This 1963 British Overseas Airways Corporation plane wasn’t just packed with on-trend madras sports jackets—it’s a safe bet the onboard entertainment was similarly bright and of-the-moment. For these lucky gentlemen made up the 1963 iteration of the Jabberwocks, Brown’s oldest a capella singing group, on their way to perform in Bermuda for spring break and surely practicing a little along the way. The group formed in 1949 and by the early ’60s had moved on from innocent barbershop renditions of “Halls of Ivy” to Beatles and Motown covers, even changing the lyrics of the folkie “Civil War” to turn it into an anti-Vietnam War protest song. Reports are that after this trip, the Jabberwocks mixed some calypso into their repertoire. Whatever the era and stylings, happy 75th to all the slithy toves out there!
