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Monday, April 7, 1930
Maynard Baird & His Orchestra
98
considerable rarity.
The Maynard Baird scrapbook documents far
fewer engagements after 1930. An undated
flyer from the Depression years announces the
band’s availability after a six-month engage-
ment at a Knoxville club; they are now called
“Maynard Baird And His Southern Gentlemen
Orchestra.” The last piece of evidence of the
band at work is a postcard advertising a dance
at the American Legion Building in Newport,
Tennessee, in 1937. The booker has written on
it:
“
Dear Maynard, I have my bids and posters
out and expecting a good crowd. Contract $50
as soon as you have time. Hours 9:30 till 1. See
you Thursday night July 8
th
. Fred Fisher Jr.”
And he adds: “Bring a good old hat trumpet
player.” No doubt, with the decline in big-
band business that affected virtually all orches-
tra-leaders during the Depression and after-
wards, Baird was gradually forced to downsize
and, eventually, to disband.
Throughout the ’30s, Baird is described in city
directories as a projectionist at either the Riv-
iera or the Ritz – both theaters where he and
his band had once played between silent
movies. He became head of the local projec-
tionists’ union, a position he held until he re-
tired. His eldest son, Maynard K. Baird, Jr., or
“Sonny,” also worked as a projectionist; so did
his youngest son Robert, before going on to a
career with the TVA. “Sonny,” too, led a big
band. Baird, Sr., remained involved with music
in his spare time, holding jam sessions with
old friends, operating a recording studio in his
home, and playing occasional engagements
with a small group.
TR