A black and white photograph featuring Lee Brattan serving donuts to barbershop quartets at Hundley's Donut Bar during the first annual Gay Nineties festival in 1947. Ray Hoss/ Hass is pictured at second left, and Mayor Hughes is pictured as the leftmost gentleman with a top hat. The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white photograph featuring a waiter serving donuts to barbershop quartets at Hundley's Donut Bar during the first annual Gay Nineties festival in 1947. Lee Brattan and Mrs. Timmerman are pictured seated. The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white photograph by Allan J. de Lay featuring the "Royal Order of the Garter" -- the name of which pokes fun at the real British order of chivalry -- performing on stage during the Gay Nineties festival in 1961. The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white, staged photograph featuring a boy hoop rolling in the school yard during the Gay Nineties festival. The school featured in the photograph is likely what is now known as Tom McCall Elementary School. A typewritten inscription on the back reads: "One of the boys was sure good at that hoop-rolling, and won all the races. Here he demonstrates for admirers. He went over big with the girls." The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white photograph featuring a Gay Nineties-themed classroom dance. A typewritten inscription on the back reads: "Remember when you danced to 'Turkey in the Straw' and those other lively fiddle tunes? Much more fun than rock n' roll. Everyone's dressed for the part, even teachers and principals." The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white photograph featuring two school children dressed up for the Gay Nineties festival in a staged fighting stance in the late 1950s or early 1960s. A typewritten inscription on the back reads: "There was a lotta talk about John L. Sullivan and Jim Corbett. A couple of the boys have a demonstration." The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white photograph featuring a group of five elementary schoolboys dressed up in barbershop attire during the Gay Nineties festival. The photograph was likely taken in the late 1950s or early 1960s. The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white photograph taken during the Gay Nineties festival in the 1950s or 1960s featuring presumably a highschooler tipping his hat in the presence of a classmate. The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white photograph taken during the Gay Nineties festival in the 1950s or 1960s featuring school children dressed up in Gay Nineties attire strolling through the schoolyard. The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white, staged photograph taken during the Gay Nineties festival in the 1950s or 1960s featuring two school children playing with paper boats in a schoolyard pond. The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white photograph by Allan J. de Lay featuring a clown with a handlebar mustache riding a motorcycle in the 1961 Gay Nineties parade. The photograph was taken on a section of Pacific Avenue that was destroyed by a fire in 1982.
A black and white photograph featuring Big Tool and Little Tool, the 1956 Barbershop Ballad Contest's special guests. The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white photograph featuring Forest Grove Mayor Lester Hughes inspecting Marvin Emerson's muttonchops during the Gay Nineties festival in the 1950s or early 1960s. A typewritten inscription on the back reads: "Lester Hughes, former mayor, admires Marvin Emerson's neatly trimmed beard before barbershop. Muttonchops and handlebar soupstrainers." An additional handwritten inscription on the back titles the photograph "a hair-raising sight." The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white photograph featuring two teenagers in Gay Nineties swimming attire in the late 1940s or 1950s. The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white photograph by Allan J. de Lay featuring the Gay Nineties window display of Paterson's Furniture Store during the Gay Nineties festival in 1961. A handwritten inscription on the back reads: "Another Pattersons' furniture [sic] window 1960."
A black and white photograph taken in the first couple of decades of the Gay Nineties festival featuring Dave and Shirley Jones in costume and posed in front of Marsh Hall. A handwritten note on the back identifies the couple. The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white photograph featuring an unknown couple posing in elaborate Gay Nineties attire sometime within the first few years of the Gay Nineties festival. The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white photograph featuring the Agony Four with their 1952 Original All-Northwest Barbershop Ballad Contest trophy. The Agony Four were the contest's champions in 1950, 1951, and 1952. The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
A black and white photograph featuring the finalists of the Original All-Northwest Barbershop Ballad Contest in 1961. A handwritten note on the back states: "Top 8 Quartets - 1961." The photographer is unknown, but it may have been Allan J. de Lay, a staff photographer for The Oregonian who took numerous photographs of the event over the years.
Pacific University students eating dinner during an event on campus. Two of the students are dressed in "Gay Nineties" costumes, possibly indicating that this photograph was taken during the annual Gay Nineties festival that took place in Forest Grove in Spring. Alternatively, the dinner may have taken place during Homecoming weekend in 1970, when the Freshman class hosted a dinner with entertainment.
Carol Drew oral history interview on the Gay Nineties and Barbershop Ballad Contest, recorded June 20, 2025 at her residence in Forest Grove, Oregon. Born in 1939, Drew has lived in Forest Grove since the 1950s. A prominent member of the local community, she graduated from Pacific University in 1960 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. Elle Griego, the interviewer, was a History and French undergraduate student at Pacific University from 2022-2026.
