The band of the Coldstream Guards is one of the oldest in the British Army, having been formed in 1785. In 1896 John MacKenzie Rogan took over as Director of music and it was he who ushered the band into the the twentieth century. By 1900 the size of the band had grown to fifty-one musicians and during the years before World War I the band reached new heights of excellence in concert and on record. In fact, the band was the first to make a recording on a wax and cylinder disc in 1898, and went on to be one of the most prolific bands worldwide to record music in the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. The Coldstream Guards Band became the first band to visit North America when it travelled to Canada in 1903, one of two western tours around that time. It is from this time period that today’s postcard dates, depicting one of the band’s drummers:

As with many drummers, his uniform is rather more elaborate than other members of the regimental band, featuring extensive frogging across the tunic and collar and “birds’ nest” epaulettes on each shoulder, each in white tape embroidered with rows of blue crowns. His buttons are grouped into pairs as with the other members of his regiment:

The drum itself is painted with the royal coat of arms and hangs below his waist, it has a rolled up cover and an elaborately braided cord hanging from the main body of the drum:

This uniform is virtually unchanged today, the only difference being the use of staybrite buttons rather than the traditional brass versions: