Some New Glarus traditions survive mostly in photographs. This is not one of them.

This historic image shows 22 Wilhelm Tell Usherettes dressed in the elaborate costumes of Switzerland’s cantons, a group that became one of the most recognizable parts of the New Glarus Wilhelm Tell Pageant and remains part of the celebration today.

The exact date of the photograph has not been confirmed. The New Glarus Public Library includes the image in its online archive of the 1997 Bank of New Glarus calendar, where it is identified simply as a group of Tell Usherettes and credited to the New Glarus Historical Society. The 22 women in the photograph have all been identified.

In the front row, from left, are Marie Zimmerli Martin, Marie Streiff Slotten, Hazel Urben, Phyllis Duerst Foster, Jean Zweifel Adams and Marion Zentner Streiff. In the middle row are Diana Bartle Peterson, Inez Hefty Bligard, Betsy Henning Robb, Ruth Hoesly Trierweiler, Mary Meythaler Donnelly, Barbara Reardon Lester, Dorothy Engler Urben and Ruth Theiler Gothner. In the back row are Betty Kneubuehl Vetterli, Marion Frederickson Streiff, Marion McQuillon Halverson, Carol Hoesly Diekroeger, Delores Glaeden Johnson, Barbara Meythaler Norris, Miriam Theiler Abplanalp and Marie Stuckey Reuter.