JoSaints Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 First, to Kel -- thanks for jumping in to fill in my gaps ... sounds like the rule for national music during color pre included the UK for you (much to our enjoyment!). On that spring-loaded flag pole -- way cool! Don't remember it, but wish I did! On the "top of pike" requirements -- in my early days of winter and summer guard / corps (late 60s), there were three options for pole toppers in the US: an eagle (for the US flag -- not sure how this translated in Canada), a spear (National Colors and flash flags), or a globe (translation: round object, not literal globe). We started with cast metal and moved to aluminum pretty quickly -- broke both types with some of the flag work we did. A local distributor of all things corps then got us to "beta test" a new version made of some durable (for the day) plastic, guaranteed not to break. We snapped all but 2 the first practice. It was around that time that the local circuits began to change the requirement to "protect" the top of the pole, so we switched to plastic caps used on the bottom of chairs. Much more economical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tansea Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Ummm, depends on the era...I recall our San Diego Golden Statesmen indoor guard slamming the floor with the aluminum tips...this would be 1974 and before.... Thus the aforementioned duct tape...some high schools were so touchy about their gym floors...go figure Who remember's presentation pots...I remember BD hooking flash bulb to their's in the hope that it would set off a flash when the pike was slammed into the pot....pretty cool actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tansea Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 We started with cast metal and moved to aluminum pretty quickly -- broke both types with some of the flag work we did. A local distributor of all things corps then got us to "beta test" a new version made of some durable (for the day) plastic, guaranteed not to break. We snapped all but 2 the first practice.It was around that time that the local circuits began to change the requirement to "protect" the top of the pole, so we switched to plastic caps used on the bottom of chairs. Much more economical. Grrrrrrrr....I love guard women!!!!! B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoSaints Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 (edited) Thus the aforementioned duct tape...some high schools were so touchy about their gym floors...go figure Who remember's presentation pots...I remember BD hooking flash bulb to their's in the hope that it would set off a flash when the pike was slammed into the pot....pretty cool actually. We had to tape poles, soles, rifles, and sabres as well ... What you called presentation pots we call stanchions out here ... Funny story (now - not then) about posting -- it was our first NJ AL summer guard championship (probably around 1969) and our first posting (winter seasons back then called for the Manual of Arms). Ralph Fair, our instructor, made arrangements with Cal Dennison, instructor of the Colleens CG, to use their stantions so we didn't have to schlep ours down to Wildwood. They measured the dimension of our poles to make sure they would fit, but BEFORE they put new bottom caps on them ... AL rules required that we leave the pikes posted, march away, and come back. The only flag that DIDN'T hit the ground was the American Flag because that person hung onto it for dear life as she marched 4 very tiny steps away ... jo Edited July 20, 2007 by JoSaints Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tansea Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 I used to love those things. I remember sitting up evenings after some relaxing libations and imagining spring loading them so that when you returned to it you could press a lever with your foot and it would pop into your hand...flash pots were my favorite though. I never understood why all the guard associations never embrased pyrotechnics as readily as we did... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 You're quite welcome!For as much of a pain the rule was, there was still something gratifying about having a color presentation that brought the people in the stands to their feet ... some corps (and guards) treated that section of drill as a throw-away (after all, it was during the "tick" system era), but many of us put as much design effort into the color pre as the rest of the show. Some corps even used "fake" National Flags (i.e. a US flag with a 76 on the blue field with traditional stripes) that could be integrated into the show without violating Flag protocol. Among the most memorable -- Garfield's peace sign during the VietNam War era ... jo I marched the first three years of the Peace Sign...in 70 it was to "White Rabbit",,color pre was to a medley of "Aura Lee" and "Battle Hymn". That was the year VFW honcho (and finals announcer) Tony "hic" Schlechta wanted us kicked out of the show for even DOING a Peace Sign. :P In 70 the Cavies nearly missed VFW finals due to having so many flag violations in their prelims drill. 71 we did a pseudo color pre Peace Sign using pseudo-American and British flags..lots of corps were moving to faux flags around then. 72 ditto with a pseudo color pre Peace Sign, to Mahler's 5th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay B Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Some people thought the rules were a pain, but everyone I new deeply respected them. And, it was very important to understand and apply them correctly. I don't know the rules from all eras, but in mine you could get a 2.0 penalty for having the American flag in the wrong position. Championships could be lost, as the Cavies did in 66. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No_Bubbles Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 The way it was when I marched....... The way it should be again! The lady in the white cadet is Karen Anderson Wraight, the very first Kingsmen Guard Captain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Kingsmen Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 I remember calling them posting pots! A lot of practice went in to making sure we all posted the flags at the exact same time so it sounded good, did the salute, turned and watched the rifles do their thing where they actually tapped out a tune with their rifles while spinning. Ahh, how I wish there were videos of our shows back then... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoSaints Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 I remember calling them posting pots! A lot of practice went in to making sure we all posted the flags at the exact same time so it sounded good, did the salute, turned and watched the rifles do their thing where they actually tapped out a tune with their rifles while spinning. Ahh, how I wish there were videos of our shows back then... Vickie, if I'm not mistaken, we got the idea for "clackers" on our rifle straps from you guys when you came East to march in our show in Jersey ... I can still remember our posting cadence as well, and we're in search of someone we know who actually filmed some of our winter guard performances ... what I'd give to see some of our old color pres ... jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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