo by Moe Knoxfrom the collection of DrumCorps World); (left) RacineScouts, 1965 (photo byMoe Knox from thecollection of Drum CorpsWorld); (below) Troopers,1966 (photo by Moe Knoxfrom the collection of Drum

Corps World).

46

Academy at West Point before returning toactual Explorer Scout uniforms again.

In the early 1970s, a spin-off of theMadison Scouts became the 32nd Hussars.Their uniform was, without adoubt, the most elaborate andauthentic Napoleonic erauniform ever seen on acontest field. It consisted of atight jacket in sky bluecovered with row after row ofgilt braid, royal blue trouserswith a gold stripe and blackshakos with large whiteplumes.

Authentic accessories suchas girdle sashes, baldrics andcartridge pouches completedthe uniform. Since thehussar is a light cavalryman,the 32nd Hussars had theirdrum major and regimentalcolor guard photographed onhorseback. As far as I know, the horses nevermarched in front of the corps.

Bush and Scout stylesSince the drum corps contest season was

in the summer months, usually fromMemorial Day to Labor Day, a few corpsduring the 1950s and 1960s adopted hotweather uniforms. These were often wornwhen a corps had an afternoon parade thesame day as an evening contest.

Some corps simply substituted a short-sleeved cotton shirt in place of their normalmilitary jacket or blouse. Others puttogether a completely new uniform, featuringa sun helmet or overseas cap, a knit poloshirt or loose bowling shirt in their corpscolors and cotton pants or even Bermudashorts.

At one very hot afternoon contest inSelden, Long Island, in 1960, St. Lucy’sCadets, Our Lady of Loretto Knights and theAudubon Bon Bons all competed in varioushot weather uniforms. The judges even shedtheir starched khaki shirts for white T-shirts.

Some corps kept these hot weather outfitsas a travel uniform. I believe both these ideaswere taken from Canada’s Scout House BugleBand and the Garfield Cadets, who wore amore conservative, preppie version of ScoutHouse’s uniform duringpart of the 1958 and 1959contest seasons.

Like Scout House, afew corps wore Aussiehats and shorts as theironly uniforms. This wasespecially popular withyounger or coed corps.In the mid-1960s theConnecticut RoyalLancers of Fairfieldcompeted in many majorcontests wearing whitemilitary shirts with navyblue Aussie hats andBermuda shorts. Aneighboring corps, St.Ann’s Loyalaires of

Bridgeport, originally wore green berets andwhite Ike jackets over dark green Bermudasand knee socks.

They later adopted shakos and green

trousers similar to St. Kevin’s EmeraldKnights of Dorchester, MA, thereby losingtheir unique look.

When the St. Nicholas all-girl corps ofEgg Harbor, NJ, went coed in the 1970s andrenamed themselves the Victorians, theyadopted dark green shirts and shorts withwhite brush hats and yellow neckerchiefs. Asa result of keeping their old corps colors ofgreen, gold and white, a few people thoughtthey were a Girl Scout corps.

TheSundowners,from Dumont,NJ, had theircorps incompleteAustralian-styleuniformsconsisting of akhaki bushjacket, brownbush hatsand brownshorts andknee sockswith orangetrim.

The Scout House style was copied by a fewcorps and trumpet bands in Quebec, mostnotably Les Cadets de Shawinigan. In theMidwest, the Eau Claire Boys of Wisconsinwore an all-white uniform with black trimthat was similar to the white uniform wornby both Scout House’s color guard and the1958-1959 Garfield Cadets.

It should be remembered that many smalland large Boy Scout drum corps could beseen in short-sleeved shirts, shorts and kneesocks, which were all part of the regulationScout summer uniform. These uniformsalways looked better on a youthful corps andnever took hold in the ranks of senior corps.

However, bush-style uniforms with longtrousers worn by the 27th Lancers of Revere,MA, the Crossmen of Pennsylvania and theMadison Scouts.

Girls’ uniformsWhen the first girl drum majors, color

guards and guidon sections were added topreviously all-male junior corps in the 1930s,the girls’ uniforms were usually the samestyle as the boys’. Cadet- or lancer-style topswere the norm in either a two-piece jacketand skirt or one-piece military dress. Skirtswere long and worn with oxford shoes ormajorette boots.

Girl drum majors sometimes woreshort majorette-style skirts with highboots. Tall white rabbit or fake fur busby hatswere also a popular item for girl drummajors.

Color guards weresometimes dressed inreverse colors, so a drumcorps with black cadetuniforms trimmed in goldcould have their girls ingold dresses trimmed inblack. Skirts on femalecorps members usuallyfollowed the fashion of thetime or military regulationfor service women.

In the 1950s, whenhemlines were calf length,corps skirts were calflength. In the 1960s, whenskirts became knee lengthor shorter, so did uniformskirts.

It wasn’t unusual to see inspection judgesat color guard contests use a ruler or tapemeasure to see if uniform skirts were ofproper regulation length. Contests were lostfor skirts that were too short. By the 1970smini-skirts and high boots were popular withschoolgirls, working women and drum corpscolor guard uniforms.

One of the most popular and lasting styleswas the “Princess” dress. It was fitted fromthe waist up and had a standing militarycollar. At the waist it flared into an A-lineskirt. Any design or decoration could be puton the front since the dress fastened in theback.

For years, the Boston Crusaders had theirgirls in red Princess dresses with a large LionRampant in white decorating the front.

Scout House, July 27, 1963, at Garfield, NJ (photo by Ron Da Silva from the collection ofDrum Corps World).

32nd Hussar, Madison, WI, 1971 (cover photo of the November 1971issue of Drum Corps Digest from the collection of Drum Corps World).

Sundowners All-Girl Corps, Dumont, NJ, April 21, 1972 (photo by Ron Da Silva from thecollection of Drum Corps World).

47

However, most corpsthat had girl color guardssimply had them in thesame uniform as the corpsproper, substituting apleated or full skirt fortrousers.

All-girl corps wereanother story. Manyexploited their femininitywith cute or sexyuniforms, while othersdressed like top all-malecorps, but with skirts.Cute names like theMello-Dears, Debonnaires,Bon Bons, Sweethearts,Nee-Hi’s, Stardusters or Lucky Ladies addedto their appeal.

