LANGFORD “CLOWN” BAND 1908

The Langford Clown Band photograph, dated 1908, with a close up of the placard from top left area.

The following has been deduced from the photograph so far:-

The people are quite young, possibly teenagers.
The instruments are mainly home made mock ups although the violin looks real.

With the photo caption (Langford Clown Band 1908) and the placard held on the left (close up above) it is thought that they could be poking fun at the village band. Satire in Langford! Maybe the village band was a bit too aloof for some new blood? Who knows.

John Shipman has subsequently discovered that the Biggleswade Chronicle of 4th September 1908, wrote an article about “The 16th Annual Show of the Langford and District Horticultural Society”; where  “The locals put on a novel item which created a good deal of amusement and between three and four o clock, until the rain set in in earnest, the Langford Clown Band gave a ludicrous performance which caused much merriment”.

If you have any more information about the participants it would be welcome, so if you have any please email it to Langford History Society’s Secretary :-  Secretarylangfordhistory@mail.com.

Or please bring it along to a Langford History Society meeting.