ALTHOUGH disappointingly the most interesting part of this scene is in deep and dark shadow, it provides a rare snapshot of a comic band in action, marching down Malsis Road in a 1930s gala procession.
The Keighley Gala committee had reintroduced a comic band competition in 1923.
Faked musical instruments were built round a basic kazoo or tommy-talker – a small toy which when blown produced a raucous noise and could be made to resemble a simple tune.
First prize in 1923 went to the Hunslet Nannygoat Lancers.
Indeed, this second comic band craze seemed even more outrageous than its Edwardian counterpart.
Other prize-winners included the Holbeck Jungle Band, the Silsden Underground Artillery, the Skipton Oojah Band and the Airedale Fireside Lancers.
The Isle of Capri Comic Band from the Woodhouse housing estate survived up to the Second World War, but by then their neighbours were complaining about their noisy rehearsals, which forced some to “put their radios on at full to counter the effect”!
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