Marching Club Rehearsal
Clare Briggs
Clare Briggs is a famous cartoonist who lived from 1875 to 1930. Poems by Wilbur Nesbitt.
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on Weekend Plans Post: Pantherine Vandalson Open Mic for the week of 3/24/25
on Open Mic for the week of 3/24/25
What strikes me is these guys do not quite appear to be the right age for Civil War veterans in 1888. i.e. they would have been a bunch of 20 year olds (plus or minus) in 1864, and so now are in the mid 40s. They look a bit more…seasoned than that. Then again, this was a era where bacon, whiskey, and cigars were their own food groups.
There were rallies like this all over the country in the late 19th century (apparently a tradition started in the 1860 election cycle, the ‘wide awakes’ being most notable). The New York Times has a headline about how one such rally in Brooklyn failed to fill the venue.
https://www.nytimes.com/1888/10/27/archives/they-failed-to-fill-the-rink.htmlReport
Periodically, something like “Here is a picture of Ryan Seacrest at 45 and here is a picture of Lee Marvin at 40” goes viral.
Skin care has come a long way!Report
I assumed Briggs was drawing something that was contemporary in 1918, rather than from 30 years before, and the name of the marching club was just a carry-over. The tall gawky one second from the right doesn’t look a day over 18.
This page from the Indianapolis Journal describes an 1888 event where there were many clubs of different names marching, eg the Railroad Club and the Irish-American Protective Club. At that event, many of the clubs had hundreds of men marching. By 1918, only remnants of past glory remaining?Report
i thought thay might be the case, but, they also look younger than people in their 70s. plus, “days of real sport” I’m pretty sure is always a flashback to Briggs’ youth (though usually also featuring kids and their activities)
Also, I doubt that Levi Morton was a particularly memorable vice President to warrant an annual tribute. e.g. wasn’t on the ticket for Harrison’s relection campaign.
Hey, fun fact, he *was* asked to be Garfield’s Vice President, but turned it down. so Chester “The Mustache” Arthur got it instead.Report