Some all-girl corps took their uniformsfrom majorette or drill team styles. Shortskirts, short shorts, sleeveless blouses ordresses in satin and sequins were notuncommon.

In Quebec, all-girl corps took on themanner and style of the majorette corps andgirl trumpet bands found in France. Wearingthe shortest skirts and tallest shakos, theyalways attracted attention, even when juststanding on the starting line.

The most famous of the all-girl corpswould have to be the Audubon, NJ, Bon Bons.Originally dressed in blue, white and goldmilitary uniforms consisting of shakos, cadetjackets and long skirts over stockings andwhite oxford shoes, in the mid-1950s theyreplaced their cadet shakos and jackets forwhite cowgirl hats and white satin blouseswith blue silk neckerchiefs. White majoretteboots had already replaced the oxford shoes.

By the 1960s, the Bon Bons had changedtheir medium blue skirts to baby blue andhad sleeveless blouses and gloves trimmed inblue fringe and sequins. The girls beat manyall-male corps long before the women’sliberation movement.

Colors and standardsOriginally, drum corps color guards were

military regulation and were only required tocarry two colors -- the flag of the UnitedStates or national color and the flag of theirAmerican Legion or VFW sponsor, guarded bytwo rifles. State, city, church, ethnic or corpsflags could also be used.

Color guard captains or sergeantscommanded the unit. Captains usuallycarried a 1902 U.S. Army saber andsometimes a side arm like a dummy .45pistol. The greatest status symbols a corps’guard could carry were title flags, especiallystate and national championship flags.

Color guards stayed between six and 12 innumber from the 1920s to the early 1960s.They usually marched as a separate unit infront of or outside the corps’ formations withone exception -- the compulsory colorpresentation. One reason for this was thestrict protocol that could get a corps severepenalties for infractions of the U.S. Flag Code.

By the mid-1960s, flag sections weregetting larger, with a dozen or more flags

integrated into the corps’ drill patterns. Inthe 1940s and 1950s, junior corps thatwanted to involve more girls in their corpswould add guidon sections. Guidons placedbetween every squad of three or rank of sixwas the answer.

A corps with 36 musicians would have adozen guidon girls or lancers in addition totheir proper color guard of maybe six flags,four rifles and two sabers. When large flagsections became popular, corps that hadguidon or lancer sections simply convertedthem into flag sections.

Other corps enlarged their flag lines byadding flash flags. Flash flags wereregulation size -- 3.5 feet by 5 feet for juniors,4 feet by 6 feet for seniors -- in a variety ofdesigns in two or more of the corps’ colors.

A corps with red, black and whiteuniforms might have a dozen red and whiteflags of various designs. Sometimes the flagbearers designed and even made the flagsthemselves. Besides the standard quarteringand tricolor designs, everything from strips topolka dots could be seen in flag lines of thelate 1960s.

In the early 1960s, the Garfield Cadets,who had won eight American Legion NationalChampionships, decided that instead ofcarrying their one official nationalchampionship flag, they would carry facsimileflags, one for each national title they won.

The new flags were red over white, withNATIONAL CHAMPIONS in white letters onthe red and the year and place they won the

title in red letters on the white. By 1965,they would carry 10 American Legion titleflags in their drill.

Later, the Chicago Cavaliers would carryunofficial white, green and black VFWNational Championship flags.

By the 1970s, most corps carried onlyflash flags in their drills, with the Americanflag section, or real color guard, relegated toa far right corner of the field to avoid gettingflag code penalties. Now the flash or corpsflags were of one design in the corps’ colors.Some had the corps insignia or monogramon them; others were simple tricolor or solidcolor flags (usually white) with a singlecorps-colored regimental stripe crossing theflag at one point or another.

Stock flags were also used. The YankeeRebels of Baltimore at times carried onlyConfederate battle flags in their drill, whilethe West Reading Buccaneers carried a set ofJolly Rogers (scull and crossbones) as theircorps flag.

Costumes as uniformsWhile military uniforms of various styles

and colors were the norm for most corpsfrom the 1920s to the 1970s, unique orunusual costumes have always been a part ofthe drum corps scene. Corps uniformed asSpanish caballeros, buccaneers, cavaliers,cowboys or Indians, as well as classic blackand white evening wear or showboatminstrels, could be seen at both local paradesand national contests.

Some costumes reflected the corps’ nameor musical theme, while others showcasedthe corps’ heritage or geographic location.While not military, most were still very“macho,” due to the almost all-male nature ofthe drum corps activity.

The most popular of the non-militarystyles was the variety of Spanish or LatinAmerican costumes worn by a number ofcorps from all parts of the country. The firstAmerican Legion national champion seniorcorps to wear the classic caballero costume offlat black Spanish hat, white gaucho shirt andred waist sash over black flared trousers wasnot the famous Hawthorne Caballeros of NewJersey, but rather, the men of San GabrielPost No. 422 of California, which won thesenior national title in 1935.

Audubon Bon Bons, June 14, 1969, at Harrison, NJ (photo by Ron Da Silva from thecollection of Drum Corps World).

Muchachos, Hawthorne, NJ, July 4, 1973, at Union, NJ (photo by Ron Da Silva from the collection of Drum Corps World).

48

However, after World War II, theHawthorne Post No. 199 Caballeros wouldinfluence many corps to adopt a Spanish lookor play Latin music.

The Cambridge Caballeros ofMassachusetts were one of the better juniorcorps to imitate the Hawthorne seniorsduring the late 1950s and early 1960s. Theiruniforms were almost identical toHawthorne’s and were later sold to the NewJersey corps after the Cambridge corpsdisbanded.

Another New England junior corps of themid-1960s became well-known for theirauthentic Mexican uniforms, which werecharro (cowboy) outfits made in Monterey,Mexico. The corps, the Troubadours ofTrumbull, CT, were Explorer Scouts and hadimportant duties waived by an Act ofCongress in April 1966, signed by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson. The corps wasnamed the “Tiajuana Brass” by its fans.

The most successful junior corps to do theCaballero thing was their “sons,” theHawthorne Muchachos. OriginallyHawthorne Post’s SAL corps, the Muchachosstarted out with uniforms similar to theCaballeros, but with a Mexican look.

