This photo shows the Texas Starlings, a teenage group of square dancers, in Austin, Texas, 1947. The accompany article from Foot 'n' Fiddle magazine describes a session by Herb Greggerson for teens in Austin.
This photo shows the Texas Starlings, a teenage group of square dancers, in Austin, Texas, 1947. The accompany article from Foot 'n' Fiddle magazine describes a session by Herb Greggerson for teens in Austin.
Regarding the photo, Marlys Waller comments: "On the right side is a little girl with pigtails. She is Betsy Holck. Here is the deal: Bertha and Manfred Holck, mainstays in square dance, were German and during the first World War they were definitely humiliated as to being German and not trustworthy—common all over the USA. Their dance haven was the Austin Recreation department and they become solid friends with the Greggersons. Herb had named the Holcks editors of Foot ‘n Fiddle even though he put the money up. Well, the Austin Recreation department sponsored family square dance on Saturday night, run by Lilie Lee Baker, wife of an Austin physician, no children. She poured her heart into the program and of course tuned in with us and Herb. She may have had the children’s square dance program. The Holcks always had a few of us over after the dance for squares in the patio and breakfast at 2 am.
"This children's group you can see were dressed to the hilt in the costume of the day. They also had a son a few years older and he became a caller."
For some recent videos of teen dancers, click here.
A special thank you to David Millstone for permission to re-publish these images.
The original images can be found at the Square Dance History website here: