[Photograph] Bürgermusik Herisau * Fastnacht 1896

Herisau, Switzerland: Edwin Jucker, 1896. Matted. A kooky Gay Nineties band of cross-dressers, a la Suisse! Four of the eight member band are in comical drag in this large sepia-toned photograph, taken place during Carnival, when outrageous costumes, partying and carousing are as much a tradition in the Teutonic world as they are in the Latin countries. The photo itself, as visible in the window surrounded by matting, is 17 by 22 cm. The photo is taped to the back of the matting, and when we look behind, the photo is on a thick card measuring about 18 by 23.5 cm. We haven't examined the photo removed from the matting, but we would assume that there is (truncated) a narrow margin and virtually all of the photo is visible. The matting included, the dimensions are 27.5 by 35 cm. The band seems to be a more or less typical Tyrolean ensemble, with a violin, a double bass, a trumpet, a flute, a clarinet (we assume -- part of the instrument is hidden so we aren't 100 percent certain), a bass drum and a trombone. The center figure in the photo is a man dressed like Uncle Sam, with a top hat, a long goatee, etc. We think this was probably intentional -- the consciousness of America and American culture has become a thing in a Europe with the explosive growth of the American economy and the lure of emigration beckoning to so many at the time. Three of the cross-dressers are zaftig, and they are dressed in fittingly matronly attire, while the fourth, mostly hidden behind his drum, seems as if he might be a little more svelte and his attire looks more like that of a suffragette, say. The men dressed as men are also in comical costume as well, at least three of them. The thinner man holding a trumpet is in clothes that might be Tyrolean, or might be from an earlier decade -- we can't tell from the photo that blurs his suit into just a dark undifferentiated shape. We also think it is possible, but unlikely, that one or more of the band members dressed as men might be a cross-dressing woman, but we have no confidence that this is the case, and it is probably unknowable. A close look at the faces of the band members suggests to us, also, that a few of them are closely related and probably siblings. Again, probably unknowable, for all intents and purposes. The backdrop of the photo is a paneled wall with four travel posters of Swiss resorts -- Rigi, Lake Maggiore, Ragaz-Wartenstein. We would think this was a photo studio backdrop. Again, just a guess. Written on the photo is "Wartsaal III - Classe". This suggests that the band was participating in a contest. Herisau is in the Appenzell Canton of Switzerland, or the Northeast of the country, close to St. Gallen. The photo is foxed, not terribly. The matting is also foxed and stained otherwise, with three chips, two of which are at corners. Although the matting might seem a candidate for replacement, though, we wouldn't, since it is clearly original to the photo, with its black impressed caption above, and issued with the photo itself as a souvenir of the band and the event. (Inventory #: 20057)