The Muchachos had their hats trimmed inball fringe, wore striped blankets over theirleft shoulders and had their rifle section

wearing bandoleers full with cartridges.Later, they would modify their uniforms to aclassier style, with plain black hats and blackbolero vests trimmed in red and silver.

When the Muchachos recruited an all-girlcolor guard in 1973, I was asked to designtheir uniform. The staff was thinking ofputting the girls in the same black boleros asthe boys, but with black culottes and ridingboots. Together with black hats, black glovesand black waist flag belts, it would have beena very somber uniform.

I suggested red bolero vests and redgaucho pants to set off all the blackaccessories. It was approved; however, theMuchachos never played the Latin song TheLady in Red.

While one could find drum corps withLatin names and costumes in almost any partof the country or even Canada (and goodones, like the Appleton Americanos ofWisconsin or the Rhode Island Matadors),California, with its rich Spanish Colonial and

Mexican heritage produced someof the most colorful corps inLatin costumes, from the originalSan Gabriel seniors of the1930sto the San Gabriel Senoritas ofthe 1960s, to the beautifullydressed San Jose Raiders andFresno’s California Dons.

The second most popularcostume type uniform worn by anumber of good corps was theswashbuckler style. Betterknown as the “cavalier” style, itincludes corps that callthemselves cavaliers,buccaneers, musketeers, etc.These uniforms were usually a mix ofstandard corps-style blouses and trousers,with the addition of a cavalier hat and ostrichplume, a waistcoat or jerkin and sometimes acape. Some drum majors and guard captainswore the full swashbuckler look, completewith baggy or tight pants tucked into turneddown boots.

The West Reading, PA, Buccaneers hadtwo early uniforms that had the look of aHollywood buccaneer -- thefirst, in lavender and blackworn in the 1950s, thesecond in baby blue andblack worn in the early1960s. Both featured aflat-topped hat that manythought looked morePennsylvania Dutch thanseafarer. Later in the1960s, the color guard wasput in nautical uniformswhile the corps adoptedshakos.

St. Raphael’s GoldenBuccaneers of Bridgeport,CT, copied West Reading’suniform, but in black andgold, with a small cavalier hat. Their youngdrum major, Skippy, wore a completebuccaneer uniform with leather gauntlets andboots.

The Archer-Epler Musketeers of UpperDarby, PA, had their color guard wearingmusketeer hats, tabards and capes in theearly 1960s. These were worn over the samelong red shirts and straight black trousersworn by the rest of the corps.

In the mid-1970s, the Chicago Cavaliersexchanged their black shakos and tall whiteplumes for large cavalier hats and coveredtheir well-known kelly green satin shirts withletherette jerkins -- white for the horn lineand color guard and black for the drum line-- while keeping the straight black trouserswith white side stripes. At times, their drummajor and guard captain wore cavalier capes.

One not-so-famous senior corps seems tohave done the swashbuckler look the best.They were the Merriton Lions Buccaneers ofOntario. In the 1960s, they wore large blackhats with a red plume, white pirate shirtswith full sleeves and a lace-up front, redwaistcoats, wide black waist belts with largesilver buckles and black pants tucked into

black pirate boots withred turndowns.

Another little-knownsenior corps of the1950s, the Jolly Rogersof Chattanooga, TN,wore a similar costume,but with stocking capsand white pirate shirtsover red and whitestriped dickeys, blackbaggy pants and boots.

After the caballero,cavalier and buccaneerstyles, costumes oruniforms of the Old

West were popular with some corps.Cowboys, Indians and U.S. Cavalry could be

seen on contest fields as well as moviescreens.

An expensive set of authentic AmericanIndian uniforms was worn by the Troop No.12 Indians of Kingston, NY, during the 1960sand 1970s. A highlight of their field showwas Native American dances and drumbeatings.

Sponsored by the Theo Hamm Brewing

Like the Hamm’s Indians, Sugarhouse Post, Salt Lake City, UT,had genuine Indian costumes, 1946, at the American LegionConvention in San Francisco, CA (photo from the collection ofRobert Zinko/American Legion archives).

California Dons, 1984 (photo from the collection of Drum CorpsWorld).

(Inset) Jolly Rogers, Chattanooga, TN, 1952 (photo by Walter Ermel from the collection ofBob Peters); St. Raphael’s Golden Buccaneers, Bridgeport, CT, July 27, 1963, at Garfield,NJ (photo by Ron Da Silva from the collection of Drum Corps World).

Troop 12 Indians, Kingston, NY, approximately1970 (photo by Bob Hunter from the collectionof Drum Corps World).

49

Company, Hamm’s Indians of Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN, wore authentic Chippewa Indiancostumes consisting of full eagle featherheaddresses, head-banded neckpieces, beadedbuckskin jackets, beaded gauntlets, breachcloths and buckskin trousers.

The original uniforms were hand-made byIndian women over a period of time from1929 to 1950. In 1961, the uniforms werevalued at $1,100 each, or more than $60,000for the entire 55-man corps.

A few corps wore U.S. Cavalry uniforms.Most were patterned after the uniforms seenin John Ford Western films rather than

authentic 1860-1880 Army styles. TheBridgeport Troopers of Connecticut, a seniorcorps sponsored by the Catholic War Veteransin the 1950s, wore white Stetson hats, darkblue John Wayne shirts and yellowneckerchiefs with sky blue pants blousedover black paratrooper boots with yellowshoe laces.

A few years later, a junior corps fromGlenview, IL, called Custer’s Brigade, wore asimilar uniform, but with Western styletrucker or Western-style boots.

The best known corps to wear a U.S.Cavalry uniform is the Casper Troopers ofCasper, WY. Their original uniforms hadactual Civil War era insignia and hat cords,purchased from the legendary Bannerman’sArmy surplus store in New York City.

Over the years, the Troopers’ uniformswent from chino shirts and pants to wooltunics and trousers to authentic Civil Wardress jackets and sky blue trousers. Theirblack cowboy hats with yellow hat cords andcrossed sabers and yellow neckerchiefs(which weren’t popular with Civil Warauthentics) have become a trademark of theiruniform.

I once helped the Troopers get authenticreproduction hat cords at wholesale pricesand also offered to give the corps’ drummajor an authentic reproduction Army Coltand holster. I didn’t like the post-Civil Warrevolver and modern holster he wore with hisuniform. I was told, “Thank you, sir, but thatsix-gun was given to the corps by Mr. JohnWayne.” Well, I couldn’t “out duke” theDuke, could I?

