Allentown PA Roaring 20s Jazz Band Banjo Saxophone Violin 1920s - 1970s Photo for Sale

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Allentown PA Roaring 20s Jazz Band Banjo Saxophone Violin 1920s - 1970s Photo For Sale

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Allentown PA Roaring 20s Jazz Band Banjo Saxophone Violin 1920s - 1970s Photo:
$30.00

A 8x10.5" vintage photo from a collection of vintage Allentown, PA photos that we acquired at sale. These appear to be 1970s silver gelatin prints of Allentown scenes, likely collected as part of a historical / research project.

The photos in this collection appear to be largely type 2 or type 4. This photo was developed on Kodak photo paper ("This Paper Manufactured by Kodak").

Photo Overview

A lively 1920s jazz age dance band from Allentown, Pennsylvania, posed on a small stage in full formal dress. Six young musicians in tuxedos and bow ties clown for the camera: one blows a trumpet while kneeling beside the bass drum, another points his clarinet skyward, a laughing banjo player strums from the floor, and a violinist plays toward the upright piano as a bandmate turns to grin. A row of gleaming saxophones and a band megaphone are laid out across the front of the stage.

The playful, staged energy captures the spirit of the Roaring Twenties dance orchestra era, with period instruments including a tenor banjo, soprano and alto saxophones, a large trap drum kit, and a vocalist's megaphone used before electric amplification. A charming piece of Lehigh Valley music history for collectors of jazz, dance band, and Allentown PA memorabilia.

Historical Notes

Bands like this one were the backbone of the Lehigh Valley's social life in the 1920s, playing dances, lodge halls, church socials, and ballrooms such as Castle Garden at Dorney Park, which drew crowds from across the region for decades. As the 1930s arrived, many small hometown jazz combos expanded into larger swing orchestras, while the banjo and megaphone seen here gave way to the guitar and the microphone. This copy print was made in the 1970s, when the image was gathered as part of a historical research effort documenting Allentown's past, preserving a snapshot of the city's jazz age musicians.

Text Present

Back: handwritten blue marker notation resembling the numeral 4.

Print analysis

This is a 1970s silver gelatin copy print on Kodak paper, made from a copy negative of an original 1920s photograph. The image itself shows the crease, edge damage, and dark border of the earlier original print, confirming it was rephotographed rather than printed from the original negative. This makes it a Type 4 photograph, c1970s.

Condition

Photo is in excellent vintage condition. See photos for image details.

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Allentown PA Roaring 20s Jazz Band Banjo Saxophone Violin 1920s - 1970s Photo For Sale

Allentown PA Roaring 20s Jazz Band Banjo Saxophone Violin 1920s - 1970s Photo: $30.00

Allentown PA Roaring 20s Jazz Band Banjo Saxophone Violin 1920s - 1970s Photo:
$30.00