MikeD Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Its not going to future happen, so I wouldn't waste much time thinking of something that probably has no shot of ever happening again. But for history buffs here, in the 50's, one of the top 10 Corps in the entire Country( among several hundred back then ) was in fact an All Female Drum & Bugle Corps... the Audubon, N.J. Bon Bons. They won a couple of national titles against the guys ( even beat Holy Name Cadets ( today.. The Cadets ), all Male Madison Scouts, All Male Chicago Cavaliers, a time or two ), and hundreds of other Corps in competition made up of all male brass and all male percussion sections. They represented the state of New Jersey in the 1960 Presidential Inauguration Parade of JFK, among other things. They competed well into the 60's, but it was the 50's that was their national prominence stature heyday. Your general point about the Bon Bons is correct, though they did not ever win either the VFW or AL Nats. They came close at the 57 AL Nats in Atlantic City, losing out to Holy Name by 0.35. From reading contemporary accounts of the show by people whe were there, they really should have won, but the AL Powers-that-be just did not want an all-girl corps to win. I would hope that is not true, but who knows on that...they did come close!!! BTW...that show was an indoor show held in the AC Convention Center. (I was not quite 4, and still 7 years from joining my first corps, so this is all from reading). I do recall the mid-60's Bon Bons being excellent, though it was well after their hey day. I always liked their powder blue and white cowgirl unis (being a teenage boy!). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 How can you do a tap dance away from this discussion? The Sox are winning, it's Friday night, and it's only 8:45 back East. Annnnnd, I want to know what National Championships they won "against the guys"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindap Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 (edited) There was also Les Chatelaines from Laval, Quebec. They won the A-Girl class a couple of times in the early 80's. They were the first corps to use chairs on the field. The director of Alberta Girls admired the 1960's Les Chatelaines. Alberta Girls uniforms 1970-1972 were the same as Les Chatelaines, tunic, short pleated skirt, shako, plume, short white boots with tassels. Les Chatelaine were in red and white, Alberta Girls were in orange and white. A few years ago, the director was upset that he lost Les Chatelaines 1967 or 1968 record album with "Who will buy" on it if I remember. In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out how to watch 2 shows on FN tomorrow and get the weekend chores done. edit: well, I'll be, googled les chatelaines de laval who will buy and there it was :) Edited July 12, 2014 by lindap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 T I'm trying to figure out how to watch 2 shows on FN tomorrow and get the weekend chores done.Borrow another computer and get a friend, whose not watching, to give you their log in info or get together with another FN subscriber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 (edited) Your general point about the Bon Bons is correct, though they did not ever win either the VFW or AL Nats. They came close at the 57 AL Nats in Atlantic City, losing out to Holy Name by 0.35. From reading contemporary accounts of the show by people whe were there, they really should have won, but the AL Powers-that-be just did not want an all-girl corps to win. I would hope that is not true, but who knows on that...they did come close!!! BTW...that show was an indoor show held in the AC Convention Center. (I was not quite 4, and still 7 years from joining my first corps, so this is all from reading). I do recall the mid-60's Bon Bons being excellent, though it was well after their hey day. I always liked their powder blue and white cowgirl unis (being a teenage boy!). Also MikeD, Audubon also came within 1 tenth of winning the 1953 VFW Nationals in Milwaukee. ( so didn't the Boston Crusaders that year almost win themselves a national title that season.. they were called Most Precious Blood Crusaders at that time. ) 1953 VFW Nationals Finals.... Milwaukee, Wisconsin ( top 4 listed ) 1) St Vincents Cadets ( NJ)....... 89.750 2 Audubon Bon Bons.................89.650 3) MPB ( Boston ) Crusaders......88.650 4 ) Racine Kilties.........................87.750 http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.osmondpostcadets.net%2FBonBonsAudubonNJ3.