Cowboy or Western outfits were worn by anumber of corps, especially young corps.Simple Western shirts and ties or fancy RoyRogers styles could be purchased at Western

wear stores or by catalog.Thus, corps could alwaysreplace uniforms for new orgrowing members.

A few corps that woreWestern outfits were thePioneers of Kearny, NJ, theOakland, NJ, Rangers, theMavericks of Schaghticoke,NY, the Plainsmen ofEmporia, KS, and the Colt.45s of Dubuque, IA. Western outfits alsolooked good on all-girl corps -- the AudubonBon Bons are a good example.

Some corps wanteduniforms or costumes thatwere even more unique andoriginal than the wide varietyof military, cadet, Latin,cavalier and Western style. In1970, the Tri-Town Cadets ofCastile, NY, who were fromfarm country, had their corpsdressed as farmers. Wearingstraw hats, red bandanas anddenim overalls, each sectionwore a different colored shirt.

On their flags werepictures of a barn, silo, cow,rooster, duck, etc. While they

didn’t play OldMacDonald Had aFarm, their featurenumber was a barndance to Turkey inthe Straw.

The Knights ofKewanee, IL, did theMedieval Timesthing by wearingcostumes right outof “Ivanhoe” or“Robin Hood.”Archer’s caps andtabards emblazonedwith large redcrosses on whitematched theirKnights’ pennantflags. They evenhad the corpsphotographed infront of a castle.

Ethnic ornational dress wasalso used asuniforms by somecorps, especially forall-girl color guards.The St. GeorgeOlympians ofSpringfield, MA,were sponsored by aGreek Orthodox Church. While the corpswore standard cadet uniforms in the Greekcolors of blue and white, the color guard wasespecially colorful in Greek Evzone uniforms.The Evzones are the Greek army’s nationaland presidential honor guard.

The Poughkeepsie Pacers of New Yorkwere sponsored by Group 368 Polish-

American Citizen Club. In 1970, theyproduced authentic Polish-made nationaldress for their girl color guard.

The CapitolAires all-girl corps of Madison,WI, had a modified peasant costume thatmade them look like the Swiss Miss. I believethey were actually dressed as Wisconsindairymaids.

The most unusual of the costumeuniforms was the split red and white clowncostumes worn by Canada’s Jolly Jesters ofToronto (see pages 365 and 371 in “A Historyof Drum & Bugle Corps, Volume 1”).Originally an army militia drum corps for theRoyal Canadian Army Service Corps, thecorps had rented costumes for a series ofSanta Claus parades. It was so well-receivedthat they left the Army to become a civiliansenior corps with a “Big Top Circus” theme.

While thecorps adoptedthe classicclown outfitwith a tallcone hat in redand white withlarge blackpompombuttons, theirdrum majorswere dressedas a trampclown and acourt jester.Stepping offthe startingline, theywould let loosemulti-coloredballoons.

By themid-1960sthey gave upthe clownuniformsand becamethe Jesters.Sponsoredby theTorontopolice, they

acquired new uniforms similar to the ReillyRaiders of Philadelphia, but in dark blue withwhite and mint green trim.

When the drum corps activity broke awayfrom the American Legion and VFW in theearly 1970s, they formed their own rulingbodies such as Drum Corps Associates forsenior corps and Drum Corps International

Troopers, Bridgeport, CT, mid-1950s (photo by Walter Ermel from the collection of BobPeters).

(Above) St. George Olympians, Springfield, MA, 1964, at the World Open(photo by Ron Da Silva from the collection of Drum Corps World); (below)Pacers, Poughkeepsie, NY, 1971 (photo by Ron Da Silva from the collection ofDrum Corps World).

Wranglers, Phoenix, AZ, 1977 (photo by Nancy Engelbretson from the collection of DrumCorps World).

50

for junior corps. However, cadet-styleuniforms were still popular and had remainedthe status uniform since the 1930s.

Six of DCI’s original member corps worefull cadet-style uniforms. They were theGarfield Cadets, Blue Rock, Boston Crusaders,Argonne Rebels, Anaheim Kingsmen and DeLa Salle Oaklands. The 27th Lancers andCasper Troopers wore historic cavalryuniforms, while the Blessed SacramentGolden Knights, Chicago Cavaliers, FirstFederal BlueStars, MadisonScouts andSanta ClaraVanguard hadvarious semi-military styles.

However,the longVietnam War,the youthrevolution anda generaldistrust ofthingsmilitary wouldaffect the lookand military traditions of the drum and buglecorps activity. The top corps did not want tolose a contest for hair too long on malemembers or skirts too short on females.

At the American Legion and the VFW stateand national championship contests, militaryinspections were held and full point penaltieswere given to corps whose color guardscommitted infractions of the National FlagCode. New rules would do away withinspections, military bearing, colorpresentations and national flag color guards.

Three top junior corps of the 1970sadopteduniforms thatchanged thelook and styleof the drumcorps activity.

In 1972,the SantaClaraVanguard ofCaliforniareplaced theirgreen satinshirts andpinned uptheir caballerohats for atotally newstyle ofuniform. Itconsisted of a

large, dark green, cavalier or Aussie hat wornover a unique, full-length, scarlet tunictrimmed in dark green and white. Thetrousers were dark green with a double whiteside stripe. White gauntlets, gloves and shoescompleted the uniform.

The Vanguard’s all-girl color guard hadthe same uniform, but with dark green skirtsand white majorette boots. The Vanguard’s

high-collared tunic fastened on the left sidewith all buttons, insignia, cross stripe andwaist sash sewn onto the tunic’s front.

A similar uniform in all-white with greentrim had been worn by the CommonweathEdison Knights of Light senior corps in theearly 1960s, but the style had not caught on.

Since the Santa Clara Vanguard was the1971 VFW national champions and wouldcontinue on to become the DCI worldchampions in 1973 and 1974, other corps

started to copy their style of uniform.Besides looking neat, it made quartermastershappy by doing away with separateaccessories such as cross-sashes, belts orcummerbunds.

Some of the corps that adopted theVanguard-styletunic and hatwere theCoachmen ofGrand Rapids,MI; the Knightsof Geneseo, IL;and the AvantGarde ofSaratogaSprings, NY.

