Archer-Epler Musketeers
Archer Epler VFW Post No. 979
Upper Darby, Pennsylvania
VFW Senior National Champions 1954
Bill Reamer 1947
Parade in Hagerstown, MD Nov 1951
Party in Hagerstown AL Post after the Parade with Osmond and McCall guys who marched with Archie
History
Like so many other corps, the Archer-Epler Junior Drum and Bugle Corps had its humble beginning during the dark days of the "Great Depression". Almost all corps of that period were associated either with veterans'organizations such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion or with the Catholic Youth Organization. As the large list of Philadelphia-area corps indicates, most pre-war corps were "neighborhood" groups and represented meaningful outlet for youthful energies in an era before formal activities like Little League had yet been organized. In the cases of poorer communities drumand bugle corps often provided one of the few ways a child could travel to distant towns and cities.
Although a community-based drum and bugle corps like its contemporaries, the Archer-Epler corps achieved some of its early successes because of several innovations and traditions initiated by the corps. First, the corps was fortunate to acquire the services of Walter A. Fuller, a talented young horn instructor and a recent graduate of West Chester State Teachers College, who along with Arthur "Scotty" Chappell in the Boston-area becameone of the most distinguished instructors. Walt combined his knowledge of music and superb teaching ability to produce one of the gifted horn lines of the pre-war period. Among the innovations for which he was responsible were the introduction of valve bugles to the Philadelphia-area and perhaps the first use of classical music ("The Unfinished Symphony") by any drum and bugle corps. With Walt Fuller began the Archer-Epler tradition of inspiring musical programs, which was carried on by Lee Wolf in the 1950's and more recently by Ray Fallon. This tradition led to top-flight horn lines with numerous individual national champions and represented a mutual admiration between instructor and player as well as an appreciation for the desire of drum corps fans to be entertained. In 1981 Walter A. Fuller was present to accept his induction into the Archer-Epler Hall of Fame.
The Archer-Epler junior corps was also able to gain the membership and later instruction of a similarly gifted drummer, Bill Reamer, another charter inductee into the Archer-Epler Hall of Fame. In addition to instructing "Archie" and being primarily responsible for introducing rudimental drumming to the Philadelphia area., Bill was noted for his production ofoutstanding students, including such noted drummers as Jack Cory, Don Mihok, and Dick Filkens. Among the corps Bill taught were the Howard C. McCall Post of Philadelphia and the Audubon (New Jersey) Bon-Bons,the world's first all-girl drum and bugle corps formed by Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Bernert.
Perhaps the most unique Archer-Epler tradition that began with the junior corps was the loyalty and dedication to the organization shown by its membership and management. This is best illustrated by the lengthy service given to Archer--Epler by several of its Hall of Fame inductees--Dan Goettel,Thomas and Anna Ward, Earl and Mary(Lamb)Ziegenfuss. Theseindividuals and their families continued their support and interest in the various Archer-Epler corps throughout their lives. Most importantly, these same individuals were also active in twice re-forming Archer-Epler--first after World War II and again in 1974.
Dan Goettel was an original playing member of the junior corps and later played an instrumental role in organizing the senior corps. He also participated in the formation of Drum Corps Associates (DCA). Danny served the corps for years as either director or business manager, 'Thomas and Anna Ward, along with Colonel Walsh and George Ritchie, were the "backbone" behind the parents organization that administered the junior corps. Mrs. Ward's book ("By Words Possessed"), in particular, contains a most humorous description of the trials and tribulations associated with pre-war junior corps and remains one of the few references to drum and bugle corps in serious literature. She was also the lyricist for the first Archer-Epler song (an original by Walt Fuller, nicknamed "Romance" ' which became the Most often played number in the history of drum and bugle corps). The final inductees of the pre-war period, Earl and Mary Ziegenfuss, both joined the junior corps in the late 1930’s. From its first contest in Allentown, Pa. in 1933 the Archer-Epler junior corps went on. to become perhaps both the most successful and most innovative corps of the pre-war period. They were the first corps to hold a summer camp. In addition to winning numerous state and local championships the corps captured the VFW National Championship in 1938 and 1941 and participated in the 1939 World Is Fair. Because of rather rigid rules in those days (for example, cadence and inspection were mandatory captions) competition was especially keen and some fine rivalries developed among the many Philadelphia-area corps, most notably "Archie’s" contests with the Upper Darby American Legion Past 214 and Osmond Post. Nonetheless ' Archer-Epler dominated contests in the area and pioneered in the musical and marching fields up until the conditions of World II forced the corps to disband in 1943.
