Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

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Dave Detwiler
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Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by Dave Detwiler »

Hi all,

As you are well aware, some of the greatest tuba players in the world today are women, which is as it should be. But back in 1903? Well, I may have stumbled upon one of the pioneers. Check out my latest blog post, if you're interested.

http://tubapastor.blogspot.com/2020/08/ ... layer.html

Enjoy!
Dave

1903-02-15 The Boston Globe (Emma Louise Adams).jpg
1903-02-15 The Boston Globe (Emma Louise Adams).jpg (53.99 KiB) Viewed 1417 times


Played an F. E. Olds 4-valve BBb in high school (late '70s)
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on a 1925 Pan American Sousaphone and an 1899 Conn tuba!
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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by Estubist »

I'm afraid of her
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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by scottw »

She does have a rather forbidding look about her, doesn't she? :eyes:
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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by LeMark »

OK, I'll admit she doesn't look... happy

But can we avoid making fun of someone in a photo from 117 years ago for how they look?

Thanks.
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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by Schlepporello »

I met an elderly woman from Florida on one of my last trips to Alaska who said she played tuba in high school. I know this isn't her, but I find this thread interesting because of her. If any of you are near Pal Coast, Florida, her name is Lois Settles. I told her that Terry Stryker might be able to fix her up with a tuba if she ever wanted to get back into it.
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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by Three Valves »

Estubist wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 2:00 pm I'm afraid of her
:laugh:
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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by tobysima` »

Wearing that kind of attire for marching is a yikes from me! Very cool find, though! :tuba:
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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by the elephant »

I love her.
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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by matt g »

A point of fact:

Not a lot of photos from this period had people smiling. In fact, due to rather long exposure times, people had to sit in a rather relaxed state.
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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by tobysima` »

matt g wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 7:29 pm A point of fact:

Not a lot of photos from this period had people smiling. In fact, due to rather long exposure times, people had to sit in a rather relaxed state.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by Dave Detwiler »

tobysima` wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 6:54 pm Wearing that kind of attire for marching is a yikes from me! Very cool find, though! :tuba:
Hey Toby, just to clarify - she played in a touring concert band, not a marching band.

And everyone - do you know if anyone has ever written about the first women to play the tuba? Perhaps in the TUBA/ITEA Journal at some point? Or maybe in Bevan? If not, I may see what else I can find on this topic.
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on a 1925 Pan American Sousaphone and an 1899 Conn tuba!
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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by bisontuba »

The Peak Family....they were famous as bell ringers, but also the ladies had a brass ensemble...with contrabass saxhorns ( tubas)..OTS and upright...

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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by bloke »

There were a couple of reasons why people didn’t smile in pictures in the early days of portrait photography:
- style (main reason)
- Quite a few people didn’t have particularly nice-looking teeth.

EDIT: I now see this has already been addressed.
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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by matt g »

@bloke, you’re also correct about the quality and availability of dental care. I’m sure this also factored in to the style of the times.
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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by tobysima` »

Dave Detwiler wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 5:32 am
tobysima` wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 6:54 pm Wearing that kind of attire for marching is a yikes from me! Very cool find, though! :tuba:
Hey Toby, just to clarify - she played in a touring concert band, not a marching band.

And everyone - do you know if anyone has ever written about the first women to play the tuba? Perhaps in the TUBA/ITEA Journal at some point? Or maybe in Bevan? If not, I may see what else I can find on this topic.

Ah! I figured marching because it was a Helicon - either way, being inside a horn with very covering clothes must make one sweat.
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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by Dave Detwiler »

bisontuba wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 7:04 am The Peak Family....they were famous as bell ringers, but also the ladies had a brass ensemble...with contrabass saxhorns ( tubas)..OTS and upright...
Thanks, Mark - about what year(s) are we talking? And do you have a better shot of a lady playing one of those saxhorns? I can't seem to access and enlarge the photo you posted to get a better look.
Played an F. E. Olds 4-valve BBb in high school (late '70s)
Led the USC Trojan Marching Band tuba section (early '80s)
Now playing an F. Schmidt (=VMI) 3301 and goofing around
on a 1925 Pan American Sousaphone and an 1899 Conn tuba!
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Re: Quite possibly one of the first women tuba players

Post by bisontuba »

Tried but this forum for some reason doesn’t show close ups...sorry..

Second image is upright contrabass Saxhorn and third image has OTS Bass & Contrabass saxhorns...both c. late 1860’s...
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