The AvantGarde worebright limegreen tunicswith a doublecross or “X” design in black trimmed inwhite. A few years later they cut their tunicsdown to jackets and added whitecummerbunds and black shakos to theiruniforms for a more conventional look.

The Vanguard uniform was copied by theBlue Eagles of Basildon, Essex, a drum andtrumpet (valveless, E-flat) corps fromEngland. Their horn line wore sky bluetunics with navy blue sashes and facingstrimmed in white, while their drummerswore the opposite: navy blue tunics with skyblue facings and white trim.

All wore navy blue trouserswith a double white stripe thatopened at the bottom likecaballero pants. Black bushhats with a full, white ostrichplume completed the Vanguardlook. I was with them inLondon when they premiered

this uniform at the British Marching BandChampionships in 1978.

Most of the 30 junior drum corps,trumpet corps and brass bands in that contestwore British styles of their armed forces orscout organizations. Therefore, whenlistening with the corps to the judges’ tapes,we were all surprised to hear a Royal Marinewarrant officer, who was judging generaleffect marching, comment, “Very smartuniform!” The Vanguard style uniform stillhad a military appeal.

The St. Andrew’s Bridgemen of Bayonne,NJ, adopted a much more radical styleuniform. Again, it was a simple three-pieceuniform consisting of a large hat, a long coatand standard trousers. It was unlike theVanguard’s uniform, which was amodification of a bush hat and military tunic.

The Bridgemen’s uniform was inspired byhip street clothes and fashions worn by funkyrock musicians. It has been described as azoot suit, a pimp suit or a show style. It wasdesigned by the corps’ director, BobbyHoffman.

He said it cost half the price of theBridgemen’s former cadet-style uniform, aswell as being more comfortable and morereflective of the corps’ image as showmen andentertainers.

The hat was an oversized Fedora in blackwith a bright, tie-dyed scarf as a hat band.The coat was a long, banana yellow frock coatwith black turn-back cuffs and a wide black

collar similarto those oncorps-styleshirts. Itzipped up thefront to thecollarbone sothat no shirtor ascot wasneeded.

The onlyinsignia wasan Old English“B” on a whiteshield worn onthe coat’s

right side. The trousers were of conventionalstyle in black with a yellow seam stripe. Theshoes and the gloves were black.

The all-girl color guard had the same stylecoats, but in black with yellow trim. Noskirts were worn since the coat came down tothe knees. Originally, the girls wore blackriding boots, but later they changed to blackjazz or dance shoes. The Bridgemen’s drummajor and guard captain wore the same styleuniform as the corps and the guard inall-white trimmed in yellow.

The Bridgemen were a great sounding

Santa Clara Vanguard, Santa Clara, CA, 1973 (photo by Jane Boulen from the collection of Drum Corps World).

Blue Eagles, Basildon, Essex, England, November 25, 1978, at the British MarchingBand Championships (photo by Ron Da Silva from the collection of Drum Corps World).

Bridgemen, Bayonne, NJ, 1981, Montreal, QUE (photo from the collection of DrumCorps World).

Avant Garde, Saratoga Springs, NY,1979 (photo by Joseph Zepko from thecollection of Drum Corps World).

51

corps that played enjoyable and entertainingmusic, such as popular classics, show musicand even circus marches. While theircostumes pleased many, others hated them.

Some were shocked when the Bridgemen’sgirls formed a chorus line a la Bob Fosse,unzipped their long coats to reveal a dancer’scostume of red leotards, black tights, bow ties

and glitter. The Santa Clara

Vanguard girls haddone a Russianbottle dance intheir “Fiddler onthe Roof”productionnumber, but intheir standardcorps uniform.The Bridgemen’sgirls were a sign ofwhat was to come:when scantilydressed dancinggirls wouldeliminate thetraditionalmilitary-styled

color guards.In an interview, Hoffman said while the

corps did not wear cadet-style uniformsanymore or have inspections, they stillpressed their pants and polished their shoes.While true, the male members of theBridgemen were anything but GI. The corpspermitted long hair, beards and moustaches,

so the men looked like many young men ofthe 1970s. Still other corps maintained acadet image that required male members tobe clean-shaven and to have short hair.

With the great popularity and success ofthe Bridgemen, many staffs tried to match oroutdo the Bridgemen’s style. Most of thesehip uniforms or costumes look extremelydated now. The fact that many were worn foronly a few years shows showed it wasbasically a drum corps fashion fad.

A few uniforms were based on periodcostume or formal wear, which could still beworn today. But most went the way of theleisure suits, flared trousers and Nehrujackets.

Some of the better looking Bridgemen-type costumes were worn by corps like theSky Ryders of Hutchinson, KS, who woreblack Bridgemen hats, black vests, whiteruffled tuxedo shirts and black pants. Variouscolored rainbow-striped cross sashes and hatscarves highlighted this costume.

With their rainbow flags and their “Wizardof Oz” theme that featured the songSomewhere Over the Rainbow, the lookworked for these kids from Kansas.

A new senior corps that was based a fewmiles away from Bayonne in Harrison,NJ, also copied the Bridgemen’s uniform;however, they wore long Confederate gray

coats and Charlie Daniels hats. Called theBushwackers, the corps was originallygoing to have a country music theme.

The older West Reading Buccaneersalso adopted the long Bridgmen coats, butin light blue and black with a red andblack cross sash. They retained theirblack buccaneer hats, but now with a redplume.

Other corps adopted uniforms that canonly be described as show-wear ortheatrical costumes. The St. CroixRivermen of Stillwater, MN, had whitestraw Bridgemen hats worn over amedium blue cut-away coat trimmed insilver. Completing their uniform were

ruffled dress shirts, black vests and trousers.Another corps with a riverboat-style

costume was the Colts (formerly the Colt.45s) from the Mississippi River town ofDubuque, IA. Their riverboat gamblercostumes, which consisted of a flat-topped,Western hat, a ruffled shirt and a Westernbow tie, were designed by Drum Corps World

Publisher Steve Vickers in 1976. A burntorange frock coat with black braid trim wasworn over a black dress vest and trousers.

The brightest of these Rhett Butler- orMaverick-style costumes was worn by thePioneer of Cedarburg, WI. They had whitegambler hats, lemon yellow cut-away coatsand vests over white trousers with shoes. Alime green silk hat band and a neck scarfhighlighted this tropical looking costume.

