First chartered in 1919, the post's drum corps had early success after its formation in October 1927; it had already won the state competition for the right to represent New Hampshire at the national convention.

The group and president (Hoover had only been elected the previous November) turned out to have met just a few weeks shy of history. The convention was held at the very end of September and beginning of October; Black Tuesday, the climax of the stock-market crash that started the Great Depression, was Oct. 29.