Flag tosses

[Guardguy89]

So I was watching my Brass Roots video last night - I got to the end where they show 1 song from every DCI winner from 1972 to 1996 and noticed that there were no flag tosses until at least '81-'82 (yeah I notice that kinda stuff).

I started marching in '79 but can't remember the who what where or when of flag tosses. It seemed to me that flag lines had always tossed - but I'm obviously wrong on that point.

But wow - the change in what "guard" is is incredible to watch on that tape. Seems it really took off in the early eighties (especially with the '82 Blue Devils).

Later,

Mike

[Malibu]

Mike I would ventured to say it was 27th Lancers who first started doing it.

A friend of mine marched in the flag line from '78-'80. She taught me how they tossed in the fall of '78.

[Guardguy89]

Thanks Malibu.

Wow - '78! Lancers must have been way ahead of the curve back then. I'll need to get a DVD of that year.

It still fascinates me to think that people actually had to think these things up. "Hey let's toss the flag", or lets do a 360 under the rifle toss, or even "Do you think we can toss a 5 with a rifle" :)

Later,

Mike

[Malibu]

Thanks Malibu.

Wow - '78! Lancers must have been way ahead of the curve back then. I'll need to get a DVD of that year.

It still fascinates me to think that people actually had to think these things up. "Hey let's toss the flag", or lets do a 360 under the rifle toss, or even "Do you think we can toss a 5 with a rifle" :)

Later,

Mike

I think they were thinking, if rifles can toss why can't we?" Lancers at the time I believe were the first and only guard to use a special weighted pole that helped them achieve success with tossing. As you know just about all guards today have weighted poles or weights in their poles. I remember in 1980 Crossmen we had tosses in our show but they had to be taken out because of the type of pole we were using. We had those crazy telescopic poles that you could extend to 7 feet or shorten to 4 '. We put colored tape on different places to help us get the sizes the same at different points of the show. Personally, I hated those poles and the flags we used to. I don't know what our instructor was thinking when she designed it. :sshh:

[Malibu]

Guardguy89, got to www.Beanman.net and click on Drum Corps Videos, then click on 1972 27th Lancers. There you will see some early examples of how they used their six trick flags (Peggy Twiggs was one of them) to push the envelope for color guard.

The trick flags were in a darker uniform compared to the flag line. Keep your eye on them and remember it's 1972 where 99.9% guards of that day only did presents and slams.

[Guardguy89]

Yeah,

you can kinda tell some poles weren't weighted in the early eighties. You can really tell in Cadets '82 show. Every time they toss all I can do is :sshh:

As for your poles - you actually had to change the length of the pole during the show - that must have been fun

Later,

Mike

[Malibu]

Yeah,

you can kinda tell some poles weren't weighted in the early eighties. You can really tell in Cadets '82 show. Every time they toss all I can do is :sshh:

As for your poles - you actually had to change the length of the pole during the show - that must have been fun

Later,

Mike

It wasn't hard to change the length, it could be done in a second. The problem was, if you dropped the pole just right (reason for not tossing) the plastic part inside would break, thus preventing the pole from actually locking into position. I remember a contest that one or our members at the end of the show, we were doing Butterflies (seemed like eveyone's ending back then) and her pole was one of the broken ones.....her pole extended out to 7 feet while she was doing that Butterfly! I saw her in the corner of my eye struggling to keep in time! :sshh:

My boyfriend (now husband) figured out how to fix those darn poles so they wouldn't slide out like that again. Needless to say, we ditched those poles after the 1980 season.

[ChicagoFan]

I don't remember tosses in 1978...from the Lancers or anyone...though it would make sense that 27 would be among the first to introduce such skills.

In the 1979 videos you can clearly see some rudimentary tosses (not full 360 rotations but simple releases, as well as some toss-across moves from member to member) from 27, PR and North Star. By 1980 such releases were much more common and showed-up in almost every guard. I clearly remember a picture in Drum Corps World from the summer of 1981 showing SCV's guard executing a flag toss and thinking at that time what a risky and innovative move it was, particularly coming from Santa Clara, a guard known more for subtlety than "flashy" moves such as this.

[A27Lancer]

27th's flag line did a toss at the end of "Overture to Rocky" in 1977. The "trick flags" did indeed start in the early 70's with 27th. Not sure who came up with the term "trick flag", but it was probably "Ike" Ianessa.

Flag tosses probably started in Winter Guard (probably in Massachusetts). The lack of wind indoors would make the toss more predictable. (Witness Ypsilanti DCI North in 1977 when a toss caused a TON of guard equipment to fly around during a toss).

The famous 50 yard line Lancer "everything but the kitchen sink" toss started in 1979. The flags went over the horn and rifle line, while the rifles likewise executed a toss. Fortunately, there weren't as many injuries caused by this as one might expect, however I did get "conked" once during rehearsal in the 94 reunion corps during this move.

When I taught St. Anthony's winter guard in 1979, the flags did a backwards over the head toss to the rifles during a synthesized drum break. Flags did a front, bending slam, and came up one by one throwing the flag with a single flip to the rifles and sabres. This toss was done from the front "sidelines" of the court to the back. Marie Czapynski (sp) actually screamed into the GE tape at WGI prelims. (She loved it!)

[ChicagoFan]

Malibu, I remember those telescoping poles, too. I never used one but I well remember the flag line struggling with them.

And while we're on the subject of such things, what about changing silks?? Today it's done by simply picking up a whole new flag -- pole and all, but once upon a time we actually took one flag off the pole and put a new one on or else, used a sleeve over one end of the pole which, when removed, revealed a new silk.