Similar showboat styles with top hats,tailed coats and large bow ties were worn byPacific Blue from Surrey, British Columbia,and the Pride of Cincinnati. The 1981 Spiritof Atlanta wore their light blue tailed coatsover black formalwear vests and trousers, butthey continued to wear their West Pointshakos. The following year they returned totheir military jackets with the “Trecky”looking “A” on the front.

Many of these costumes, which includedall the details and accessories of trueformalwear like dress shirts, ties or scarves,vests, etc., looked good and were not cheap.A few corps saved money by getting theirformalwear from companies that suppliedstock uniforms to hotels and restaurants,after which they would add showy accessoriesfrom dance team catalogs. Some made theirown accessories from materials found infabric and trimming shops.

While the Vanguard andBridgemen had adopted uniqueuniforms that were actually quitesimple, the uniform adopted by theBlue Devils of Concord, CA, was themost elaborate. In a 1975interview, the Blue Devils’ director,Jerry Seawright, said the corps waslooking for a “showier” uniform,something along the lines of theHawthorne Muchachos.

The uniform they came up withfor the 1976 contest season wasstriking. They retained their blackcadet shakos and tall white plumes,but they replaced their blue satin

shirts with a version of a U.S. Marine Corpsofficer’s mess jacket.

A mess jacket was originally a short,high-collared military jacket that Britishofficers wore when off duty. Worn open witha vest or cummerbund, the jacket was usedfor informal dining at the officer’s mess.Today, it is seen only at formal occasions.

The U.S. Marine’s version is verytraditional, being navy blue with small goldbuttons, trimmed in gilt braid and scarletpiping. A studded tuxedo shirt and scarletcummerbund are worn over navy bluetrousers with gilt and scarlet side stripes.

The Blue Devils’ original version was closeto the Marine’s model; however, it was brightsky blue with silver and black braid and trim.A ruffled tuxedo shirt and silver cummerbundreplaced the Marine’s version. Black dresstrousers with silver and blue side stripes andhigh gloss military oxfords completed thisoutstanding uniform.

This look became extremely popular, notonly because the Blue Devils went on to win

(Top) Rivermen, Stillwater, MN, 1983 (photo by Art Luebke from thecollection of Drum Corps World); (above) Bushwackers, Harrison, NJ,August 14, 1982, at Bloomfield, NJ (photo by Ron Da Silva from thecollection of Drum Corps World); (right) Pioneer, Milwaukee, WI, 1983(photo by Steve Linsenmayer from the collection of Drum Corps World);(below) Colts, Dubuque, IA, 1981 (photo by Art Luebke from thecollection of Drum Corps World).

52

the 1976 and 1977 DCI WorldChampionships, but also because itcombined a trim, military look with ashowy or concert look. It also did notlock into a theme or musical style inthe same way that Latin and Broadwaystyles did.

A few corps copied the Blue Devillook by simply wearing their old cadetjackets unbuttoned over a ruffled dressshirt of with a bib and a wide waistsash. Many high schools alsocopied the Blue Devils’ uniformbecause it could be wornunchanged for marching band aswell as for concert or stage band.

The Dagenham Crusaders ofEssex, England, copied the BlueDevil uniform in all navy bluewith scarlet and gold trim. Thetraditional uniform colors weretaken from their old Britishmilitary uniform. In their pressreleases, they never mentionedthe Blue Devils, but they saidtheir uniforms were patternedafter the mess uniform of a U.S.Marine Corps officer. They alsonever mentioned that theirAmerican Eagle shakos were second-hand andonce worn by the Blue Devils.

While Santa Clara Vanguard’s andConcord Blue Devils’ uniforms would becomeclassic styles, found in most band uniformcatalogs under the names VANGUARD andBLUE DEVIL styles other West Coast corps ofthe early 1980s would go all-out to find aunique or original look of their own.

The Seattle Imperials followed theBridgemen’s lead as entertainers by wearingblue jumpsuits and white straw hats with redand white trimmings. The jumpsuits werepractical because this corps’ drillnever stopped moving, featuringrunning, jumping and dancing in ahigh-energy show.

The Velvet Knights of Santa Ana,CA, were a conventional junior corpsuntil 1982, when they did away withtheir normal shako, blouse andcummerbund uniform in black, whiteand red. During that 1982 season,they challenged the BayonneBridgemen with a funky West Coastshow titled “Hollywood Hits theBeach.” The corps had a relaxed,Southern California look.

For headgear, they wore straw sunhats while their girl guard woreyellow sun visors. The corps woreburgundy, red and yellow floral printHawaiian sport shirts over yellowT-shirts, khaki chinos and red sneakers.Starting their show seated in beach chairs onthe sidelines next to a potted palm tree, theirdrum majors wore aqua and green Hawaiianshirts.

Over the years, the Velvet Knights woremany odd uniform combinations. They woreeverything from white Panama hats, whitesport jackets over yellow shirts and red pants

to full dress tailed coats in white with goldfringed epaulets and red baseball caps. The

only item that remained consistent wastheir trademark red sneakers.

One last uniform, which stands alonefor its originality, is the costume wornby Les Chatelaines from Laval, QUE.This fine all-girl corps gave up theirmajorette dresses for white hooded knittops, white pants and white shoes. Overthis base uniform they wore a long,sleeveless tunic with pointed shoulderwings. From the waist down it wasopen, like a cut-away coat.

This garment was a bright magenta withdark blue and gold trim on the front. Asingle, pointed, crown-like headpiece inmagenta with a gold sunburst design wasworn over the white hood or toque, whichalso covered the neck like a nun’s habit.

At times, the girls wore extremely largewhite sun hats over their white toques. Whatinspired this unusual uniform? To me, itlooked medieval or even Byzantine in nature.Others felt it had a modern or futuristic air,like something to be worn by a princess froma far-away planet in a “Flash Gordon” or “StarWars” film. Whatever it was, it was unique.

With dance movement becoming moreand more a part of the color guard’s

performances, most of the topjunior corps of the 1980s wanted todemilitarize or feminize theuniforms of their all-girl guards.