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.osmondpostcadets.net%2FAudabon.htm&docid=EkrdMKOh7wqC0M&tbnid=9nhtSA4rkIQEnM%3A&w=700&h=442&ei=8LLAU_PQF8SsyASFpYH4Dw&ved=0CAIQxiAwAA&iact=c Edited July 12, 2014 by BRASSO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cop Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 My mind drifts on Fridays and this thought just floated in there... What if there were an all female corps...how well would they do? I think quiet well...I could see the top talent wanting to go there, guard would be outstanding, best female horn players from all corps would converge to be a part of that, I think. The weak park would be percussion, specifically snare and tenor, but everything else would be the best females in DCI coming together. It'd be like a female DCI all stars corps. Random, yes I know. New peeps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindap Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Borrow another computer and get a friend, whose not watching, to give you their log in info or get together with another FN subscriber. I'll pick a show and go with what I know and maybe watch the other show on Sunday. Computer multi-tasking is for the young. I'm a one tab girl lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bsader Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 (edited) I marched in the Crusader's from '74-'79. Along with Drum Corp I grew up playing sports. Mostly hockey and football. This was at a time when young woman athletes and the sports that they chose to play were pretty much ignored, or worse in that it was also a time in which female athlete's were commonly harassed and belittled. I'm sure a lot of guys my age remember that the word most often hurled their way was "dyke." Which was just ignorance on top of ignorance. It took a lot of courage for those young women to put up with all that B.S. to pursue their athletic passion. Young female athlete's today don't even think twice about suiting up and running on to the field often to the sound of enthusiastic applause and shouts of encouragement. The young women of today owe a lot to the female athlete of my day. As for myself, back then I had a lot of respect for the female athlete's though I do wish I had been more supportive. So a question one could ask is why wasn't I one of those belittling Neanderthals? One reason is that my parents raised me to be respectful of others, male or female. Another would be, I would like to think, that I wasn't an !@$%@@!. Another reason? It's 1978 and the Crusader's are in Dallas, Texas and we are approximately 8 hours into a 10 hour rehearsal and all 8 hours have been spent outside on a dusty field "polishing" the drill and of course it's well over 100 degrees and I am hurting. Now, I'm not about to admit to this because I'm one of those 1970's tough guy Crusader / hockey playing / stoical / beer drinking ....Anyways, I guess I started to sway a little bit. I started to sway and started to drift away to someplace that was cool and wet and...suddenly I hear a voice calling from behind me. "Are you O.K.? " I turn around and recognize one of the younger members of our color guard. A girl, 16 years old and probably weighing in at under 100 lbs. A 16 year old girl whose wearing a little smile on her face. She repeats the question and then adds "Don't you think you should be wearing a hat?" "I think you should be wearing a hat." It's very hot." "I have a hat." "Would you like to wear my hat?" The Boston Crusader's of my time were masters of busting each others chops. Even the16 year old girls in our color guard who grew up in the leafy suburbs 20 miles west of Boston. I was hurting, and she was not, and she was going to let the "tough guy" know it with that little smile on her face. The best things that Drum Corp gave to me were great friends, an appreciation of all genres of music and the experience of being able to compete along side young woman. Young woman who were certainly every bit as tough as I thought I was. Young women who gave all that they had, whether it be on the practice field or performing in front of thousands of drum corps fans. And young women who were every bit as masterful in busting chops as the hardest Townie or Southie Boy. So, do I think their should be an all-girl drum corps? I think that should be up to the girls. But, in my opinion, one of the best experiences drum corps offers is that it is mostly comprised of corps that have both young woman and young men performing in a shared experience. I've read that drum corps is now supposed to be a learning experience. Well learning to work with, communicate with, compete with members of the opposite sex is the most important lesson one needs to learn. The Cavies and Madison may disagree but that's their right. It's their drum corps and over the years they have certainly field some of the best drum corps in our little world. Edited July 12, 2014 by Bsader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaseyW Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 The way to start this is for someone to create a Sound Sport group of it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I'll pick a show and go with what I know and maybe watch the other show on Sunday. Computer multi-tasking is for the young. I'm a one tab girl lolThen find another "one tab" fan and watch both shows L. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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