Wouldn't You Like to be a Pepper Too?

I found this photo at an estate sale last weekend and it immediately reminded me of the cover to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

I would love to know the history behind this photo, unfortunately, there is no writing anywhere.  Every person here had a story that lead them to this point in their life.  From the wizard in the very back whose hands hover over the heads of the two gentleman in front him (watch out guys, remember what that meant for Paul!), to the Charlie Chaplin wannabe second from the left (there were so many Chaplin impersonators by the late 19-teens, he took legal action against them), to the military officer sitting in the front (maybe that's Sgt. Pepper himself), to the lone woman among the misfits (it was pointed out by astute reader Franko, this is most likely a man in drag), something lead them to this juncture.  An acrobat in the middle, a man sporting a Pickelhaube and a devil-may-care grin, the 4- (or possibly 5-) piece band, a monocled man in top hat, a chaffeur.  Who were these people?  Sadly, we'll never know.  I would wager they were some sort of traveling troupe, certainly European.  Was the gentleman on the far left their manager?  Again, questions we'll never have answers to.  But let's remember them now and stare into these faces lost to time.