One of the most attractiveuniforms was designed by MichaelCesario for the 1983 GarfieldCadets. It fit the modern dance andballet moves of the girl guard, yet itstill matched the look of the corpsproper. It was a romantic lookingcostume, in which the guard’syoung women all wore their hair inFrench braids with a white floralhairpiece worn on the left side.

The traditional maroon cadet jacket wascut down at the collar and the cuffs to reveala white ruffled Victorian blouse worn with awhite lace jabot. An off-white prairie skirtwas worn over white stockings and whitedance shoes. At times, the girls wore largewhite sun hats.

This original uniform could have beeninspired by the “cantiniere” or canteenwomen of the French army of the 1860s and1870s. Those military women wore feminineversions of the uniforms worn by theregiments with which they were associated.The uniform usually was a brimmed hat withplume, braided military jacket, fancy laceblouse and full skirt that matched the men’strousers. Making their dress practical formarching were lace-trimmed aprons andpantaloons tucked into boots or leggings.

Another top DCI corps that adopted aromantic looking costume for their girl guardwas Santa Clara Vanguard. Their 1984costume looked more like a French Can Cangirl than that of a French female soldier.Their hats were a small, stylized version ofthe boys’ large Aussie hats and plumes.

The dress had a red corset-like bodice overa white Victorian blouse accompanied by a

(Top to bottom) Pride of Cincinnati, 1982, at DCI in Montreal,QUE (photo by Art Luebke from the collection of Drum CorpsWorld); Garfield Cadets at DCI Miami, FL (photo by EdFerguson from the collection of Drum Corps World);Dagenham Crusaders, Essex, England, August 10, 1983, inBayonne, NJ (photo by Ron Da Silva from the collection ofDrum Corps World); Blue Devils, 1982, at DCI in Montreal,QUE (photo by Art Luebke from the collection of Drum CorpsWorld).

53

long, dark green skirt. When the split-frontskirts were lifted for dance numbers, theyrevealed a ruffled red lining with a whiteruffled trim. Under the skirts, the girlsshowed of black tights and red briefs.

The Blue Devils exchanged their girlguard’s military uniform and black boots in1981 for black Lycra one-piece jumpsuitswith blue sequin panels and leg stripestrimmed in silver sequins. The right sleeves,collars and cuffs were white crepe and gavethe impression that a blouse was worn underthe jumpsuit. A small teardrop hat in blueand silver sequins with a white pouffecompleted this new look.

While this body-hugging costume was newto drum corps color guards, it was merely astyle the Blue Devils borrowed from theworld of baton twirling, pep squads and danceteams, whose costume catalogs featured awide variety of cute or sexy outfits for thoseactivities.

TheBayonneBridgemen,on theother hand,were nowgettingtheir dancecostumesfromsimilarcatalogs ofdance andrecital wear.By the1980s,dance andcheerleader-type costumes were the norm for most corps’color guards or dance auxiliaries.

Most of these costumes still matched theircorps’ in theme or color. However, by thelate 1980s, a new trend of putting the guardor dance corps in costumes that reflected themood of the music or the production beingperformed was gaining wide acceptance. Thiscostuming had nothing to do with the corps’uniform or the corps’ identity.

The concept was to put the guard in thesame costumes used in theatricalproductions. If a corps played music from“West Side Story,” a coed guard would bedressed in a party dress or sport jacket for ADance at the Gym, or T-shirt or nightgownfor Somewhere or Maria.

Finally, the guard would change intoSharks and Jets satin gang jackets for The

Rumble and the gang fight.This “Broadway on a football field”

concept would continue into the new century.Color guards were now not only dancers, butalso actors dressed in the appropriatecostumes forwhatever showwas beingperformed. Whilesome costumesadded to a corps’production value,others did not.

A mix of showcostumes withcolor guard pikes,sabers and riflesdoes not alwayswork. Also, theuse of Lycra andspandex costumesdid not flatter all

guard members. Anumber of fansand parents werealso concernedwith the skimpyand body-revealingcostumes beingworn by theguard’s youngwomen.

Satin bras andspandex pants ortights have beenseen on a numberof guards. Amajor West Coast corps once had theirguards’ sexy outfits ordered from Frederick’sof Hollywood. Les Etoiles of Quebec hadtheir girls performing in white bras and skirts

that looked more likeunderwear thanouterwear. Their whitebriefs with garterstraps holding up theirwhite stockings madethem look like theystepped out of a CalvinKlein underwearadvertisement.

Inconsistencies incostumes, props and

movement made many guards look just plainsilly. In a recent “West Side Story” number, atop corps had a section of Marias marching intheir nightgowns while twirling their sabers.Another corps with a Roman theme had their

youngwomendressed innudecoloredbodystockingsand whitechitons,as wornby theancientgoddess ofthe forest.Thesemoderngoddesses

tossed dummy Springfield rifles instead of thespear or bow.

Today, traditional or military color guarduniforms have become as extinct as adinosaur in the competitive drum corpsactivity. However, the uniforms worn by thedrummers, buglers and drum majors haveretained many of the classic styles, but withsome major updating.

Michael Cesario, a professional Broadwaycostume designer with a drum corpsbackground, redesigned many of the topcorps’ traditional uniforms. Using basicdesign concepts to make corps members looktaller and leaner, Cesario maintained thecorps’ signature headgear and colors.

Hats andplumesbecametaller andjacketsdevelopedbroadershoulderpads orwidershoulderwings. Thehorizontallinescreated bywaistsashes or

cummerbunds were abolished or made thesame color as the trousers and shoes, usuallyall black or all white.

New, high-waisted or high-opening jacketsrequired higher waisted pants or bib overalls.Details on the fronts of jackets were eithersimplified or made more graphic in design.Wide cross sashes and panels were oftenmade in reflective materials. Many of thesemodified uniforms had a marked resemblanceto the uniforms seen on “Star Trek: The NextGeneration.”

Because drum corps drills have becomebusy with members’ feet moving in severaldifferent directions while their upper bodiesare all facing the same direction or playing to

(Above) Les ChatelaineAll-Girls, 1981 (photo byEdotte from thecollection of Drum CorpsWorld); (left) VelvetKnights, 1982, at theDCI Championships inMontreal, QUE (photoby Art Luebke from thecollection of Drum CorpsWorld); (below)Glassmen, August 14,1998, at the DCIChampionships inOrlando, FL (photo byDan Scafidi from thecollection of DrumCorpsWorld); (bottom)Phantom Regiment,1992 (photo by Ron DaSilva from the collectionof Drum Corps World).

