Dad's Bands

My dad, his brother, and several cousins were in many bands in the 1930s.  I ran across these pictures in the material I inherited from my parents after they died so I have limited knowledge of what is going at the time.   They suggest they must have been something to hear.

This is the St. Croix Falls Wisconsin High School Band in roughly 1933 based on the size of my dad, third from the left in the front row and his brother, next to him on the right.  Dad is holding a clarinet, which I never heard him play.

Dad wrote on the envelope holding the negative that this is the Chisago County Concert Band, Paul Bloom directing.   I'm guessing this was later, 1936 or so.  Dad is in the front row on the left,  his brother near the center in the second row, and a cousin in the back row.

This is the Carleton College Dance Band in 1938 or 1939 I would guess.  Dad is at the piano on the far right.  His brother is in the back row, far left.  For those of you familiar with the old Carleton campus, the band is set up in the old basketball building floor - I remember seeing backetball games played their in the 1950s.

Dad did play the piano when I was growing up, particularly when I was young.  I never saw him happier than when he was playing the piano.  It's not too much of a stretch to attribute my enthusiasm for singing in choruses to his life-long enthusiasm for music.