FORMING THE SENIOR CORPS AND CREATING A "LEGEND"
When World War II ended the returning veterans expressed a desire to re-form the Archer-Epler corps as a senior unit. At the same time a number of other pre-war junior corps had also begun to re-organize, most notable the Reilly Raiders from the A.K. Street Post junior corps. Although the beginning of "Archie’s" first rebirth was difficult, an influx of members from Upper Darby Post 214 and other rival junior corps which did not form seniorcorps enabled Archer-Epler to compete in the 1946 VFW National Championships in just six short months. Of course, many of the people mentioned earlier such as Walt Fuller, Bill Reamer, Dan Goettel, Mr. and Mrs. Ward, and Mary Ziegenfuss (the original drum major of the senior corps) were also instrumental in helping the corps achieve its early post-war successes. It didn't take long for an intense rivalry to develop between Archer-Epler and the Reilly Raiders of Philadelphia. This most famous pairing in the history of drum and bugle corps went on to dominate senior corps competitions until the early 1960's. At the prodding of the Reilly Raiders, Archer-Epler soon adopted the name "Musketeers"--before Reilly, corps were known simply by their affiliated organizations. Except for occasional victories by Lt. Norman Prince (Malden, Mass.), the Hawthorne Caballeros (New Jersey), and the New York Skyliners, "Archie" and Reilly typically fought each other for first place, with the higher placing corps gaining one-weeks' rights to the "crying towel" that was exchanged in a formal ceremony at Retreat. Led by "Wild Bill" Hooten, Reilly often gained the upper hand, but the contrasting musical and marching styles of the two corps always provided considerable enjoyment to the fans. In appreciation of the inspired competition that resulted from this awesome rivalry, both Bill Hooten and the Reilly Raidiers were inducted into the Archer-Epler Hall of Fame in May of1981.
When the 1950's rolled around "Archie" was building towards its all--time peak in 1954. During that year the "Musketeers" won all contests except the first in Hershey, Pa. Among the corps' titles that year were the Dream Contest and the first March of Champions (the corps went on to retire the huge trophy of that Baltimore contest after subsequent victories in 1955 and 1956, a feat that was never to be duplicated). The Musketeers" secured the VFW National Championship by overwhelming Reilly, by 1.70 with a score of 90.45. Unlike the large corps of the present, that championship corps consisted of 51 marching members: 33 horns, 3 snares, 3 tenors, 2 bass drums, 1 cymbal, 8 color guard, and 1 drum major. At the time it was not realized that "Archie" had reached yet another milestone probably never to bereached by any other drum and bugle corps--winning national championships as both a junior and senior corps.
1954 VFW NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
The 1950's are also the period that drum corps fans associate with "Archie’s" preeminence in music and that tradition continued to evolve with the addition of Lee Wolf to the corps instructional staff. After first introducing "Broadway" and "Show Music" to drum corps with an arrangement of Richard Roger's "Slaughter on 10th Avenue'' for the Osmond Hurricanes, Lee began an association with Archer-Epler which was to change the very face of drum corps music. Perhaps among his most daring innovations was the use of the "King and I" for the corps entire show in 1957, a show that featured Vince Deegan as a Yul Brenner look-alike. Lee's full-bodied approach to instrumentation and his introduction of Jazz ("TheDipsy Doodle") and Dixieland ("The South Rampart Street Parade") idioms have influenced and been imitated by drum and bugle corps to the present day. In recognition of his numerous accomplishments Lee was also a charter inductee of the Archer-Epler Hall of Fame.
Many other innovations emerged from the "Musketeers" of the 1950's. William ("Rip") Bernert and Bud Johnson devised new drill concepts and, along with several others, were active in teaching a host of junior and senior corps. Similarly, spurred first by Bill Mullen and later by Bill Lawler, "Archie" also produced a large number of judges and, thus, influenced the future direction of competitive corps as well as high school bands. The 1959 show of Archer-Epler probably was the most influential point in changing the shape of the drum corps activity forever, especially in emphasizing the first "total show" concept. In that year the corps' show simultaneously introduced a varied and popular musical program (including "The Queen of Sheeba, "The Dipsy Doodle", and "Speak Low", among other favorites), a brand new and somewhat controversial non-traditional uniform (sometimes referred to as a "maternity blouse"), a beautifully-designed drill, and the thrilling leadership of Jimmy McConkey.
1960 brought about a new decade and a new musical theme for the "Musketeers"--"April in Paris" and "The South Rampart Street Parade" were added that year. Unfortunately, the 1960's also foretold the eventual demise of the corps along with that of its arch-rival, Reilly Raiders. To be sure, there were still plenty of highlights in store for the corps' fans: Lee Wolf duplicated his earlier "King and I" successes with the timely "Camelot" productions of 1962 and 1963; new concepts in drumming were being pioneered by such "Musketeers" as Bill Kaufman, John Flowers, and Dick Filkens; and the 1963 and 1964 corps still exemplified "Archie’s" remarkable spirit. Nonetheless, the demise of the corps was inevitable and its last contest (prior to 1981) was at the DCA Championships in Bridgeport, Conn. on September 3, 1967. After a brief merger with the Reilly Raiders in 1968 both corps disbanded, thus seeming to end two drum corps legends at the same time, two "greatest of the greats". It was not yet realized that a host of other senior corps (Lt.Norman Prince, Syracuse Brigadiers and Geneva Appleknockers, among many others) would later suffer the same fates.
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