54

Ron Da Silva graduated fromthe Newark School of Fine andIndustrial Art in 1966 with adegree in fine art and illustration.He later studied photography atthe New York Institute ofPhotography.

As a freelance photographer in the1960s and 1970s, he photographed streetlife, models, rock bands and drum andbugle corps. His photographs have beenexhibited at the Newark Museum, NewarkLibrary, New Jersey State Museum and theMorris County Museum, as well as inindependent galleries and shows.

From 1976 to 1986, Da Silva worked asa senior photo technician and customprinter at CBS Television’s New Yorkheadquarters. While at CBS, he studiedfashion history and costume design atParsons School of Design. Beginning in1987, he was a photo tech and staffphotographer at the United Nations,retiring in early 2003. Besides his passion for art and

photography, he is well-known for hisknowledge of military history and pageantry,especially the colorful uniforms of the 18th and19th centuries. He is a longtime member ofThe Company of Military Historians, TheCompany of Fifers & Drummers and The Corpsof Drums Society in Britain.

He saw his first contest in 1953, but didn’tget actively involved with a drum and buglecorps until 1958, when he joined the NorthNewark, NJ, Woodsiders. He designed all theWoodsiders uniforms and insignia from 1961 to1970 and has helped many other corps procureuniforms or solve design problems.

Since 1972, he has been a staff member forDrum Corps World. He lives in Nutley, NJ.

the stands, trouser strips and contrastingcolored footwear have been replaced with asolid base color or value (black, gray orwhite) from the waist down. Fabrics alsochanged for easy care or freedom ofmovement.

The Star of Indiana experimented withalmost yearly uniform changes that ran thegamut from Western ranger to Britishmilitary and from ancient Roman to patrioticband or classic cadet, thereby never gaining alasting visual identity.

Most of the top corps that wanted to adoptuniforms to the show or the music did so byrearranging their accessories or corps colors.Phantom Regiment would wear theirAnglo-Indian look in all white one season, allblack the next and even khaki. They woresilver cross sashes one year and imperial redcapes the next. The Santa Clara Vanguardalso appeared in many different colorarrangements from year to year, but always intheir Vanguard style hats and tunics.

Corps with a strong visual identity willwear the same uniform year after year or theymight adapt minor changes over a period ofyears.

The Cadets still wear their traditionalWest Point jackets, but now they are cut sohigh that only five of the seven rows of braidon the front of their jackets actually show.Their plumes have changed from bird to bird,yet they remain tall and white.

The Cavaliers still look like cavaliers,having retained their kelly green, black andwhite color combination.

The Troopers, a tradition untothemselves, continue to look likecavalrymen out of a John FordWestern, no matter what the Civil Warauthentics at Fort Casper say.

Modified military styles are stillworn by the Bluecoats, who actuallywear blue jackets. Put together withtheir white cross belts, white pithhelmets and white trousers, they havethe look of an 1890s National Guardregiment in full summer dress.

The Pioneer have an Irish theme.Their jackets are similar to theBluecoats, but are kelly green andblack and have been worn over tantrousers with white accessories.Similar color combinations were wornby Irish military units.

Another corps in green jackets is theMadison Scouts, whose dark green jacketsrecall their old green Explorer Scoutuniforms of the 1950s. While we never knowwhat costume a color guard might wear, mostcorps retain somewhat traditional uniforms.

Modified military styles inspired by thefuturistic uniforms seen on various sci-fi TVshows and films functioned as a drum corpslook of the 1990s.

The Blue Knights of Denver, CO, had AirForce Academy blue cadet jackets that weredecorated on the front with a triangulararrangement of large white reflective buttons,giving them the look of Space Cadets fromthe TV show of the 1950s. For the 2000

season, the Blue Knights adopted a moreconventional uniform in blue, black andsilver.

The Glassmen have worn a number ofshowy uniforms, but their early 2000suniform in black and white with metallic golddelta insignia on their jackets, shakos andgauntlets gives them a modern, yet classic,look. Their tall black plumes and shakos,together with the broad white shoulders oftheir jackets, give the corps an awesome lookof Star Troopers.

The Blue Devils gave up their fancy messjackets and ruffled shirts for a simple buteffective uniform, consisting of abroad-shouldered royal blue jacket with astanding black collar opening up atmid chest to show a silver sequin crosssash over a black sequin vest. Plain blacktrousers, shoes and gloves, together withtheir traditional shakos and black plumesgive them a formal and militaristic look.Minus their shakos, their uniform couldbe worn on the bridge of the StarshipEnterprise.

One of the few competitive seniorcorps to have a militaristic look is theConnecticut Hurricanes. The uniformdesigned by Michael Cesario for the 1998season looked back to the Hurricanes’1958 Storm Trooper uniforms. Those olduniforms were entirely black and featured aGerman-style peaked cap and a silverlightening bolt cross sash.

White and green were added to the corps’uniforms in the 1960s and 1970s. The new

uniform brought back the black cap with asilver star pattern badge, but now it is wornover a bright green jacket and white pants.A black sequin cross sash with theHurricanes’ silver lightening bolt completedthis modern, yet traditional, drum corpsuniform. During the 2000 season, theHurricanes replaced their black caps forgreen shakos with white plumes.

Unlike the old woolen whipcord uniformsof the past, today’s drum corps uniforms aremade to be comfortable, hard-wearing andwashable in order to withstand thehigh-energy, fast-moving corps. The drumcorps look still stands out among the manycostumes and uniforms worn by other formsof musical pageantry.

While color guards and dance troupesconsistently change their costumes andprops, even within a single performance, theheart and soul of a drum and bugle corps --the drummers and buglers -- still proudlywear traditional shakos, helmets, Aussie,Spanish and cavalier hats over uniforms thatshow their true corps colors.

Let us hope the visual delight of sharplooking uniforms, marching to the heartbeatof a tight drum line and exciting horn line,will continue to remain drum corpsfundamentals into the next millennium.

Blue Knights, 1995 (photo by Sid Unser from the collection of DrumCorps World).

Blue Devils, 1994 (photo by Sid Unser from the collection of Drum Corps World).

55