Lester Hughes inspects Marvin Emerson's muttonchops

Title

Lester Hughes inspects Marvin Emerson's muttonchops

Description

A black and white photograph featuring Forest Grove Mayor Lester Hughes inspecting Marvin Emerson's muttonchops during the Gay Nineties festival in the 1950s or early 1960s. A typewritten inscription on the back reads: "Lester Hughes, former mayor, admires Marvin Emerson's neatly trimmed beard before barbershop. Muttonchops and handlebar soupstrainers." An additional handwritten inscription on the back titles the photograph "a hair-raising sight." The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
This is one photograph from a collection on the Gay Nineties festival and the the Original All-Northwest Barbershop Ballad Contest in Forest Grove, Oregon. The festival centered around a theme of nostalgia for the 1890s decade. The event, which ran from 1947 through the 1990s, featured a parade downtown, residents dressing up in 1890s-themed costumes for the celebrations, local businesses decorating their window displays, and the crown jewel of the event, the Original All-Northwest Barbershop Ballad Contest, which earned Forest Grove the nickname "Ballad Town U.S.A."

Identifier

FHFG_G90_254

Date: Display

1950-1965

Subject

Forest Grove (Or.)
Nostalgia--United States--19th century
Nostalgia--United States--History--20th century
Barbershop quartets
Barbershop singing
Parades
Festivals

Place

Forest Grove, Oregon

Copyright

Online access to this image is for research and educational purposes only. To inquire about permissions, order a reproduction, or for more information, please contact Friends of Historic Forest Grove at: info@fhfg.org
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

Source

Friends of Historic Forest Grove